LAKELAND, FL (March 25, 2011) – The Department of Theatre Arts at Florida Southern College will present “Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got the Will?” by Del Shores at the Buckner Theatre at Florida Southern College.  Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. March 31 – April 2 and April 7 – 9, with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. on April 3 and April 10.  Free admission is offered on Preview Night, Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 p.m.  Mary T. Albright of the Theatre Arts Department directs the play. 

Albright is excited about the performance. “This is a funny show,” she says, “and I can’t wait for people to see it. The work our students have put in has been tremendous and it really shows onstage.” 

The 1987 comedy by writer/director/producer/activist Del Shores is set in a small Texas town and probes the axiom “you can pick your friends, but not your relatives.”  “Daddy’s Dyin’” features several actors who are familiar to local audiences from their recent appearance in Jekyll and Hyde.

Told by their grandmother ‘Mama Wheelis’ (Sophomore Chelsea Canestraro) that their father Buford Turnover (Senior Kyle Boisvert) is dying, the four grown yet still squabbling siblings gather with varying degrees of filial love and greed to say their goodbyes. Their dementia stricken Daddy cannot remember the location of his will.

The play features a mixed bag of personalities that includes the chief caregiver, Sara Lee, (Junior Meghan Driscoll) and her “Bible-thumping” sister, Lurleen (Erica Mason), sexpot Evalita, (Colleen Doherty) and Buford’s boorish only son, Orville (Matthew Stewart). However, it is not the story of the impending demise of the father, but of a rebirth of the spirit of the family unit. 

For ticket information, please contact the Buckner Theatre box office at 863-680-3089 or bucknerboxoffice@flsouthern.edu.  Reserved tickets may be picked up at the Buckner Box Office in advance of the show or on the day or night of the performance.

Buckner Theatre is located at the corner of Johnson Avenue and Lake Hollingsworth Drive in Lakeland.