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, “No Roosters in the Desert” 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’s characters] as multi-faceted human beings who find themselves in a critical situation and respond by being courageous, flawed, noble, selfish, endearing, and maddening—as 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.

Theater at EMU will present its fall mainstage production, Irwin Shaw’s "Bury the Dead," Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 2-6, in Lehman Auditorium. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m.

The play, directed by Patrick Reynolds, interim assistant professor of theater at EMU, takes place during "the war that is to begin tomorrow night." It opens with a group of soldiers ordered to bury their fallen comrades.

Resisting the grave, the dead arise and doggedly refuse to surrender their lives to a war they never understood. Chaos, both bold and wickedly funny, ensues.

Generals order the former soldiers to return to the ground. Journalists label the situation an enemy plot. Family members and friends beg them to accept the "honor" of death. Slowly, however, the playwright’s world begins to turn upside down as the living find truth in the dead, the only ones who truly understand war.

Barbara Graber, professor of theater, is play producer. Sophomore theater major Christina S. Myers is stage manager and junior Miriam L. Yoder is production manager.

Tickets are $8 advance, $10 at the door; senior citizens and non-EMU students are $5. For more information, call the EMU box office at 540-432-4582.