University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre Closes Season With HARVEST

Hot on the heels of two successes – Sweeney Todd and The Gammage Project – the University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre closes out its season with Harvest. In "near-future Mumbai, the only way to survive an economy that has deteriorated beyond repair is to sell yourself, piece by piece. Savagely Swiftian, Padmanabhan's story explores questions of cultural difference in a world not far removed from our own, where a person can be packaged, bought, and sold."

Director Anjalee Deshpande Hutchinson comes to Pitt from Bucknell University, where she is an assistant professor of theatre and dance.

"As a first generation South Asian American," said Deshpande Hutchinson. "I know firsthand the strain of straddling two cultures. When I was beginning my career in theatre, there were very few South Asian American actors and actresses, let alone plays that explored issues about the Indian experience or its connections to a Western world. Working on this production at the University of Pittsburgh has given me the opportunity to explore these issues in depth, and allowed me to explore them with a group of gifted actors who also happen to have very distinct connections to these issues as well. The ensemble is extraordinary, and our little band of 'Indians in the Abstract' promises much to deliver when the show opens next month."

An innovative mix of cameras – some real, some imagined -- and projections bring the futuristic dystopian setting of Harvest to life on stage.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Theatre Arts (founded in 1982) offers BA, MA, MFA and PhD degrees in Theatre Arts. All faculty members are active in teaching, research, and artistic projects. The department shares a philosophy of theatre education, the chief feature of which is the firm conviction that theory and practice, academic and creative work, and educational and professional theatre must be integrated for a successful program of theatre education. The University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre is the department's flagship theatre company with performance spaces in the landmark Stephen Foster Memorial and the Cathedral of Learning. For more information about the University of Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre, please visit www.play.pitt.edu.