The play, by Joseph Kesselring, is a black comedy about two elderly spinsters who poison lonely old men who stay with them as boarders will be offered at 7 p.m. on May 23 and May 24 and at 2 p.m. on May 25.

Tickets are $5 and on sale at the Cosmopolitan Ladies Club and Gallery and at the door before each performance. For more information, call Janet Rider-Babbit, president of Magnolia Arts at 235-9896.

Twelve students participated in the Festival, entering a total of 18 videos in five different categories. The categories were: commercial, motion graphic, narrative, documentary and music video. Students from SAU, John Brown University, and area high schools participated, but in the end, Southern Arkansas University Students rose to the top.

Heard’s experimental music video titled “Let Go” won the grand prize of $300. Second place, $200, and the McNeill Family Prize for Best Documentary Film worth $100 went to Jameson Sheppard of John Brown University for his film, “Rush,” a documentary following the progress of two teens in dirt track racing. Third place and $100 went to Matt Taylor of SAU for his motion graphic “Celestial Prison.” Matt also received the People’s Choice Award for his narrative film, “Unscripted,” an improvisational horror film set in downtown Magnolia. “Yellow Rock,” a documentary by Gina Caylor of Fayetteville High School, won Honorable Mention.

Judges for the festival were David Murphy, SAU Theatre and Mass Communications department chair, Daehwan Cho, assistant professor of digital media, and Aaron Street, director of the SAU Communications Center.

Plans are already in the works for the festival to take place again next year sometime in April. For more information, contact Daehwan Cho at 870-235-4260.

Byron Pitts, a CBS National Correspondent has been selected as this year’s speaker. Pitts, CBS News’ lead reporter during the Sept. 11 attacks, has also been recognized for covering other key national stories in recent years. These include the war in Afghanistan, the Elian Gonzalez story, the Florida Presidential recount, and reporting the fall of a Saddam statue while under fire.

Pitts is the recipient of four Associated Press awards, one national Emmy award, six regional Emmy awards, and a National Association of Black Journalists award.

“Mr. Pitts is one of today’s leading television journalists. We are pleased and fortunate to be able to add this diverse and experienced speaker to our list of Emerson-Thomas Crone lectures. I hope that everyone will be able to attend this lecture and hear about the personal obstacles he has overcome in his life as well as his first-hand observations of both the 9-11 tragedy and as an embedded reporter in the war in Iraq. It should be an exciting evening.”

The Emerson-Thomas-Crone Lecture is free and open to the public.

The Student Video Festival was created when Professor Daehwan Cho wanted to give SAU’s new digital media production program more recognition. The festival will showcase videos from high school and college students, and viewing will be open to the public. A variety of student-created videos ranging from documentaries, original commercials and short feature films to animation and music videos will be shown.

For more information, contact Daewahn Cho at dcho@saumag.edu or 870-235-4206.

Ulrich, a wildlife photographer from West Glacier, Mont., will present “Living Wild with Tom Ulrich.” This program will highlight his world travels in 2007 including Costa Rica, all of North America and Hawaii.

Freelancing since 1975, Tom Ulrich has had many of his 600,000 plus transparencies published in many magazines and other publications such as “National Wildlife,” “Audubon,” “Outdoor Oklahoma,” “Sierra,” “American Hunter,” “Ranger Rick,” “Alaska,” “National Geographic,” “Montana Outdoors,” “Life” and many others. He has also published six nature books: “Mammals of the Canadian Rockies,” “Birds of the Canadian Rockies,” “Mammals of the Northern Rockies,” “Birds of the Northern Rockies,” “Once Upon a Frame” and “Photo Pantanal.” Ulrich has received many awards including the mammal behavior category international wildlife photographer of the year in 1987. He is also the winner of multiple national wildlife photo contests

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call 870-235-5053 or visit www.tomulrichphotos.com/index.htm.

The comedy will be directed by student Christina Riggins and will feature six actors portraying multiple characters. The play centers around the traditions of the dining room and how those traditions have changed over time. Seating for the performance is actually on the stage, causing limited seating for each night’s show.

Tickets are $3 for students, faculty and staff and $5 for general admission and will be sold in Overstreet 225 Monday, Wednesday and Friday: 8-9 a.m., 10-11 a.m., 12- 5p.m., and Thursday 8-9 a.m. and 12:30-4 p.m. The house will open for seating at 6:30 p.m. the nights of the performance, and the audience will enter through the back stage door in the back hall in Overstreet.

For more information, contact David Murphy at 235-4257.

The troupe will perform “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 7, on the Emmet Campus of the Blevins/Emmet School District and 1:30 p.m. on the Stephens Elementary Campus. The next performance will be at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Thursday, November 8 at Fouke Elementary School. The final performances will be at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, November 9, on the Taylor Elementary Campus of the Emerson/Taylor School District and 1:30 p.m. at Bradley Elementary.

“The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” is an exciting new adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ classic adventure created by le Clanché du Rand. This new play, which toured nationally for the Lincoln Center, captures all the courage, heroism, faith, love, and high ideals of Lewis’ story while presenting them in an intimate, accessible form.

