UNCW’s Honors College presents two performances of Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter’s play Ashes to Ashes, directed by internationally recognized Pinter scholar, Dr. Charles Grimes. Shows are free and open to the public, beginning at 7.30pm on Thursday April 11 and Friday April 12 in the SRO Theatre in UNCW’s Cultural Arts Building.

Over drinks one late night, a man and woman argue as the woman discusses her lover who has apparently been instrumental in an act of genocide. The woman is haunted by traumatic stories of witnessing concentration camps and refugees. As the man questions these stories, the woman descends, perhaps irrecoverably, into a psychological space suffused with the historical violence of the 20th century. Harold Pinter is one of the most lauded playwrights of the contemporary age and Ashes to Ashes brings together many of his main themes: the uncertain status of memory, conflict between the genders, and the ways power, politics, and history infect personal relationships.

“Working on this show has really broadened my perspective,” reports Stage Manager Zoe Franzak. “Pinter reminds us to be empathetic and critical of the tragedy that surrounds us.” Lead actor EC Cobb-Curtis Bailey notes, “With Pinter there is no wasted word.”

Parking is free for theatre patrons in the pay station spaces in front of the Cultural Arts Building (CAB) lot (lot Q), in gated lot Q, and across the street from the CAB in Randall Drive lot (lot I) after 5 pm Monday - Friday and all day Saturday.