The UofSC Department of Theatre and Dance will present the madcap comedy Wonder of the World by Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire April 17-20 at the Lab Theatre.
Show times are 8pm nightly. Tickets for the production are $10, and available online at theatre.sc.edu or at the door. The Lab Theatre is located at 1400 Wheat St., on the first floor of the Booker T. Washington building. Wonder of the World contains adult language and situations that may not be suitable for children.
Lindsay-Abaire’s outrageous farce is a trip you’ll never forget. After Cass discovers a dirty secret about her husband – involving a truly unsettling use of Barbie doll heads -- she runs away to Niagara Falls, hoping to find the life that passed her by. Her soul-searching adventure quickly goes over the edge as she encounters a succession of ever more eccentric fellow travelers, including a suicidal alcoholic, a lonesome tour boat captain, and a pair of bungling, bickering private detectives. “…a hilarious confection. Lindsay-Abaire further establishes himself here as a writer with a terrific gift for absurdist humor, leavened with just enough doses of seriousness to provide emotional resonance." — Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s like a fever dream,” says director Allie Anderson, a senior Theatre and English double major. “You kind of walk away [from the play] thinking, ‘I don’t really know what I just saw.’”
Anderson says that aside from its unconventional characters and situations, the play tells a highly relatable story of self-discovery that’s especially appropriate for a college-aged audience.
It’s like a fever dream. You kind of walk away thinking, ‘I don’t really know what I just saw.’
“This play is all about cause and effect,” she says. “Small choices end up being the biggest you’ll ever make. Your relationships and your choices create the landscape of your world.”
The talented cast of actors includes undergraduate students Rachael Bates, Caroline Clarke, David Neil Edwards, Nick Good, Marilyn Guy, Lilly Heidari, Brendan Martyn, Kelsey McCloskey, Jordan Postal, and Rosa Ramirez. The production’s design team includes Lochlan Angle and Curtis Smoak (scenic design), Ronnie Smith (lighting design) and Cory Peeler (sound design). Jacob Wilson and Ally Weaver will stage manage.
“Although the story may be bizarre, the humanity within it is all too real,” Anderson says. “By the end of the story, the characters discover how they are all connected and how even the most unlikely of friendships can radically change your life.”
For more information about Wonder of the World or the theatre program at the University of South Carolina, contact Kevin Bush by phone at 803-777-9353 or via email at bushk@mailbox.sc.edu.