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CORVALLIS - The troubles in Northern Ireland and how they affect two people is the focus of a play called "Loved Ones," which will be performed in the Studio Theater at Oregon State University on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23-24.

Curtain time for the performances is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students, with proceeds benefitting scholarship funds for the OSU Theater Arts program and the OSU forensics team.

Written by Damian Gorman, and first produced in Belfast in 1995, "Loved Ones" is a two-character play about the aftermath of a fictional killing in northern Ireland. It focuses on the interaction between Bronwen Donnelly, whose son Mark was killed by a bomb in 1988, and Kathleen McCrossan, whose son Neil is serving a 24-year sentence for that murder.

Donnelly is portrayed by Charlotte Headrick, of the OSU Theater Arts program; and McCrossan is played by Trischa Knapp, a faculty member in speech communication who directs the OSU forensics team. Robert Iltis, also in speech communication, will read the stage directions.

"Loved Ones" is directed by Vreneli Farber, a professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Support for the production was provided by the OSU Center for the Humanities.

Gorman wrote the play after spending numerous afternoons and evenings listening to people's tales of bereavement. Though "Loved Ones" is fictional, it is "profoundly informed" by the tales of the people he met.

A discussion of the play and the troubles in Northern Ireland will follow the performance.