MCLEOD TO OPEN THEATER SEASON WITH `DEALERS IN YOUNG WOMEN'

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The McLeod Theater will embark on a new season with the production of "Dealers In Young Women", a play that includes disguises, magical disappearances, villains, a clever detective and a happy ending.

"Dealers In Young Women" will run Oct. 7,8,14 and 15 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. at the SIU Carbondale theater.

The play features Ata Karim as the evil Dr. Salaya, who sells innocent girls into slavery. One such girl is Hilda Murivale, who is portrayed by June Huddleston.

His plan is foiled by Barney, a clever cook played by Rick Strauss.

The SIU Theater Department chose to produce the period melodrama in celebration of its 125th anniversary. Dealers was chosen from the thousands of scripts in the Sherman Theater Collection, which was recently discovered in storage in the university's Morris Library.

The play stirred controversy when it premiered on Broadway in 1915. Its critics were shocked by the then common practice of kidnapping women and selling them as prostitutes and managed to have the theater closed and its manager jailed.

"The play's producers were very opportunistic in picking a hot issue of the day," Director Sarah Blackstone said. "Melodrama was the television of the 19th century, and it dealt with topical issues just as series do today."

Tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for patrons over 55, and $4 for students and children under age 15.

For more information or to purchase tickets call (618) 453-3001.