MONMOUTH, Ill. — Monmouth College’s Crimson Masque will open its 2007-2008 theater season with Paula Vogel’s racy, uproarious comedy, "The Baltimore Waltz." Performances are Nov. 1 through 3 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. in the college’s WIT Theater in the basement of the Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center.

Tickets are $4 for MC students, faculty and staff; $5 for other students and senior citizens; and $6 for adults. They may be reserved by calling 309-457-2104 or by e-mailing theater@monm.edu.

"The Baltimore Waltz" first opened off-Broadway in 1992 at the Circle Repertory Theater under the direction of Anne Bogart. The play’s prominence in the theater world was immediately recognized as Obie Awards (or "Off-Broadway Theater Awards" bestowed by the newspaper "The Village Voice") went to Vogel for Best New American Play, to Bogart for Best Direction and to Cherry Jones, who played the role of Anna, for Best Performance.

"In the guise of an uproarious comedy, playwright Paula Vogel tackles the AIDS epidemic, family, love and loss," said Janeve West, MC professor of communication and theater arts, who is the play’s director. "This hilarious and heart-warming comedy begins when Anna, an unmarried schoolteacher played by junior Missy Metz of Chicago, is diagnosed with ATD, Acquired Toilet Disease, a fatal new malady with a high risk factor for elementary school teachers."

The racy comedy continues as Anna and her brother, Carl, played by freshman Brandon Landon of Oneida, take flight to Europe, where Anna decides she wants to drown herself in the sensuality of food and sex. Meanwhile, Carl becomes involved in a wild Third Mannish espionage scheme to find a cure for his sister on the Continent.

Other cast members include freshmen Brittany Alston of Bolingsbrook and Evan Green of Galesburg, sophomore Kate Drost of Naperville and junior Ryan Burns of Homewood. Behind the scenes crew members include freshmen Stacey Field of Chicago and Lauren Kelly of Pekin, serving as stage manager and assistant stage manager repectively; Doug Rankin, director of theater, set designer; junior Maddy Ethington of Orland Hills, costume designer; and sophomore Karissa Inman of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, props master.

Vogel, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for her play "How I Learned to Drive," is recognized as an iconoclastic American playwright. Her work, which has been performed in academic, regional and professional theaters throughout the U.S., England, Brazil and Canada, explores such controversial topics as domestic abuse, homosexuality, gender roles and stereotyping, pedophilia, pornography and AIDS. Reviewers have commended her humor, compassion and creative approach to some of these sensitive issues.

Since 1985 the popular playwright has served as head of the M.F.A. writing program at Brown University. She received a Guggenheim Award in 1995, as well as several grants and awards for her work, including a Bunting Fellowship, a McKnight Fellowship at the Playwright’s Center, two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships and a residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center.

Unlike the Wells Theater at Monmouth College, which is a proscenium-style theater space, the relatively new WIT Theater is preferred for this production because it is more flexible as it can be presented as theater-in-the-round or in a thrust configuration. This increased flexibility in the small, 100-seat venue provides more performance flexibility and allows for different relationships between the actors and the audience, according to West. WIT is an acronym for work, inspiration and truth.

West cautions audience members that the script contains adult topics and language.