After receiving her master's degree in acting in 1999 from Purdue University, Katherine Burke has returned to Purdue Theatre, this time as a guest director.

In the last few years, Burke has made a name for herself all around central Indiana with InterPlay, a theater group that concentrates on creating dialogue between people or groups through interactive theater.

The group is a little outside of the box as is the show Burke is directing this weekend, Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood. The show is at 8 p.m. today through Sunday at Black Box Theatre in Creative Arts Building 3.

The show is presented in the round and has no set, save for a handful of chairs.

"I jumped at the chance to do this play," said Burke, who received the offer from interim theater chair Rich Rand.

"When I was a teenager, I went to see a production of it in a tiny basement theater in Chicago with my dad. It was a highly acclaimed production, and it taught me so much of what theater could be. I thought I could try my own hand at it."

Originally aimed for BBC radio in 1953, the play is a dramatic and comedic look at a day in the life of numerous townspeople in a coastal village in Wales. "The Play for Voices" is also Thomas' last work before his death the same year when he collapsed in a New York hotel. He was only 39. Under Milk Wood probably had another edit to go before he died, Burke said.

The ensemble cast of three actors and eight actresses play at least four different parts each. The all-undergraduate cast jumps from character to character in seconds, with just enough time to change hats or don an apron that hangs on the wall of the small theater.

The young cast had less of a problem leaping from character to character than handling Thomas' heavy script of Welsh poetry and songs.

"When these students first looked at it, they were baffled," Burke said, "but throughout the course of rehearsal, they've fallen in love with it.

"It really is a play for voices. It's about the language and the sound the words make."

In a humorous scene, freshman Kevin Lambert goes from drunkard Mr. Waldo to the Rev. Eli Jenkins in just a few beats.

"I go from being a drunk with a hat on. The hat comes off. He sobers up and is instantly a preacher," said Lambert, who is making his Purdue Theatre debut. "I go back to being a drunk in a matter of four lines."
Some roles must cross genders and generations. Sophomore Cassandra Nwokah plays Captain Cat, among others. The retired sea captain, though blind, tries to keep up on the town as he used to with his ship.

"This is a first. It's difficult because I'm not too experienced with it, but it's fun and a learning experience," Nwokah said.

Patty Neuhoff, a junior who has some main stage experience after appearing in last season's Hay Fever, believes the strength of putting Thomas' words in a play is the cast's ability to sell their characterizations. Neuhoff knows she must not only change her verbal delivery but also her body motion when she changes from an old butcher to a young fisherman.

"I spit a lot," Neuhoff joked.

Neuhoff believes the ensemble of 11 performers have bonded during the last month of rehearsals.

"At first we were like `What on Earth is going on?' " Neuhoff said. "I think it'd be really hard to do this show if the cast wasn't as tight as we are. All of us get along very well."

Burke's guidance has also helped the challenging show get off the floor.

"Katherine is an amazing director," Neuhoff said.

"She has awesome insight and knows how to be a director and also a friend."

if you go
WHAT: Under Milk Wood
WHEN: 8 p.m. today through Sunday
WHERE: Black Box Theatre-Creative Arts Building 3, Purdue University
HOW MUCH: $5.50