Temple Theaters to Present A FREE MAN OF COLOR, 11/11-21

Temple Theaters continues its season with satirical drama A Free Man of Color by the award-winning playwright John Guare. Directed by Douglas C. Wager , the production features the new cohort of MFA acting candidates and supported by talented undergraduate students. The ambitious play, a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, runs November 11-21, 2015 in Temple University's Randall Theater. The Pulitzer Prize committee described A Free Man of Color as "an audacious play spread across a large historical canvas, dealing with serious subjects while retaining a playful intellectual buoyancy."

In the early 19th century, lothario and libertine Jacques Cornet (Kalen Allen) revels in progressive and hedonistic society of New Orleans; but his way of life is about to be challenged by the subversive politics of the new Louisiana Purchase. Accompanied by his long-suffering servant Murmur (Juspin Jones), Jacques pursues his twin passions, maps and women, while trying to preserve his wealth and power in the ever-changing New World. With appearances by historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Meriwether Lewis, the play is a hallucinatory, hilarious and provocative mix of history lesson, Restoration comedy and sex farce.

Director Douglas C. Wager is the Artistic Director of Temple Theaters and Associate Dean of Temple University's School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. He was formerly the Artistic Director of Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Since joining Temple Theaters, he has directed a number of plays, including his docudramas In Conflict, about Iraq War veterans, and Odd Girl Out, about relational aggression among teen girls. He has also directed The Matchmaker, On the Razzle, Pudd'nhead Wilson and The Liar.

Temple Theaters season continues this spring with William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by James J. Christy, running February 3 - 14, 2016 in the Tomlinson Theater. Additional spring shows include The Odyssey adapted by Mary Zimmerman, March 16 - 26, 2016 and Godspell, April 13 - 24, 2016. Located on the northern edge of the Avenue of the Arts, Temple Theaters, the production program of the Department of Theater, has established itself as one of the finest nationally-ranked theater training programs in the nation.