The puppet Joyce Carol Oates tries to upstage her fellow actors during a rehearsal for "Recent Tragic Events", a play by the Department of Theatre, Dance and Media Studies at UMSL. The play will be performed at March 6-8 and March 13-15 at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. The actors (from left) are Lauren Mergenthaler (as Joyce Carol Oates and Nancy), Joey Walsh (as Andrew), Brieanna Brewer (as Waverly) and Frankie Akhi (as Ron).