Upcoming play has many SMU connections

“East Side Story,” a play by Lynn Nankivil, an undergraduate and graduate alum of Saint Mary’s, will be performed Nov. 20-22 at the Historic Masonic Theatre, 255 Main St., Winona.

Produced by Theatre du Mississippi, “East Side Story” is about spring in Winona in 1918. It is directed by Daniel Munson, who will teach a course in the SMU Department of Theatre and Dance next spring. Fluffy Blake, Performance Center production manager, will serve as technical director and lighting designer. Ken McCullough, assistant director of Academic Advising, director of PASS and a lecturer in English, will be performing in the play. Additionally, SMU senior Fallon Devine is the production’s dance coach.

All 15 cast-members are from the area. The play will be staged at the Historic Masonic Theater using some of the magnificent 100-year-old theatrical drops.

The play concerns the immigrant families of Polish and German descent who lived in Winona at the time of America’s entry into World War I. When Roman Valasek, son of a Polish patriot, falls in love with Juliet Schultz, whose father’s nephews fight in the German army, it is “Romeo and Juliet” all over again in 1918 Winona. It’s a story of many Winona families and a tale filled with love, war....and baseball!

Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and are available at Bluff Country Co-op, the Bookshelf and Midtown Foods, or online at www.tdmwinona.org.