Pierce College News

The Pierce College winter production of Rashomon will open Feb. 22. The sets by Fred Metzger will incorporate continuous projected video elements, mood lighting, a continuous sound score and modern-day periaktoi.*
Production dates are Feb. 22 to 23 and Feb. 27 to March 2. Wednesday, Feb. 27, is half-price night. Shows are 8 p.m. in the theatre, Cascade Building, Pierce College Fort Steilacoom, 9401 Farwest Drive S.W., Lakewood. Tickets are $8 for general admission and $7 for Pierce students. Reservations can be made by calling (253) 964-6710.

Director Patrick Daugherty has double cast the play with an all-student cadre of actors.

The play was originally a movie by the same name. The plot is based on stories by Ryunosuke Akutagawa adapted for the stage by Fay and Michael Kanin. The action takes place in Kyoto, Japan, about a thousand years ago. The wife of a Samurai officer is assaulted and her husband murdered by a roving bandit. Contradictory versions of what happened are re-enacted at the trial by the bandit, the wife and the dead husband who speaks through a sorceress. Each version is true in its fashion.

*Periaktoi were an ancient theater method of changing scenery consisting of triangular columns on each side of the stage that could rotate to indicate different locations.

Nancy J. Nelson’s presentation African-American Women in Music: Not Just the Blues is scheduled for noon, March 7, in the Gaspard Administration Building atrium at Pierce College Puyallup, 1601 39th Ave. S.E. in the South Hill area. The program, sponsored by Puyallup’s student programs, is free and open to the public. For more information, call (253) 840-8415.

A vocalist herself, Nelson has researched the role of women, particularly African-American women, in American music, including classical compositions and performances.

Gov. Gary Locke’s office announced the appointment of James C. Tsang as the newest member of the Pierce College district’s board of trustees. Tsang replaces longtime Pierce advocate, Betty Hogan.

Tsang is a principal of the BCRA Tsang architectural firm in Tacoma. Prior to the 1999 merger with Architects BCRA, The Tsang Partnership included more than 60 staffers in offices in Seattle and Tacoma.

A 1977 graduate of the University of Oregon, Tsang has won design awards for state buildings such as the State Archives in Ellensburg, the Capitol Campus Information Center in Olympia, the main branch of the Tacoma Public Library and the Lakewood YMCA. His memberships have run the gamut from Rotary to university advisory boards to arts organizations.