POMPEII- FROM THE BRITISH MUSEUM to Screen at The Ware Center Today

The Ware Center joins hundreds of other theatres around the country screening the U.S. premiere of "Pompeii- from the British Museum" today, November 17th at 4 PM. The film was shot in June, 2013 in London at the Museum and is just being released now after the closing of the extremely popular exhibition, the first of its kind in more than forty years.

This 90 minute film is the very first cinema event produced by the British Museum in connection with a major exhibition. The film provides an exclusive private look of the blockbuster exhibit "Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" and includes background stories and narrative.

The British Museum Exhibition focuses on the homes and lives of the inhabitants of the thriving industrial hub of Pompeii and the small seaside town of Herculaneum nearly 2,000 years ago. It shows how people lived and how they died in just 24 hours when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Introduced by British Museum Director Neil MacGregor, this fascinating film will take viewers around the exhibition with insights from renowned experts who bring the extraordinary artifacts to life.

With accompanying music, poetry and reenactments, go behind the scenes of the exhibition to explore the stories of these famous Roman cities and their citizens. Cinema audiences will be taken along a Roman street and into a local house with atrium entrance, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, sitting room and garden. In the company of experts such as the curator of the exhibition Paul Roberts; Professor of Classics at Cambridge University, Mary Beard; historian Bettany Hughes; as well as interviewees such as chef Giorgio Locatelli and gardener Rachel de Thame, we will be taken close up to the famous casts of the people caught in the volcanic heat as well as the objects from their daily lives. Examples include intricate pieces of jewelry, sculpture, mosaics, cooking equipment and even food including an intact loaf of bread with the baker's stamp still visible. Also on display is wooden furniture carbonized by the high temperatures of the ash that engulfed Herculaneum which are extremely rare finds that would not have survived at Pompeii - showing the importance of combining evidence from the two cities. The furniture includes a linen chest, an inlaid stool and even a garden bench. Perhaps the most astonishing and moving piece is a baby's crib.

The film is shown in high-definition and surround sound in the Ware Center's Steinman Hall. For a preview of the film, go to youtube.com and search for "Pompeii from the British Museum Trailer."

Tickets: $7 | $5 for students and seniors. Call 717-872-3811 or 717-871-2308; Online at artsmu.com or in person at the Ware Center Box Office (42 N. Prince St., Lancaster) or at the Student Memorial Center Ticket Office (Room 103, on Millersville University's campus). Box Office is open Mon-Fri. 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Seating is reserved. Advanced reservations are strongly encouraged. If tickets are still available, tickets may be purchased the day of the show, one hour prior to the performance.

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