June 10, 1997 University Theatre Contact Joseph Gilg (541) 346-4190 or John R. Crosiar 346-3135 EUGENE--Season tickets are on sale now for University Theatre's 1997-98 main-stage season whose four productions span a variety of styles, each dealing with the concept of love in an unique way. Each of the plays, beginning this fall with Noel Coward's "Design for Living" and ending next spring with Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona," will be performed in Robinson Theatre at Villard Hall, 1109 Old Campus Lane in the northwest corner of the University of Oregon campus. For lowest prices, order season tickets before July 15. Costs--a 25 percent savings from single-ticket prices--are $27 for the general public; $21 for senior citizens, UO faculty and staff, and non-UO students; and $13.50 for UO students. After July 15, season passes for the four plays--still reduced 15 percent--will be $30, $24 and $15 respectively. Although three of the season's plays were written in the first half of the 20th century, they represent widely divergent theatrical styles. Along with the Shakespeare production, the season represents everything from realism to lyric poetry to American Expressionism. "Design for Living," set Nov. 7-8, 13-15 and 21-22, launches the season. One of the classic comedies of the modern theater, it was written by Noel Coward, the consummate master of the drawing room comedy of manners. The story involves the familiar love triangle (plus one) with Gilda trying to decide among her three suitors--a painter, a playwright and an art dealer. Set against the cosmopolitan backgrounds of Paris, London and New York, it is Coward at his best. Federico Garcia Lorca's stunningly theatrical production, "Blood Wedding," takes center stage next, opening Jan. 30-31 and continuing on Feb. 5-7 and 13-14. This powerfully passionate play ranks with "Romeo and Juliet" for its portrayal of the lyric beauty of young people in love. Lorca's haunting poetry accents the consequences of a family feud and betrayal which leads to tragedy on a young couple's wedding day. This theatrically vibrant story explores the wonders and power of nature in concert and conflict with the passion of human love. "Machinal" by Sophie Treadwell opens April 10-11 and also plays April 16-18 and 24-25. This is a provocative and experimental American classic lifted from the front pages of a city's newspapers in the late 1920s. It is an expressionistic depiction of love and marriage in an inhuman and mechanized society. Offering a woman's perspective on love, this play gained great notoriety when first produced in 1928 and has become increasingly popular and often produced in the `90s. The 1997-98 Robinson Theatre season ends with Shakespeare's elegant "Two Gentlemen of Verona," which plays May 22-23 and 28-30 and June 5-6. This is a delightful romantic comedy about two best friends whose relationship is tested by the unpredictable nature of love. It features four young lovers, numerous fools, a dog, disguises, travel, high romance, low clowning and a feast of puns, quips and other word play before all ends happily. Written in the farcical commedia dell'arte tradition, it is also uniquely Shakespearean in its tenderness and depth of feeling. The University Theatre Box Office is closed for the summer but you can get information or order season tickets by calling the University Theatre Development Office at (541) 346-4190. The box office is scheduled to re-open Tuesday, Sept. 30, when it will resume its normal operating hours of noon-6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. A taped message about summer and fall University Theatre productions also is available 24 hours a day by calling GuardLine from a Touch-Tone phone at 485-2000, ext. 5665. -30- #P-2271/A&E