[NEohioPAL] Use of Electro-shock therapy to alter sexual preference is subject of "14" at Kent State

[Effie Tsengas]

Green Visiting Director Series Presents Divisive Autobiographical Play Written and Directed by KSU Alum 
Kent, OH – Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance opens its 2009/10 season with the Roe Green Visiting Director Series production of 14, an autobiographical play about a controversial reparative therapy experiment that took place at Brigham Young University in the 1970s.  The Director, John Cameron, who earned his MA and Ph.D. from Kent in 1986 was a subject in the experiment and has written about the harrowing experience from his own perspective.  Cameron currently serves as the Head of Acting at the University of Iowa.
 
The production of 14 will run Oct. 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 2009 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 11 and 18, 2009 at 2 p.m. in Wright-Curtis Theatre in the Music and Speech Center, 1325 Theatre Drive in Kent.   Tickets are available by calling 330-627-2497 weekdays from Noon to 5 pm or online at www.theatre.kent.edu.  Adults are $16; seniors, KSU Alumni, Staff and Faculty $12; and Students $8.  Groups of 10 or more are $7 per person.

In the mid 70’s, 14 gay men were the subjects of a “reparative therapy” experiment at Brigham Young University which used electro-shock aversion therapy in an attempt to alter their sexual preference. Set in the year 2000, “14″ mirrors writer/director John Cameron’s real-life experiences through fictional character Ron Sorenson who finds himself facing his a sometimes dark and other times humorous past. Based on a true story, this production is not appropriate for students under 18.
 
“It’s a story about something that happened that shouldn’t have happened and how the ramifications of that event spread themselves across a lifetime, says Cameron, who came out of the closet at Kent State in the mid-80’s. 


Before working at The University of Iowa, he was a member of the theatre faculty at Stony Brook University on Long Island for 10 years where he served as Director of the Living/Learning Center for the Arts and Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Theatre Arts. He trained with Sanford Meisner and has performed on stage in Europe, Central America, Australia and in various regional theatres throughout the United States, and in television and film. He is also a director and playwright. He has directed extensively for the academic and professional stage and television, and his plays have been produced at a variety of academic and professional theatres.

 
 
 
Cast
Ron ....................................................................... Eric van Baars*
Judy......................................................................... Tricia  Bestic*
David/Professor .......................................................... Dane Castle
Aaron ............................................................... Aaron Schoonover
Marla ............................................................................ Erin Diroll
Donald ....................................................................... Jysten West
Denise.................................................................... Melissa Cotton 
Leslie ............................................................................. Kyra Kelly
Max Ford McBride ........................................... W. Bryant Campbell
Paul........................................................................ Jason Leupold 
Narrators...................................... Brian Crowley, Cameron Dashiell
                                                       Carolina Morones, Annie Wessendarp
 
 
* Appear courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association.
 
 
 

 


      
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