Austin, Texas, home of both the Zachary Scott Theatre Center and playwright John Walch, will explore the latter's Circumference of a Squirrel with the former playing host. A one-man comedy, Squirrel runs April 12-May 6 on the Arena Stage.

Chester, the protagonist of Circumference of a Squirrel, is a self proclaimed rodentaphobe with an unhealthy fear of squirrels. That fear, born of hatred passed down by his father who was bit by a rabid one, is surrounded - literally - by an obsession with circles. These include a donut, an inner tube, a holiday wreath, a tire-swing and a figurative cycle of abuse and hate. Circumference will receive a second production at Los Angeles' Actors Gang Theatre via the Mark Taper Forum's Taper Too program in June.

Walch was inspired to write Circumference while watching a squirrel with a bagel struggle up a tree on the University of Texas campus where Walch teaches playwriting. His play, The Dinosaur Within, recently won a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays grant.

Shoshana Gold directs Circumference. Martin Burke, who recently played the lead in the Zach Scott's The Santaland Diaries, stars as Chester.

Tickets are $12-$18. The Zachary Scott's Kleberg Stage is located on Riverside Drive at South Lamar Boulevard. For reservastions, call (512) 476-0541 ext. 1. The Zachary Scott Theatre is on the web at http://www.zachscott.com. — By Christine Ehren