Shows will be performed in the Jenkins Theatre in UWSPs Noel Fine Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 29; Saturday, March 1; Thursday, March 6; Friday, March 7; and Saturday, March 8. A matinee performance will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 2.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for youth. UWSP students with a valid ID may purchase advance tickets for $4.50 per show or get in free the day of the show if seats are still available. The show is recommended for teens and adults.

Tickets can be purchased at University Information and Tickets in the Dreyfus University Center concours, by calling (715) 346-4100 or (800) 838-3378, or by ordering online at www.uwsp.edu/centers/uit/ordering.asp. Visa, MasterCard or Discover are accepted.

Director Stephen Trovillion Smith, associate professor of theatre and dance, has set this classic tragedy of honor, patriotism and friendship in world where a republic is divided and failing and both strong men and women are struggling for power.

"One of the main reasons I chose to direct a modern conceptualization of Julius Caesar this year is that by doing so I could believably cast women in many of the roles traditionally played by men," said Smith. In this version, Mark Antony becomes Antonia, played by senior Casiena Raether of Rockford, Ill., and many of the senators are played by women.

As the story begins, Julius Caesar, played by senior Christopher Wuelling of Green Bay, is the target of a conspiracy that results in his close friend, Marcus Brutus, played by senior James Roland Freer of Sheboygan, struggling between the conflictive demands of honor, loyalty to his country and his relationship with Caesar. The outcome is a civil war, relevant to today because it takes place in the Middle East.

"All of our designers and technicians, both faculty and students, have worked hard and well to create a world that is neither America nor Italy, neither classical nor contemporary but a place that in sci-fi novels is called "an alternate universe," says Smith. I hope that together we have managed to illuminate the plays text in a way that speaks powerfully to our time."

-30-

ch/vc/JuliusCaesar