"Stages of AIDS III," a theatrical benefit for the Licking County AIDS Task Force, will be presented at 9 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 1) in Denison University's Ace Morgan Theatre. This event marks the third year that the Denison AIDS Task Force and the Theatre Department have collaborated to present a performance on World AIDS Day. This year the performance will follow the traditional Candlelight Walking Tour in Granville and will consist of several scenes from plays about AIDS written in the past two decades. It will be directed by Kevin Wetmore and Robert Gander, assistant professors of theatre at Denison.

Organizing the event are Wetmore, and Joanna Gollobin, a junior from Huntington, N.Y. and co-chair of the Denison AIDS Task Force. "The first two years we did this were very successful, raising a lot of money for an important cause," says Wetmore. "In some places, World AIDS Day is also 'A Day Without Art' ? a day when art stops so we might remember those we have lost. We, however, also want to remember them by celebrating their art, their theatre, and their lives," he continued. "This, for us, is a day to focus on how theatre has led the fight against AIDS and against discrimination against people with AIDS and to remind ourselves that neither battle is over."

The AIDS epidemic was officially declared on June 5, 1981. Since then, nearly 80 people in Licking County have died from the disease. All proceeds from this production will go to the Licking County AIDS Task Force. Suggested donations are $10 for general admission and $5 for students and senior citizens. Reservations should be made by calling the Denison Theatre Box Office at 740-587-6527.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

For press inquiries:

Name

Barbara Stambaugh

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Director, Media Relations

Primary Email

stambaughb@denison.edu

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(740) 587-8575