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Stuff Happens by David Hare

October 7 – 9 and 14 – 16 @ 8:00 PM Mainstage Theatre

And

Love in a Time of War by Catherine Ladnier and Paul Janensch

October 11 – 16 @ 7:30 PM Studio Theatre

University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance

3745 Central Ave

Tickets: $10 and $15 Box Office Phone: 678-2576

The University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance kicks off this theatre season with two shows steeped in American history. These two war stories, one about the frustrations of power and the limits of diplomacy and the other about longing for loved ones away at war, offer an exciting and unique perspective. Stuff Happens will run in the Mainstage Theatre October 7 – 9 and 14 – 16 at 8 pm and Love in a Time of War will run in the Studio Theatre October 11 – 16 at 7:30 pm.

"Stuff happens and it's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things."- Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld's famous response to the looting of Baghdad, provides the title for a new, highly controversial play about the extraordinary process leading up to the invasion of Iraq. British playwright, David Hare, fashions his war drama from events that have dominated headlines for most of the last decade.

Love and war are surely a powerful narrative in Love in the Time of War, a new romance based on the real life letters sent across the world 65 years ago during World War II. Ordinary men and women meet extraordinary challenges during the World War II era. The men are facing the draft or are in uniform. Some see action. The women are lonely and dealing with shortages.The letters, saved by Eva Lee Brown of Easley, SC and discovered more than 50 years later by her daughter Catherine Ladnier, are candid, sad and funny.

Please join us Monday, October 11 at 6:00 pm in the Lab Theatre (TC-235) for a discussion with Catherine Ladnier, author of Love in a Time of War, followed by a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception. Co-sponsored by The Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities.

October at the U of M Department of Theatre & Dance brings an exciting change to our traditional theatre season – Nine days, two shows and one universal theme!