Wofford Theatre is pleased to announce that its spring production opens on Wednesday, March 24, in the Jerome Johnson Richardson Theatre. The Wofford College Virus Crisis Festival of Socially Distanced Theatre features two plays running on alternating nights: “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” by Will Arbery and “Eighteen” by Allison Moore.

In Arbery’s 2019 play “Heroes of the Fourth Turning,” four young conservative Christians at a backyard reunion encounter spiritual longing and emotional chaos as they struggle to be understood. This haunting play offers grace and disarming clarity, speaking to the heart of a nation at war with itself.

Director Dan Day, associate professor of theatre, notes that the play “examines political and religious ideology, as well as the perils of relinquishing one’s spiritual autonomy and intellectual independence to any system of thought that claims infallibility.”

“Heroes of the Fourth Turning” was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was the winner of the 2020 New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the 2020 Obie Award for Playwriting. Arbery is a member of New Dramatists and is currently the Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Playwrights Horizons.

Moore’s 2001 drama “Eighteen” explores sex, consumerism, ambition and “the vastness of our American desire.” It tells the story of a working-class 17-year-old girl who comes to live with her affluent aunt and uncle after her mother’s death, ultimately becoming the catalyst for conflict and destruction.

Day observes that the play “exposes cultural pathologies that accompany widespread hypocrisy and self-delusion.”

Moore, a playwright and television writer based in Los Angeles, is the recipient of two Jerome Fellowships, two McKnight Advancement Grants and the Bush Artist Fellowship. She is a company member of Kitchen Dog Theater and a member of the Writers Guild of America.

Day speaks to the urgency of producing plays like these in times like this.

“Both plays take place right now and under the circumstances of a pandemic and cultural upheaval,” Day says. “Both plays are about us, about this campus and about who we want to be as we navigate these extraordinary times. And despite the devastation that concludes ‘Eighteen’ and ‘Heroes of the Fourth Turning,’ both plays are also hopeful and instructive.”

“Heroes of the Fourth Turning” runs March 24 and 26 and April 1 and 3. “Eighteen” runs March 25, 27 and 31 and April 2. All performances will begin at 8 p.m.

These productions are open to current Wofford students, faculty and staff only. While admission is free, seating is limited and patrons are encouraged to arrive early. The box office opens at 7 p.m. nightly. Patrons are asked to check in with their Wofford IDs to claim free admission passes while seats are available. Seats may not be reserved in advance and no late seating is permitted. CDC guidelines on social distancing will be observed and masks are required. For more information, visit www.wofford.edu/boxoffice.