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As part of the celebration of
the centennial year of Fresno native William Saroyan’s birth, University
Theatre at California State University, Fresno honors the author,
lyricist and playwright with a performance of his “Slaughter of the
Innocents,” beginning Friday, Oct. 3.
It is the first time the play has been staged on the West Coast and
University Theatre’s first production of the school year. Dr. Ed
EmmanuEl, a theatre arts professor, directs the student production.
Saroyan’s depiction of the suspension of civil rights and due process
was written in 1958, looking back at the McCarthy Era in which peoples’
careers and lives were ruined by accusations and innuendo of Communist
Party affiliation, toleration or association with people similarly
accused.
“Slaughter of the Innocents” takes place in a tavern, in which the newly
constituted police state stages public trials without juries that
quickly declare guilt for the accused, who are summarily shot to the
peoples’ approval. When it happens to a young boy, the bartender rebels,
throwing the system into turmoil and awakening the people to how they’ve
allowed democratic principles to be corrupted.
Curtain at the John Wright Theatre in the Speech Arts Building rises at
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 3-4; 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5; and at 8
p.m. Oct. 7-11.
Tickets cost $17 general; $15 Fresno State faculty, staff, Alumni
Association members, seniors and students from other schools; and $10
Fresno State students. Identification is required to obtain the
discounts. Also available are group discounts (20 or more).
The Theatre Box Office is open noon-5 p.m. Monday-Friday at the north
entrance to the Speech Arts Building.
For tickets, call the box office, 559.278.2216, or visit
www.csufresno.edu/Theatre
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