Bates seniors to stage "An Evening of Performance Art"

Bates senior theater majors Chris Mathien of Veazie, Maine, and Kathleen Wyatt of Braintree, Mass., will stage An Evening of Performance Art at 8 p.m. March 24 and 25 and at 2 p.m. March 26 in Gannett Theater, Bates College. Tickets are $6 for general admission and $3 for students and seniors. Call the Schaeffer Theatre Box office at 207-786-6161 for more information.

Mathien’s piece, the story of man who is trying to find a way to cry and to determine why it is so hard to cry, will dramatize how societal definitions of masculinity affect the expression of sadness. As the protagonist is blind, Mathien also will juxtapose the meaning of the character’s physical disability with his emotional disability in the performance intended for mature audiences. Wyatt’s piece will focus on what she calls the “sexuality of space,” or how gender-based power struggles occur within certain rooms and buildings.