Written by Ariel Dorfman and directed by Thomas Whit-Eillis, the “Death and the Maiden” reader’s theatre presentation will be at 6 p.m. May 10 in Music 160. Admission is free, and the public is invited. Parking is free on campus after 4 p.m. on Fridays. The play features Dr. Paula Sanmartín, professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures; James Hume, Fresno State alumnus and Jeret Carpenter, graduating senior.
The play delves into the harrowing aftermath of the illegal detention and torture of a young woman under a harsh dictatorship in South America. The drama intensifies when the woman’s husband, after receiving assistance with his broken-down car, invites the helpful stranger into their home as a guest. The situation escalates as the wife recognizes the guest’s voice as that of her former torturer. Her husband, however, doubts her claims, attributing them to psychological scars from her past trauma. Fueled by a mix of fear and a thirst for justice, she takes the drastic step of holding the man at gunpoint, demanding accountability for the atrocities he committed.
Email thomee@mail.fresnostate.edu or psanmartin@mail.fresnostate.edu for more information.
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The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 