Lee University Theatre will begin its 2016-17 season on Sept. 20 with guest artist David Harrell performing his original one-man show, “A Little Potato and Hard to Peel.” The performance will take place in Lee’s Dixon Center Auditorium at 7 p.m.

Harrell is an actor from New York and is an internationally-recognized performer. He has performed with theatres in New York City and throughout the country for the past 15 years. In 2010, Harrell was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre award for “Outstanding Solo Performance” and won the Journalist Choice Award for his work in the Monomaffia Festival in Parnu, Estonia.

“We are excited to help bring this performance to our community,” said Dr. Christine Williams, associate professor of theatre at Lee. “David’s show is sure to delight families as it offers a story that is important for our audiences to hear.”

Harrell’s show delivers a comedic, autobiographical story of life without his right hand and the effects the disability had on him. Despite his parents’ promise that his disability would not make him different, Harrell soon realizes the metal hook he wears on his right hand does in fact make him feel different.

“A Little Potato and Hard to Peel” is not so much a show about living with a disability or overcoming the circumstances of life, but the journey to find the awareness to not be defined by limitations.

Harrell will present six daytime shows, funded in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission, for local kids. The Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce is providing funding to help local schoolchildren attend those daytime performances.

Tickets are $5 for all ages and will be available in the box office in the Communication Arts Building Monday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. and one hour before curtain time at the Dixon Center box office. The box office can be reached by calling 423-614-8360 or emailing [email protected]

For more information about Harrell, visit DavidHarrell.

For more information about the performance, visit Lee Theatre or email theatre. Fans may also follow Lee University Theatre on Facebook.