World premiere granted to A&M-Commerce

Assistant theatre professor Dr. Carrie Klypchak will direct the world premiere of playwright Don Nigro's "Iphigenia" in October at the University Playhouse.

Klypchak found the script online and sought permission to perform the premiere production of Nigro's work by contacting him personally and working with him as well as the Samuel French Publishing Company.

"I stumbled across the play, ordered it and immediately fell in love with the script," Klypchak said.

The A&M-Commerce theatre department was chosen as one of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival's regional finalists last year after their production of "The Bird and the Bee." This distinction showed Nigro the quality and dedication of the students, and reassured him that A&M-Commerce is capable of producing his play.

"We hope that the university and surrounding community understand what a huge, massive honor this is for A&M-Commerce and the city of Commerce," Klypchak said.

According to Klypchak, world premieres for a well-known playwright such as Nigro are usually reserved for professional companies in cities such as New York or Los Angeles.

"This speaks to the professional quality and extreme level of commitment in our students' work," she said.

The play is inspired by the Ancient Greek myth of Iphigenia, but is set in East Ohio during the years 1909 through 1911, according to Klypchak.

"The ancient mythology of guilt, betrayal, sacrifice and ambiguous redemption manifest in the play through Nigro's unique combination of suspense and witty dialogue," she said.

"Iphigenia" is an educational play, which makes it especially appropriate to be performed at an educational institution.

"This is a very funny, yet intense tale that contains mature content and is expected to bring great prestige to not only the university, but to Commerce as a whole," Klypchak said.

Nigro was invited to Commerce to attend the production, but will not because of prior obligations. However, Klypchak is attempting to find a time for Nigro to speak to students about his accomplishments, and provide inspiration and advice.

"I have been working with the university to find a way to fund Nigro's trip to Commerce, and I hope that the students get a chance to meet him," she said.

Junior theatre major A'Mari Rocheleau will play a lead role as Jenna, an 18-year-old girl in a dysfunctional family, along with four additional cast members and a chorus. This will be Rocheleau's second lead at the university.

According to Rocheleau, her secret to success is listening to the advice of Klypchak, applying the character to her own life, and performing extensive research on the era in which the play is set.

"There is so much pressure on us in performing this play, but we feel very honored to be given this opportunity and Dr. Klypchak does a great job calming us down," Rocheleau said.

Graduate theatre student Jeffrey Stirl will play another lead. Stirl has been in more than 60 productions, and "Iphigenia" will not be his first world premiere. Stirl will play Michael Ryan, a man attempting to restart his life after committing a crime.

"Being cast in a world premiere is incredible because it gives me a chance to put the first stamp on the character, leading people to live up to my work," Stirl said.

Dates for the play are Oct.12-16 at 8 p.m. and Oct.17 at 3 p.m. Tickets will be $10 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and $3 for students and children under the age of 18. For more information, contact the Box Office at (903) 886-5900 or playhouseboxoffice@tamu-commerce.edu.