Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2006

Contact: Contact: Mike Emery
713.743.8186 (office)
713.415.6551 (pager)
pemery@uh.edu

The arrival of a mysterious stranger forces the bureaucrats of a Russian town to quickly cover up their misdeeds. But can they hide their dirty laundry from this outsider? And is he really the dreaded Government Inspector everyone fears?

The University of Houston’s School of Theatre will present Nikolai Gogol’s classic satire “The Government Inspector” Feb. 17 - 18 and 24 – 26 in the Lyndall Finley Wortham Theatre.

Set in 19th century Russia, this comedy of errors features a host of colorful characters who are brought to life by Gogol’s story of greed and corruption – two very topical elements considering recent corporate scandals.

“This particular farce is very liberating,” said Sidney Berger, director of both the play and the School of Theatre. “The play is not about great character dimension. These people are full-blooded and absolute. Audiences don’t have to think too deeply about their motivations. The characters are motivated by pure self-interest with bribery and corruption viewed as a way of life. That’s what makes them compelling.”

For this particular production, Berger enlisted the aid of Rutherford “Ruddy” Cravens, a professional Equity actor to portray the role of the town’s mayor. Cravens is a veteran actor on the Houston theater scene and works with the School of Theatre on numerous projects including the Houston Shakespeare Festival.

General admission tickets are $15; $12 for UH faculty, staff and alumni; $10 for seniors or groups of 10 or more, and $7 for students. Ticket information can be obtained by calling the Wortham Theatre box office at
(713) 743-2929. For more information about the UH School of Theatre, visit the Web site http://www.class.uh.edu/theatre/home.html.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.