UFV Theatre’s next presentation is Age of Arousal, a new play by Canadian theatre artist Linda Griffiths. The play’s unique script is “wildly inspired” by George Gissing‘s 1893 novel The Odd Women. Griffiths has written a lavish, sexy ensemble piece about the forbidden and gloriously liberated self. Set in the Victorian age, when women outnumber men by the thousands, and many women will never have the option of marriage, Griffiths shows us an early suffragette, Mary, who runs a typing school for women with her younger lover, Rhoda. These new women take on three siblings as their pupils – spinsters Virginia and Alice and their sensual sister Monica – and find their liberal rules and ambitions challenged in every way. When Mary’s cousin Everard joins the scene, discoveries of passion, marriage, and the rights and roles of women are “bursting like corsets with unbridled desire.”

Age of Arousal is directed by UFV Theatre faculty member Ian Fenwick. The production features a cast of six student actors and over 20 students working in backstage roles to gain valuable skills as they become trained theatre practitioners.

Age of Arousal runs January 8-26, 2014 at the UFV Performance Theatre located at 45635 Yale Road in Chilliwack. There will be two half-price previews on Wed, Jan 8 and Thurs, Jan 9. Opening night is Fri, Jan 10 and 7:30 pm performances continue on Jan 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, and 25; there are two matinees at 2 pm on Sunday, Jan 19 and 26; there is one weekday matinee at 12 noon on Friday, Jan 17. Ticket prices range from $11-$23 plus service fees and are available online at UFV.ca/theatre or through the UFV Theatre box office at 604-795-2814 and theatre@ufv.ca.

UFV Theatre presents a full season of theatre including three main stage productions, the Directors’ Theatre Festival, and a variety of special presentations such as play readings, cabarets, and more. All UFV Theatre productions cultivate professional standards of practice and performance, and offer many opportunities for students to develop industry skills both onstage and behind the scenes.