The story centers on a young explorer and friends who are transported to a secret world of Naiads, Dryads, witches, and kings while playing a simple game. By the passing of a little hand through an old piece of furniture, treachery, tyranny, and great honor are unlocked. It is in this secret world that the children learn to believe in
themselves and find the bravery and honor to dispel the evil forces that control Narnia—a world where it is always winter but never Christmas. Led by a mighty king, the children unite with creatures of the forest, and wrongs are righted.

The production is directed by Bradley Anderson, director of the Arts Center’s Children’s Theatre. The cast includes Katherine Campbell, Lizzy Eberle, and Josh Rice. They are professional actors playing a variety of roles.

The Tell-a-Tale Troupe travels statewide performing three original productions each year. Intended to be both educational and entertaining, the plays are often the first live theatre experience for many school children.

All Arkansas Arts Center touring programs are supported in part by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts. Season sponsors include: Wal-Mart Foundation; Bank of America; Stella Boyle Smith Trust; The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston; Union Pacific Foundation; Rebsamen Fund; Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation; and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

For more information, contact Rita Rhea at 870-235-4186.

The Pulitzer-Prize winning play is the first play to win before being produced on Broadway. It was written by Beth Henley and set in Hazelhurst, Miss., where three sisters reunite and discover they’ve all been through some grave times.

“The three sisters have been apart coping with major issues and are feeling alone, but by the end they realize they are not alone because they have each other,” said Lee Crouse, visiting assistant professor of acting and directing.

Erin Nipper, one of the leads in the play, said she expects people to enjoy the show because of its theme of togetherness and familiarity and its enjoyable characters.

“Throughout learning about the show, I find myself saying, ‘I know these
people,’ ”said Nipper, a junior from Magnolia majoring in psychology. “It is the perfect show for a small town.”

Admission for the play is $3 for students, faculty and staff and $5 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased at the door, but large groups are asked to call Crouse at 870-235-4256 so special seating arrangements may be made. The box office of the theatre opens at 6:30 p.m. nightly.

Jessica Leigh Brown, a double major in criminal justice and political science from Prescott , was named the Outstanding Student for the entire College. She was also the Outstanding Student from the Department of History, Political Science, and Geography and the Department of Behavioral and Social Science.

While maintaining a 4.0 grade point average during her time at SAU, Brown has remained active in the Criminal Justice Club, Pre-Law Club, and Pi Gamma Mu, the international social sciences honor society. Off campus, she has served in a supervisor’s position at El Dorado High School, where she tutored students in history, Engish, business law, and ethics. She also trains new tutors.

During her summers, Brown has spent time with mission work. Her outreach carries on in the form of mission and foreign aid trips which she has taken with the Wyatt Baptist Church in El Dorado. These have led her to such places as Ghana, West Africa, and most recently to Nicaragua, Central America.
Brown is married to Logan, a student at SAU Tech and a former Operation Iraqi Freedom fighter. Logan received a Bronze Star for his actions while there.

The couple is looking forward to their future together as Jessica heads toward law school and more mission trips with their church.

The Department of Art and Design recognized Kassie Holloway as its Outstanding Student. Holloway is a graphic design major from Haynesville, La.

Holloway was the recipient of the Shirley Jeffcoat Combs Scholarship. During the spring semester, she worked as an intern at Southern Aluminum in Magnolia. After graduation, she will move to Shreveport, La., and look for work. She has also continued her work as a freelance designer while maintaining her duties as a student worker for the Department.

She has volunteered in campus and community projects and is a member of Pivot Point and the American Institution for Graphic Artist.

Sharee Robinson was named the Department of Music Outstanding Student. Robinson is a music major from Alma.

She served two years as the assistant music director for the First Presbyterian Church in Magnolia. She was also an assistant director of the Harvest Time Tabernacle Youth Choir in Fort Smith. Robinson plays the piano and bassoon. While attending college at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Robinson taught lessons for the Kimmons Junior High Band.

Jennifer Walsh, a mass communication-print journalism major from Magnolia, was named the Department of Theatre and Mass Communication Outstanding Student.

While at SAU, Walsh served as editor of The Bray, the student newspaper. She is also a member of Alpha Chi, Sigma Beta Delta, and Beta Gamma Sigma.

She currently works as an accounts payable clerk at South Arkansas Youth Services, Inc., in Magnolia.

The Department of English and Foreign Languages named Elena Yakunina as its Outstanding Student. Yakunina is a double major in English and psychology.

Yakunina has been on the English language track since she was 16 years old. She had to choose her field before leaving for the University of Sofia in Bulgaria, where she spent three years before coming to SAU.

Not too long after she arrived at SAU, Yakunina decided to add psychology as a second major to her studies.

Yakunina has membership in the Southwestern Psychological Association, Psi Chi, Alpha Chi, and the National Academic Honor Societies. She is an active member of Sigma Tau Delta and the French Club. She has also served as a part-time volunteer at the Women’s Crisis Center in Camden.

After graduation, Yakunina will continue her education at the University of Akron in Ohio to pursue her Ph.D. in psychology in the field of counseling adults.