Baltimore, MD - UMBC's Department of Theatre presents One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace, directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Alan Kreizenbeck. Set in 1665 London at the height of the Great Plague, this play relates four quarantined people's struggle for physical and emotional survival. Brought together against their will, these characters of disparate backgrounds discover the many meanings of desire and love. At once comedic and tragic, this play is a rare work that uses the allegory of the Black Death to comment on contemporary issues of class, gender, culture and politics.

American-born Wallace is the author of numerous plays including Slaughter City (1995) which will be produced in May as a student production at UMBC, In the Heart of America (1995) and Trestle at Pope Lick Creek (1998). Her work has won numerous awards including a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an Obie Award and the Mobil Prize. Wallace has recently been commissioned to write by the Royal Shakespeare Company of London and the Public Theater in New York. In 1999 she was honored as a MacArthur Fellow for her work in modern theatre.

One Flea Spare will be performed by an all-student cast in the UMBC Theatre. Preview on Thursday, March 9 at 8 p.m. Performances on March 10, 11, 15 & 16 at 8 p.m. Performances on March 12 and 14 at 4 p.m. Tickets are $6 general admission. The 4 p.m. performance on March 14 is free for UMBC faculty, staff and students. For more information or to make reservations, please call the box office at (410) 455-2476.