When Mary Skees and J.D. Shuchter founded The Next Stage 12 years ago, their mission was to bring sophisticated, contemporary performances to the local community.

It is only fitting, then, that they would pair up with the similarly motivated State Theatre, 130 W. College Ave., to bring Tina Howe's Pulitzer-nominated play Painting Churches to State College.

The majority of the plays Skees and Shuchter choose to produce have won or been nominated for either the Pulitzer Award for Drama or some other prestigious award. Painting Churches is no exception.

Set in Boston, the play chronicles the lives of Gardner and Fanny Church, who decide to move out of their ancestral New England home after living there for 40 years. Their daughter Margaret "Mags" Church is swept up in her attempts to become a successful New York artist, but she returns home to help them move. The real motivation, however, behind her homecoming is to paint her parents' portrait, something she has always wanted to do.

"The process proves to be a catalyst that brings up a lot of old baggage that they're all carrying. The gap is an assumption, and the play is about trying to bridge that. The portrait allows a moment of communion and recon-

ciliation," said Shuchter, the play's director.

He said students could relate to the feelings of parental disconnect as they are getting ready to head into the world.

Skees and Shuchter agreed the second-floor studio space at the State Theatre was perfect for the show because Painting Churches has a small cast with intense relationships. It will be performed 3/4 in the round, which means the audience will largely surround the stage. In such an intimate venue, members in the front row will be mere feet from the actors.

Both Skees and Shuchter are passionate about the live performance.

"Theater is a communal event. When you're sitting shoulder to shoulder with people who are probably strangers, some neat chemistry happens when you're watching something important," Shuchter said.

In summary of the play, Skees said, "there are a lot of laughs, but it's going to make people cry. It's one of those that will make you do both."

Although The Next Stage is nonprofit company independent from Penn State, the cast and crew have strong ties to the university.

Victoria Longwell, who plays Mags Church, is a sophomore majoring in theatre arts; Cynthia Mazzant, who plays Fanny Church, is a lecturer in the English department; and Lloyd Short, who plays Gardner Church, is a State College resident and father of a Penn State student. The portrait being used as the focus of the play was painted by Holly Foy, a local State College artist and teacher at State High.

"We choose substantial plays that have a lot to them," Skees said, "plays that make you think and feel and laugh and cry."