“Gum” – Feb. 9 – 11 – Mandell Weiss Forum Studio
Karen Hartman’s “Gum,” directed by Chay Yew, has its humorous moments but it isn’t a lighthearted comedic affair. The play was inspired by an Egyptian town where authorities blamed the deviant behavior of young men and women found copulating in cars on contaminated gum. “Gum” explores both the ridiculousness of a restriction on candy and the dark, violent penalties carried out in a country that sets harsh limits on female sexuality.
The play focuses on two sisters — both find pleasure, and a means of liberating their frustrations, by munching on the outlawed gum. Let’s face it, the image of veiled women secreting sticks of gum and becoming aroused through the act of chewing is so atypical that it is pretty funny. “Gum” offers an in-depth look at another culture that is at various stages amusing, devastating, unsettling and, at the very least, thought-provoking. (AD)
Exit Strategy: This Week’s On-Campus Events
“Just Like Heaven”
Price Center Theater
Feb. 9, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
$3
Crown City Rockers & Qwell
The Stage @ Porter’s Pub
Feb. 9, 8 p.m.
Free
Measure for Measure, a play by William Shakespeare
Mandell Weiss Theatre
Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, 8 p.m.
$10 students, $15 general
MAE with special guests
Price Center Ballroom
Feb. 11, 7 p.m.
Free for students with UCSD ID
La Jolla Symphony
and Chorus
Mandeville Auditorium
Feb. 12, 3 p.m.
$15 students, $26 general
Roma Nights: JTurtle
Espresso Roma
Feb. 13, 8 p.m.
Free
“Little Manhattan”
Price Center Theater
Feb. 14, 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
$3
The Vagina Monologues
Price Center Theater
Feb. 15, 8 p.m.
Free for students, $10 general
