The Guthrie Theater's 2003 touring production will open in Austin Feb. 18.

Originally "Home and Away" was to be performed, featuring actor Kevin Kling, but due to an accident, Kling is not able to perform, according to Riverland Community College.

Instead "The Stuff of Dreams" be shown at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Frank W. Bridges Theatre. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling the Riverland box office at 433-0595.

The production will be shown to area high school students at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 18. This show also is open to the public, but tickets are only available at the door. Students will participate in workshops with the actors after the play.

"The Stuff of Dreams" imagines a meeting of five famous characters from dramatic literature. Playwright Bill Corbett incorporates characters and dialogue from some of Western theater history's best-known plays including Sophocles' "Antigone," William Shakespeare's "Hamlet," Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac," Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman."

"We're very proud to bring 'The Stuff of Dreams' to so many cities in the region," Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling said. "This play allows the audience to see that human relationships are at the heart of theater -- that our theatrical imaginations can take us beyond our daily lives."

The play was commissioned especially for this tour and is directed by Jef Hall-Flavin, said Beth Burns, director of education and community partnerships.

In the play, five characters appear on stage, as if in a waking dream. One person emerges as a host. Having conjured in a dream some of the characters from those plays, the host quickly pits them against one another to tell their stories in hopes of finding the most compelling, play-worthy life among them, according to the Guthrie.

The Guthrie's touring program was revived in 2000 with a 16-city regional tour of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." In 2001, Irish playwright Brian Friel's "Molly Sweeney" was seen in more than 30 communities across the Midwest, and in 2002, Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" traveled to 18 cities.

The touring program offers workshops and symposia in every tour community. A comprehensive study guide on the touring production also is available to students and educators on the Guthrie Theater's Web site (www.guthrietheater.org).

When it first opened, the Guthrie was the first regional theatre company in the United States and was meant to serve not just Minneapolis, but the region, Burns said. Regional tours began in 1973, but were discontinued in the 1980s. When Dowling became artistic director, he decided to restart the tours, Burns said.

"In order to remain vital, the Guthrie's touring program must be responsive to the communities and organizations with whom we partner," Burns said. "With all of the pressures on schools to cut arts programming in difficult economic times, a tour of this nature allows us to reach young people in a truly meaningful way that is very affordable to our hosts around the region."

The Austin tour stop is sponsored by organizations within Riverland Community College, Burns said.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at :mailto:cari.quam@austindailyherald.com