Source: Chelsey Eimer, 785-532-6878, cbeimer@k-state.edu
Note to editor: Jasmine Walker is a graduate of Olathe North High School.
News release prepared by: Rosie Hoefling, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: 'BROKE-OLOGY' AND ITS PLAYWRIGHT ALUM RETURN TO CAMPUS

MANHATTAN -- "Broke-ology," a play written and first performed at Kansas State University, is returning to campus along with its award-winning playwright, alumnus Nathan Louis Jackson, who has been featured recently in the New York Times.

K-State's Ebony Theater will perform "Broke-ology" at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24-26, with a matinee performance at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in East Stadium's Purple Masque Theater.

Originally titled "Mancherios," Jackson wrote the script for "Broke-ology" while studying at K-State. It was initially performed in the Purple Masque Theater and went on to be produced at Lincoln Center in fall 2009. "Broke-ology" was performed to sold-out audiences in Kansas City in spring 2010.

The play is about the trials of a small family in Kansas City, Kan., as brothers Ennis and Malcolm King quarrel over the care of their ailing father. Ennis received his degree in broke-ology, the study of being broke, as he cares for his father and his pregnant girlfriend. Malcolm, the younger of the two brothers, recently returned home from his undergraduate studies and is determined to make life better for his family. Throughout the play the King family is forced to battle poverty, time and their love for one another.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students. They can be purchased at the McCain Auditorium box office from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays or by calling 785-532-6428 during box office hours. Tickets also may be purchased at the Little Theater box office in the K-State Student Union from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Friday.

Jackson will take part in a theater forum at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, in Nichols Theater. The forum is free and open to the public. He also will lead a post-performance discussion of "Broke-ology" Thursday, Feb. 24, in the Purple Masque Theater.

A former president of Ebony Theater, Jackson is a two-time American Forensic Association prose interpretation champion and a two-time recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award. He is the winner of the Mark Twain Comedy Playwriting Award and the Kennedy Center's Gold Medallion. He also was named the American College Theater Festival Region V best acting partner.

Jackson is currently a writer for two television series, TNT's "Southland" and Showtime's "Shameless," starring William H. Macy. His latest play, "When I Came to Die," is making its debut at the Lincoln Center Theater.

K-State students performing in "Broke-ology" include:

Eric Brown, sophomore in political science, Liberal, as William; and Jasmine Walker, junior in pre-journalism and mass communications, Olathe, as Sonia.

From out of state: Donovan Woods, sophomore in music, Bedford, Texas, as Malcolm; and Deontae Hayden, sophomore in theater, Fort Worth, Texas, as Ennis.