hapman has returned to Gainesville to lead the production of Santa Fe College’s rendition of “Invasion of Privacy.”
The play premieres at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Santa Fe Fine Arts Hall, located at 3000 NW 83rd St.
Chapman, director in the Master Artist Series, is no stranger to Gainesville. In 2013, she starred in Santa Fe’s production of “Vivian,” a one-woman play that was based on the story of Vivian Leigh.
Cultural Programs coordinator Kathryn Lehman wrote a grant to support the finances to bring the play to Santa Fe, Department Chair of Fine Arts Alora Haynes said.
“(This is) very relevant to our community, history, social issues, women’s issues, legal issues,” Hayes wrote in an email, “and the playwright Larry Parr will be in attendance Thursday night.”
The notable play has significant meaning to Alachua County history. It’s based on the infamous lawsuit between Pulitzer Prize winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her friend Zelma Cason.
“Cason’s lawsuit pitted a citizen’s right of privacy against an author’s constitutional guarantee of free speech,” wrote the Santa Fe College Times.
The lawsuit eventually gained international attention and is still prominent in Alachua County to this day.
Now, Chapman brings the slice of history to life with a California-based cast carefully selected to fill the roles of these historical figures. The cast features Gina Bikales, the artistic director of Script2Stage2Screen. Bikales will play Marjorie in a reprise of an award-winning performance in “Invasion of Privacy.”
The play will host two other show dates at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $15 for adult orchestra and mezzanine seats, $12 for balcony seats and $9 for students, seniors and faculty and staff. Tickets can be purchased at the box office and at sfcollege.edu/finearts.
[A version of this story ran on page 9 on 6/18/15]
