Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Donald Marguiles, Time Stands Still will be staged in the Lee E. Eshleman Studio Theater at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 14-15, and 21-22.

The play follows its main character, Sarah Goodwin, as she returns to Brooklyn, New York, after being badly injured by a roadside bomb. The drama explores the relationship between Sarah and her boyfriend James Dodd 鈥� also a journalist 鈥� and the moral ambiguity of earning one’s living from documenting the suffering of others.

“The war and the politics informs their situation, as it does for our post-9/11 society, but the heart of the story lies in how they learn to cope together and how they relate to each other,” says Chandler.

In the New York Times on Aug. 23, 2013, theater critic Sylviane Gold gave an outstanding review to a Hartford, Ct., production of this play, calling it Marguiles’ “finest work to date.”

“Like [his] earlier plays, it asks us to ponder the intricacies of love and friendship and the emotional perils of professional success…. ” wrote Gold. “[It] goes beyond the personal to explore the moral ambiguities of journalism, a subject that both producers and consumers of the news media tend to avoid.”

Performances run approximately two hours with an intermission.

General admission tickets are $5, or $2 for EMU Students, and are available through the EMU theater department. For more information and answers about age appropriateness, contact the theater department at 540-432-4674; theater@emu.edu.

Cast:

Nicolas Custalow, a senior from Charlottesville, Va.

Chris Parks, a junior from Philadelphia, Pa.

Lauren Wengerd, a senior from Dundee, Ohio

Rebekah York, a sophomore from Bucharest, Romania

are 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, and Saturday, Oct. 13, and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 14. In addition, the performance will run at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25, Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27.

The play follows the four women as they push the limits of their physical and emotional endurance and establish profound yet fragile connections with each other through the magical storytelling of the youngest of them, an indigenous woman from Chiapas.

“This play is about the people behind the headlines and statistics,” said , chair of , who is the director.

Written by Kara Hartzler, a 1994 EMU alumnus, 鈥淣o Roosters in the Desert鈥� is based on actual interviews by Anna Ochoa O’Leary, assistant professor of practice in Mexican-American studies at the University of Arizona.

Hartzler describes her work as ” …trying to portray them [the play鈥檚 characters] as multi-faceted human beings who find themselves in a critical situation and respond by being courageous, flawed, noble, selfish, endearing, and maddening鈥攁s emotionally rich as any Shakespearean character.”

Reserved tickets are $10 for adults ($12 at the door), and $8 for seniors & non-EMU students ($10 at the door). Tickets are available through the at 540-432-4582 or emu.edu/boxoffice. Group rates are available.

Cast:

Makayla Baker, a first-year student from Augusta, WVa.

Amanda Chandler, a junior from Harrisonburg, Va.

Meggan E. Garcia Sheridan, a first-year student from Wheaton, Ill.

Rose Jantzi, a junior from Harrisonburg, Va.

Joo-Ah Lee, a sophomore from Fairfax, Va.

Chris Parks, a first-year student from Philadelphia, Pa.

Morgan E. Porter, a senior from Richmond, Va.