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Adventures of Herculina to be presented April 5-8

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April 5, 2001

NORTHFIELD, Minn. ? "The Adventures of Herculina" a fictionalized account of the life of Herculina Barbin, opens Thursday, April 5, and runs through Sunday, April 8, at St. Olaf College.

The play, presented by the St. Olaf Communication-Theater Department, starts at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Performances will be in Kelsey Theater of the Communication-Theater Building. Tickets ($6) may be reserved by calling the theater box office at (507) 646-8987, or may be picked up in the Communication-Theater Building Monday through Friday from 1-4 p.m.

The play is directed by St. Olaf communication and theater chair Gary Gisselman.

Herculina Barbin was declared a female at birth in 1838 and was raised as such in a convent school in France. After a doctor?s examination during adolescence, Herculina was redefined as male. Playwright Kira Obolensky wrote in her notes, "This play is loosely based on her/his diary, which was discovered in the 1970s."

"The Adventures of Herculina" examines the life of this extraordinary person, while examining society?s need to classify and define what cannot be explained in understandable terms. Obolensky says Herculina is a "young romantic of indeterminate gender whose search for love leads to corrupting, byzantine adventures in Victorian Paris.

Delightful, heartbreaking and imaginative, "The Adventures of Herculina" walks viewers through the fanciful wonderland of Herculina?s desire for knowledge, travel, love and acceptance.

? more ?

"Adventures of Herculina" ? 2

St. Olaf College prepares students to become responsible citizens of the world, fostering development of mind, body and spirit. A four-year, coeducational liberal arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), St. Olaf has a student enrollment of 2,950 and a full-time faculty complement of approximately 300. It is one of Money Guide?s top 100 "elite values in college education today," and it leads the nation?s colleges in percentage of students who study abroad.

Contact Michael Cooper at 507-786-3315 or cooperm@stolaf.edu.