UB Department of Theatre and Dance to Perform Harold Pinter's A Night Out

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance will present Harold Pinter's comedy A Night Out Feb. 24-28. Performance times are Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre, located in the Center for the Arts on the UB North Campus.

A Night Out epitomizes the early plays of the late, Nobel-Prize-winning British playwright Harold Pinter, with its dry humor, minimalist text and extraordinary rhythms and musicality. We follow the young working class Albert throughout a single day and night, as he rebels against his family, his peers and society. Pinter's signature atmosphere of underlying tension and incipient violence permeates the play. Powerfully dramatic, the play presages his classic "comedies of menace," such as The Homecoming. Originally written in 1959, the play still delivers a strong theatrical impact.

Vincent O'Neill will direct the production. O'Neill is associate professor and former chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, and has served as a faculty member for the past 20 years. He is a co-founder and artistic director of Buffalo's Irish Classical Theatre Company. Through his international work as an actor, mime artist and director, he has performed on tour in France, Germany, England, Russia, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. He has performed Joyicity, his one-man show on the life and works of James Joyce, off-Broadway and throughout the U.S. He is president of the Theatre Alliance of Buffalo, which represents 20 professional theatre companies in Western New York, and he will receive the Artie Career Achievement Award in June.

The 16-strong cast of A Night Out features Ryan Cupello, Shaina Greser, Genevieve Lerner, Amanda McDowall, Matthew Nerber, Shawn Smith and R.J. Voltz in leading roles. Ranging from freshmen through seniors, the cast includes majors from across the department's programs, including students in the BA in Theatre, BFA in Theatre Performance and BFA in Musical Theatre programs. Many UB theater students have become known to Buffalo audiences during their student years through their many appearances at Western New York theatres including Artpark, the Irish Classical Theatre Company, Musicalfare and Shakespeare in Delaware Park.

Tickets for A Night Out are $18 general admission, $10 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at the Center for the Arts Box Office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and at all Ticketmaster locations, including ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets, call 1-800-745-3000. For group sales, call 716-645-6771. For more information call 716-645-2787. Students (of any school) must present valid student ID at the Center for the Arts Box Office to receive discount.