New show set for April 26; original play about Iowa City sold out quickly
Monday, April 16, 2012

Upated April 23: Hancher and Working Group Theatre have added a fifth show of Mayberry. Tickets are now available for a performance on Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m. at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City.

Mayberry, written by playwright Sean Christopher Lewis, performed by Working Group Theatre and commissioned by the University of Iowa's Hancher, is an original work about Iowa City. The originally scheduled performances (Friday–Sunday, April 27-29) sold out quickly, so an additional performance has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 26, at Riverside Theatre. A limited number of tickets are available for that show.

A photograph of Sean Christopher Lewis, a playwright
Sean Christopher Lewis

Lewis, who earned his MFA in playwriting from the UI, is a founding member of Working Group Theatre. He has received several awards for his work including the National New Play Network’s (NNPN) Smith Prize For Drama, the Kennedy Center’s Rosa Parks Award, the William Inge Fellowship, and an Emerging Playwright’s Residency from Interact Theatre and the NNPN. His plays and works have received full productions at theaters across the United States and Canada.

Hancher partnered with Lewis and Working Group Theatre to create Mayberry, an original play about Iowa City and the challenges and transitions the community faces with a growing influx of people from the Chicago metropolitan area. Lewis interviewed a wide cross-section of community members to create the play.

Mayberry is sponsored by an anonymous family foundation and the Hancher Partners.

Tickets are $25 ($10 for college students; $22.50 for senior citizens; $12.50 for youth); they are available from the Hancher Box Office, 319-335-1160 or 800-426-2437, www.hancher.uiowa.edu. Any remaining tickets will be available for sale one hour before show time at Riverside Theatre.