A mock urban-rural divorce trial that will explore the complex relationship between urban and rural interests will be conducted at the new Montrose County Court House beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19.
The fun and engaging Urban-Rural Divorce in the American West program, which is free and open to the public, will be presented by the Center of the American West from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is another in the ongoing CU in Residence program.
The program is presented in human terms as a divorce hearing between Sandy Greenhills West (the rural West) and his wife, Urbana Asphalt West (the urban West). Sandy is requesting a divorce from Urbana, citing irreconcilable differences ranging from "failure to support" and despoiling his home with pollution to "infidelity through flirting with foreign markets."
The two have an out-of-control, dysfunctional child, Subby Urban West, who doesn聮t understand why his parents are fighting and thinks life is just fine.
Members of the local community will be recruited to play the roles of witnesses for the couple and members of a jury. The guest judge will be County Court Judge Richard Brown.
The performers will include Patricia Nelson Limerick, professor of history at CU-Boulder and chair of the Center of the American West Board of Directors, and Jamie Sudler, assistant disciplinary counsel, Colorado Supreme Court, and a member of the Center of the American West Board of Directors.
CU in Residence is a partnership between the City of Montrose and the University of Colorado at Boulder that offers interdisciplinary, community educational programs consistent with the needs and interests of the city.