March 8, 2013
"Spooky Action at a Distance," an M.F.A. playwriting thesis by Matthew Buckley Smith, will be performed March 21 - 24 at the Callan Theatre in Hartke Hall on the campus of Catholic University.
Jerry Whiddon will direct the play. Whiddon has acted and directed in New York, both Off and Off-Off Broadway at Double Image, CSC Repertory, York Theatre, and in the Washington, D.C., area at Olney, Woolly Mammoth, Studio, and Arena Stage.
The plot is set in 1971. "With the Vietnam War still grinding on, Simon Pirklowski plays it safe, studying physics at Berkeley to avoid the draft," says Smith. "But when he befriends a shady bartender and agrees to tutor his beautiful wife, Simon finds out just how thrilling uncertainty can be."
Smith was born and raised in Atlanta. An M.F.A. candidate in playwriting at CUA, he earned an M.F.A. in poetry at Johns Hopkins University. Most recently, his short plays "My Parasite" and "Turing Test" appeared in the Baltimore One-Minute Play Festival, and his play "The Good News" received a staged reading as part of the Baltimore Playwrights Festival.
His other plays have received readings or productions in Baltimore at the Annex Theatre, the Run of the Mill Theatre, the Single Carrot Theatre, and the Un Saddest Factory, as well as in London at the King's Head Theatre.
His poems have appeared in national publications, including Best American Poetry 2011, and his first book, Dirge for an Imaginary World , was the winner of the 2011 Able Muse Book Award.
The Callan Theatre is located at 3801 Harewood Road, N.E., Washington, D.C.
Performance dates and times are Thursday, March 21, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, March 23, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, March 24, at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for general admission; $10 for seniors and CUA alumni, faculty, and staff; and $5 for students. For more information, visit http://drama.cua.edu/ , email cua-drama@cua.edu , or call 202-319-5358.
This play contains strong language and adult situations, and it is not recommended for children.