Prof Presents Third Play in Original Series

Arts & Humanities Professor Thomas Riccio’s newest play, Some People, will premiere at WaterTower Theatre’s “Out of the Loop” Festival on March 11. The cast is comprised almost exclusively of UT Dallas students and alumni.

Some People is the third installment of the Simulations series dealing with life in and around the Dallas area. It will be performed three times at the WaterTower Theater and then transfer to the Project X Theatre for a three-weekend run.

Some People takes a surrealistic journey into the subconscious of the house next door. In an ordinary Dallas suburb, a husband, wife and child one day find that they live in a house that has come to life. It begins when Frank, the father and a software systems analyst with an anger management issue, begins to hear the voice of the Narrator. The Narrator has come to synchronize the house in order to make all the family’s dreams come true.  In order to do so, the world shifts into another dimension where time, space and reality become negotiable.

Morgan, the lonely, disconnected shopaholic wife, becomes obsessed with survival and begins conversing with consumer products and household appliances. Taylor, the bored, cellphone addicted, Ritalin-addled teenage daughter, one day discovers Uncle Bill in a closet where, during a game of “hide and seek,” he successfully hid for 18 years. Once the cosmic closet is opened, nothing is ever the same.

“The play is an allusive and ironic cultural icon that really gets my wings flapping,” said Alex Nestor, who plays Uncle Bill. “Mature audiences will find Some People a fun ride.”

“We’re delighted that our students and alumni have opportunities like these to work in the theatre industry in the Metroplex,” said Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts & Humanities. “This aligns very well with our plan to combine educational and working opportunities to students both on and off campus.”

Some People is the third part of playwright-director Thomas Riccio’s Simulation series of plays. Orange Oranges and So There, the well-received first two plays of the series, were by presented by Project X at the 2008 Festival of Independent Theatres. Riccio is a professor of performance and aesthetic studies at the University of Texas at Dallas and an award-winning playwright and director.

“The most ordinary things and events inspire my work—it could be an idle conversation, an offhand remark or gesture,” said Riccio. “My work is about recognizing and plumbing the depths of the world around us.

“The world is speaking and it is telling me things are changing, creating something new and unexpected.  I want to be an active participant in the transition—by creating works for my community, works that use whatever expression necessary to capture our time and place—inspires me. The world inspires the work and I want the work to inspire my audiences to new thoughts, feeling, and perspectives.” 

The Simulations series is produced by the Project X: TheatreDanceMusicFilm organization. Ticket prices and locations vary; visit the WaterTower Theatre or the Project X Web sites for more information.

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