FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE THEATRE TO PRESENT 'ANTON IN SHOW BUSINESS'

On Thursday Dec. 9, Drake University Theater will present “Anton in Show Business,” the award-winning acerbic comedy about “how not to stage a classic” by playwright Jane Martin.

ABOUT THE PLAY
The play details a disastrous attempt to produce Anton Chekhov’s drama “The Three Sisters” at a small San Antonio, Texas, theater. The cast includes a surgically enhanced TV starlet attempting to earn credibility, an Off-Off Broadway queen who acts in anonymity for love of the art and a bright-eyed ingénue who was a third-grade teacher until “the Lord himself” bid her to return to the stage. The play examines unsavory corporate sponsors, tyrannical directors, political correctness run amok, the lure of glamour over substance and the role of the critic and audience. A cast of seven women plays a host of caricatures of theatrical types, both male and female, in this hilarious and poignant look at the world backstage.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Playwright Jane Martin is a mystery. Although she has won awards from the American Theater Critics Association for her plays “Anton in Show Business,” “Talking With,” “Jack and Jill,” and “Keely and Du,” and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, she has never made a public appearance or given an interview. Martin is widely thought to be the pen name of Jon Jory, longtime former director of the Actor’s Theater of Louisville, which produces all of her plays, but Jory and the ATL refuse to comment on the matter.

“Anton in Show Business” was the winner of the 2001 American Theater Critics Association's Steinberg New Play Award. The dark satire quickly became a hit with small theaters around the country. The Boston Globe said it “[shatters] barriers between actors and audience.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it “the funniest show around right now.” “Martin deliciously skewers the whole process of theater,” cries The Commercial Appeal (Memphis). As the Dayton Daily News said, “Whoever she is, she knows what she's writing about.”

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
The Drake University Theater production is directed by Deena Conley, assistant professor of theatre arts. Performances start at 8 p.m. Dec. 9, 10 and 11 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 12 in Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. The production contains adult situations and language, and may not be suitable for children. Those with smoke allergies are advised that there will be smoking onstage during the performance. Tickets may be purchased at the Harmon Fine Arts Center Box Office. Reservations may be made in person or by calling (515) 271-3841. Tickets are $5 for the general public, $3 for non-Drake students and senior citizens and $1 with a Drake ID.

Cutline: From left: Ashley Sinclair, Christi Ivers and Kate Adams star in Drake's
production of "Anton in Show Business."

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