Denison University's Department of Theatre will present the premiere ofLocks, a play by senior Scott Barsotti and directed, designed and performed by students. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (April 24, 25 and 26) in Burke Hall Theatre. Admission is free, but seating is limited and reservations are recommended.

The play is set in a backyard storage cellar where three brothers, through a comedy of errors, find themselves entombed. As the hours go by and the prospect of escape becomes increasingly dim, memories are evoked, old animosities revived, and new connections forged. "For me,Lockshas been a lesson about how important connections can be," says director Matthew Bolish. "The common bonds we have with family and friends are among the first things that we take for granted."

Locksbegan as an exercise during a playwriting course taught last spring by Reynolds Playwright-in-Residence Caridad Svich. "Since her initial reading," says Barsotti, "the play has matured substantially in its language, messages, and themes.Locksexplores the boundaries between reality and fantasy through the theme of dreams. It may serve as a reminder that people need not be in our physical locality to affect us. Through our thoughts and dreams, the tangible becomes the intangible, and vice versa, and each affects us in its own powerful way."

Barsotti (Pittsburgh) will graduate this May with a bachelor's degree in English (creative writing). He was co-producer of the recent one-act play festival,Dramatis Personae, in which his playTen Hundred Thousandwas performed. In last year's festival, his entry wasThe Darling Camerons. He made his stage debut inLysistratalast fall. Barsotti is a board member of Denison's biannual literary magazine, EXILE, in which he has been published three times. His senior writing project is a feature-length screenplay titledRibbon.

Director Bolish (Bethel Park, Pa.) also will graduate this May with a major in political science and a minor in theatre. He directed this season's production ofLysistrataas well as the Theatre II production ofBurning and Brightand Barsotti's one-actThe Darling Camerons.

Theatre senior Jason Seltzer (Pittsburgh) has been involved with the production since last summer. "I vividly remember reading the first draft ofLocks," he recalls, "and being instantly enamored of the vivid characters, the magnificent blend of dream and realism, and the universally identifiable themes." Seltzer will play Michael, whose brothers, Cary and Nathan, will be played by juniors Scott Towler (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Jonathan Olmstead (New York City). Others in the cast are juniors Daniel Burleson (Watertown, Wis.), Katherine McKenna (Manhasset, N.Y.), and Oma Turanchik (Columbus) and first-year students Robert Hackett (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Cara Kalnow (Chicago), and Catherine Ross (University Heights).

Senior Lauren Godburn (Meriden, Conn.) is scenic designer, senior Jessica Pitcairn (Cincinnati), is costume designer, and sophomore Alexis Carrozza (North Muskegon, Mich.) is lighting designer. Junior Dominic Dodrill (Jackson) is the stage manager.

Reservations may be made by calling the 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.

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