Campus Connections Brings Enlightening Programming to Ford Center

Three performances during November connect faculty and students to the stage community

The Aquia Theatre will perform Fahrenheit 451
Image courtesy of Ole Miss Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – Campus Connections, the newest series at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, is in full swing this month with three performances designed for the university community.

The Campus Connections series features faculty-led student ensembles or involve themes that are of particular importance to students. This month’s performances include “Fahrenheit 451,” Letters Home” and Verdi’s “Requiem.”

“As we develop the season calendar and solicit talent from across the country, we want to be sure that students and faculty find performances accessible and engaging,” said Norm Easterbrook, Ford Center director. “With our Campus Connections, we seek to extend the classroom experience to what happens on our stage and we hope the entire campus community will take advantage of what we have to offer.”

The Aquila Theater, a not-for-profit company, will perform one of the most revered novels of the 20th century, Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” at 7 p.m. Monday (Nov. 4). “Fahrenheit 451“ is Bradbury’s tale of a bleak future where literature and knowledge are on the edge of extinction. The novel focuses on the historical role of book burning to suppress ideas.

Founded in London in 1991 by Peter Meineck and based in New York City since 1999, Aquila presents a regular season of plays in New York, at international festivals and tours to about 70 American towns and cities each year.

To extend the educational opportunities, the Ford Center is hosting “An Evening with the Aquila Theatre cast of Fahrenheit 451.” This event, slated for 5 p.m. Saturday (Nov. 2) in the Studio Theatre, will include a discussion about the production and staging of “Fahrenheit 451.” Students enrolled in classes that use the book as part of classroom studies can receive free admission to the Nov. 4 performance.

“Letters Home,” which features a perspective on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through the use of actual letters written by soldiers serving in those wars, will be performed by Griffin Theater at 7 p.m. Nov 13. The theme connects to the 2013 UM Common Reading Experience, in which incoming freshmen and many members of the campus community read “The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier’s Education” by former Army Ranger Craig Mullaney.

Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem” rounds out the fall Campus Connections Line up with a dual performance by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the University of Mississippi Chorus. Verdi’s “Requiem” is known as a monumental choral-orchestral work from the Romantic era. Crafton Beck will conduct the UM Chorus and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra for the performance at 3 p.m. Nov.17.

Tickets to each performance are available in person from the UM Box office, located in the Student Union, online from http://www.FordCenter.org or by calling 662-915-7411

— Ole Miss News Desk Staff Report