The Starving Artists Theatre Company will be at Colby College in Waterville during February for three shows of their critically acclaimed play "Viper's Opium." Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursday through Friday, Feb. 11-13, in Strider Theater, located in Colby's Runnals Performing Arts Center. The troupe also will stage one reprise performance of "Road Movie," an award-winning play performed at Colby last winter. The "Road Movie" show is at 11 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13, only.

Tickets are $3 for general admission and $2 for students and seniors. For ticket information call the box office at 872-3358.

In "Viper's Opium," a play by Godfrey Hamilton, Mark Pinkosh is Curtis, a discombobulated homosexual man, and Kathryn Howden plays Cricket, an extroverted Good Samaritan. Described as "hilariously funny" and "genuinely moving," "Viper's Opium" won a Fringe First award at the 1996 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was selected for the Dublin International Festival the following year. The Irish Times, which characterized the play as a "presentation of lonesome Americans searching for their place in life," said its monologues are "every bit as brilliantly funny and perceptively touching as the earlier 'Road Movie.'"

In "Road Movie," also a Fringe First award-winner, Pinkosh is a solo performer, switching among various characters.

The Starving Artists company was invited back to Colby by popular demand after last year's performances. Both plays are recommended for adults and mature teens.