Murder, surrealism, minimalism and tacos!
Three of these four things will be at the Monart Gallery on May 2, 3 and 4 as part of “The Tressle at Pope Lick Creek,” by Kentuckian Naomi Wallace. This suspenseful murder mystery is being performed, produced and directed by a group of WVU theater students seeking to have one last hurrah in front of the audience before the school year comes to a close.
First-time director Chris Riter’s choice of production is a nontraditional take on the mystery genre of theater. The play is a gloomy and morbid cat-and-mouse game set in the 1930s. Predators and prey are intertwined in a surreal fashion as the five characters try to decipher the secrets that are both driving and tearing apart the world of the play.
The audience is sure to become enmeshed in the complicated plot that plays out more like a nonlinear dream than a connected series of events. Still, a discernible plot builds to a climactic finale that links all of the puzzle piece secrets to produce a convincing and chilling whole.
“The Tressle at Pope Lick Creek” has won numerous awards, including the MacArthur Genius Award for Wallace. It is widely considered to be one of the most intriguing American suspense dramas of the last century.
The show is the last one associated with the University for Riter, who is graduating this year. He organized this show to both end his year with a successful performance and to gain a director’s credit to start his career in the real world.
The show starts at 8 each night, with an approximate running time of two hours. Tickets are $5 for students with a valid ID and $7 for the general public, and can be purchased at the door. The Monart Gallery is located at 22 Walnut St., behind the West Virginia Brewing Company and beside the boat dock. For more information, contact the gallery at 296-3605.