College of Arts and Sciences Newsroom
At Wit's End
The Human Race Theatre Company will stage a special spring 2018 production of Allison Engel and Margaret Engel's Erma Bombeck: At Wit's End, with four preview performances to benefit the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop at the University of Dayton.
Humorist Erma Bombeck '49 is one of America's most celebrated writers and one of the University of Dayton's most famous graduates. The popular, biennial workshop attracts 350 writers from around the nation. It is supported by the College of Arts and Sciences dean’s office, the department of communication and the Alumni Association.
Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End will be presented April 27-May 13 in the Human Race’s 54-seat performance space at its Caryl D. Philips Creativity Center, 116 N. Jefferson St., 2nd floor, in downtown Dayton.
The special preview performances for the Bombeck Writers’ Workshop are April 19-22. The public preview performance is April 26. Opening night is April 27.
The touching, one-woman comedy is titled after Bombeck’s long-running newspaper column and directed by Heather N. Powell. Human Race resident artist Jennifer Joplin (at left) stars as the literary icon whose candid commentary on life as a woman, spouse and mother made her the champion of suburban housewives everywhere and her newspaper columns a mainstay on kitchen refrigerators for more than 30 years. Full of personal anecdotes and sprinkled with plenty of Bombeck’s famous one-liners, it’s a charming biography that proves “if you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.”
“I’m thrilled this funny and poignant play is coming to Dayton, Erma’s hometown,” said Teri Rizvi, founder and director of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. “Her wit and wisdom have stood the test of time — and remind us that the foibles of family life will always make us laugh.”
Director Powell helmed the Human Race’s 2015 production of Steel Magnolias at the Loft Theatre, as well as the company’s touring productions of Change and A Dickens of a Time. Joplin has appeared in dozens of productions at the Human Race Theatre Company and throughout Cincinnati.
Tickets for the April 26- May 13 performances of Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End are currently only available to 2017-2018 Eichelberger Loft Season subscribers and will go on sale to the public for $25 starting Nov. 21. Seating is general admission.
Ticket information for the Writers’ Workshop benefit performances is to be announced.
Show times are 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
More information on Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End is available at the Human Race Theatre Company website.