Jewell Theatre Company at William Jewell College presents “A Murder of Crows” Oct. 31, Nov. 1, Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Curtain time is 7 p.m. each night in the Peters Theater in Brown Hall on the campus, with an opening night reception scheduled after the Nov. 2 performance.

General admission tickets are $10, or $5 for seniors, students and members of the Jewell community (half price tickets on opening night for anyone in costume). For more information, contact the box office at 816-415-7590, or email theatre AT william.jewell DOT edu.

This dark comedy by Obie Award winning playwright Mac Wellman explores the human condition of a dysfunctional Midwestern family. In a world where the air is mustardy and the ocean is so polluted it looks like a bowl of custard, it’s no wonder that Susannah’s father was buried in a pile of radioactive chicken droppings at work. Or was he? Fed up with her greedy, vulgar and insensitive family, wise young Susannah follows her missing father’s advice and leaves to live with the crows. The first two plays of this highly successful “Crowtett” series center on the strange relationship between a backwater American community and the crows of the nation of Rational Biped. These plays are among noted playwright Wellman’s most highly praised works and have been produced across the country.

“Crows is a gorgeously crafted piece of wordsmithing; a creative and sometimes hilarious contemplation of subconscious taboos we dare not reveal of current Midwestern American society,” said director Natasha Lee Martin, assistant professor of theatre. “The audience will discover they are not coming to see a conventional American play, but rather a style of playwriting known as ‘contemporary non-realism’.” Martin says in this interpretation, the family of crows act as a traveling group of players to transport the audience into the world of this family through collages of fabricated and dreamlike scenes using movement, music and various styles of performance such as Commedia Dell’ Arte, Slapstick and Physical Theatre.