By Whitney Hale

(Feb. 5, 2016) — Performances of "Dead Poets Society" will kick off this semester of productions in the University of Kentucky Department of Theatre and Dance Studio Season. The spring portion of the season, which gives UK students the chance to stage their own work or interpretations of work, opens with two showings of "Dead Poets Society" at 5 p.m. today (Friday, Feb. 5) and noon Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Lucille C. Little Black Box Theatre, located in room 102 of the Fine Arts Building.

The UK Theatre and Dance Studio Season provides an opportunity for students to generate their own work in the department's facilities with the department's available resources and benefiting from the advice and supervision of the department's faculty and staff. Theatre faculty encourage students to use the Studio Season as a laboratory for experimentation in a variety of theatrical forms. Students are challenged to think creatively.

This spring's productions and the students presenting them are:

· "Dead Poets Society," play by Gina Cerimele-Mechley and Cincinnati Actor’s Studio and Academy, directed by theatre senior Faith Gingrich-Goetz, of Cincinnati, Ohio, Feb. 5-6;

· "Nevada, Nevada," play by English and theatre senior Jenny Winstead, of Louisville, Kentucky, directed by theatre junior Maddy Williamson, of Norfolk, Virginia, Feb. 26-27;

· "Revenge on Reality," play written and directed by theatre senior Rob Miller, of Hilliard, Ohio, March 25-26;

· "Our Town," play by Thornton Wilder, directed by senior Daylin Tone, of Burbank, California, April 1-2;

· "Women and Wallace," play by Jonathan Marc Sherman, directed by theatre senior Katy Vest, of Frankfort, Kentucky, April 8-9;

· "Eat (It’s Not About Food)," play by Linda Daugherty, directed by elementary education and theatre junior Myranda Thomas, of Corbin, Kentucky, April 18-19;

· "Five Drinks," play by Jake Willams and Anna Dye, directed by Tone, April 22-23; and

· "Jefferson Hawthorne," play by English and theatre senior Abby Schroering, of Louisville, directed by theatre junior Curtis Lipsey, of Louisville, April 29-30.

For specific times for each production, visit http://finearts.uky.edu/theatre/studio-season. All performances will be staged in the Little Black Box Theatre, except "Our Town," which will be held in the Wallace N. Briggs Theatre. All shows are free and open to the public.

The UK Department of Theatre and Dance at UK College of Fine Arts has played an active role in the performance scene in Central Kentucky for more than 100 years. Students in the program get hands-on training and one-on-one mentorship from the renowned professional theatre faculty. The liberal arts focus of their bachelor's degree program is coupled with ongoing career counseling to ensure a successful transition from campus to professional life.