Melanie Marnich's Journey Play QUAKE Comes To Arts Bank

Award-winning playwright Melanie Marnich's fantastical, quirky play "Quake" - about a young woman who travels cross-country to find the love of her life, with an astrophysicist/serial killer and other bizarre twists thrown in - will be presented at the Arts Bank Theater of The University of the Arts February 26 - 28.

Amy Feinberg, associate professor and head of the Theater Management and Production program in the University's School of Theater Arts, helms her third production of "Quake" at the stage at the Arts Bank. Feinberg, the producing artistic director for The Hypothetical Theatre Company in New York City, has directed three professional productions of the play over the past nine years, including the Los Angeles (2001) and New York (2002) premieres, but this is the first time she has helmed a production featuring students.

In a succession of surreal, contorted affairs, the play's main character, Lucy (played by junior Acting major Samantha Tower), fails to reconcile her driving need for ideal love with the realities of modern romance. On her way, she is distracted by an obsession with a brilliant serial-killer and astrophysicist, known only as "That Woman" (played by senior Musical Theater major Kristen Norine), who coaches Lucy as she zigs across the continent and zags through her many relationships in search of "The Big Love."

"This production is a highly stylized comedy that is unlike anything the university has produced before," said Feinberg, who directed the premiere of Jennifer Maisel's "There or Here" at New York's 14th Street Theater in September to a rave review from The New York Times. "The cast is small - only 7 people, which is tiny compared to the much larger projects that typically grace the Arts Bank stage. The charm of the play is in watching a small ensemble play multiple roles."

In this production, the actors seldom leave the stage and become part of the environment of each scene, sometimes as props or set pieces, other times playing opposite the lead. They are also responsible for all of the production's set, prop and costume changes as the ensemble takes Lucy on her journey.

"The language and behavior of the characters are larger than life, but the emotional through-line is extremely human," Feinberg added. "I love the play because of its attention to language, blending of genre and style, and its light-handed feminist message of posing the very topical questions that seem to arise in the lives of women who seek to have it all. Plus, it's a hell of a lot of fun."

"Quake" runs February 20 - 21, 26-28 at 8 p.m. and Feb 21 - 22 and 28 at 2 p.m. at the University's Arts Bank Theater (601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia). Tickets are $18 for general admission; $9 seniors (65+) and students with ID. Season ticket packages are available. For tickets, show times and more information, call 215-545-1664, email sotatickets@uarts.edu or visit On Stage at SOTA.

Photo: Playwright Lee Blessing, Melanie Marnich and Signature Theatre Company Artistic Director Jim Houghton