Drury’s theatre department is doubling down on its production schedules this semester. In total, they will put on three, unique plays, but the first two are right around the corner. Within the next few days, the department will put on its annual performance of “Peter and the Wolf” and another called “Farce of Habit”.

Peter and the Wolf

“Peter and the Wolf” is a well-known and well-loved children’s story. It is designed to teach young students about the orchestra.

Mick Sokol, the head of the theatre department, said, “We bus in hundreds of children, the intended audience. In theory, the children will learn about musical instruments while they enjoy the performance.”

This year it will be performed on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in the O’Reilly Family Event Center.

Farce of Habit

The other play they are putting on promises to be quite the spectacle. “Farce of Habit” is a bit of a slapstick comedy, written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooton. The whole play takes place in a fishing lodge in the Ozarks.

“It’s very close to home in look, feel and sound,” Sokol explained. “Because it takes place in this part of the world, it had a little extra appeal.”

Sokol is directing “Farce of Habit” and hopes to have the audiences roaring in laughter. He and his cast of nine theatre students have been working on this since the second day of this semester.

Overcoming Challenges

Sokol described a few challenges they have overcome since beginning work on the production.

“Farces feature lots of physical humor and characters entering and exiting every page or two. In order for the humor to come off properly, person A has to enter exactly when person B does this other thing,” said Sokol.

Sokol explained that perfecting comic timing is essential for these types of plays.

“In order for it to make people laugh, you have to time all the bits just right. And that takes practice,” he said.

Practice they did, and now they are ready to show it off. “Farce of Habit” will run from Feb. 27 to March 2 with a 7:30 p.m. performance every night and an additional 2 p.m. matinee performance on the second as well. Check out the Theatre Department’s box office at http://drurytheatre.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event_listings.asp to buy tickets.

Article by Afton Jagels.