The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature Rebecca Schull in her play "Journey into the Whirlwind," Thursday and Friday, March 27 and 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre.
In 1937, Russian journalist Eugenia Ginzburg is at home with her husband and children when she is summoned to an interrogation by the secret police. It is her journey into the whirlwind - one of the millions of victims of Stalin's purge of the Communist Party. Ginzburg spent more than 20 years in prison, ultimately recording her experience in two books. Schull has transformed the works into a powerful script and her performance never solicits sympathy, but secures it with a delicate but powerful portrayal that is quiet to the core.
The "Los Angeles Times" has described the play as "An exceptional study in human vigilance and fortitude in the face of total absurdity. Schull makes us live Ginzburg's trauma by osmosis. She has the intelligence, the world weariness, the right amount of age. As a writer she has done an equally balanced job. It's a beautifully put together script."
Schullis one of the country's leading character actresses. She is also familiar to television audiences as Fay in the hit NBC series, "Wings." She was recently seen in the Academy Award-nominated films "United 93"and "The Little Children" with Kate Winslet. Another recent film, "Flannel Pajamas," was featured at the Sundance Film Festival. Her other films include "Analyze This" and "Analyze That" with Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro, "My Life"with Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman, and "Odd Couple II"with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
In addition to her television and film work, Schull has extensive theatre experience in both on- and off-Broadway productions. She will be appearing in a new theatre production in New York soon after her appearance at Hope.
Tickets for the performance are on sale at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, and cost $17 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, and $6 for children 18 and under. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Ave., between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St