Graduating Madison College students Maria Cina and Melissa Czerwinski will lend their talents to help raise funds for Performing Art Scholarships.

The two will star in “The Gulf,” by Audrey Cefaly, an 80-minute, one act play.

This capstone production will be performed in the Traux Studio Theater (Room A2031) on May 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and May 11 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Tickets are available at mitbytheater.org and cost $13, which includes a $1 service fee. The remainder of the funds raised will go to Madison College Performing Arts scholarships.

“The Gulf” won the Lambda Literary Award for best LGBTQ Drama as well as the 2016 Edgerton New American Play Award.

The play takes its audience on a journey through the shallows in the Gulf of Mexico with two passionate southern women.

The author, Audrey Cefaly, sees the story as one of healing. On her website, she states: “I gravitate toward characters who are lost, ‘stuck,’ and emotionally fatigued.

I want to tell every love story worth telling and my plays run the spectrum: collision, romance, betrayal, death, heartache and redemption.”“The Gulf” is one of those love stories.

One unique aspect of “The Gulf” is that the lesbian couple is dealing with the stresses and challenges every couple faces, rather than the external forces of society, family and intolerance.

For more information about the play, visit www.audreycefaly.com.

Seating in the Studio Theater is limited. People who arrive after the start of the show will be seated at the discretion of the house manager.