Melancholy Play: a chamber musical

October 26, 27 and 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Powerhouse Theater

• By Sarah Ruhl and Todd Almond
• Directed by John Michael Rezes ’18
• Senior project members; John Michael Rezes ’18, Whitney Brady ’18 and Daisy Walker ’18

Tilly’s melancholy is of an exquisite quality. She turns her melancholy into a sexy thing, and every stranger she meets falls in love with her. One day, inexplicably, Tilly becomes happy, and wreaks havoc on the lives of her paramours..

Presented through special arrangements with Samuel French, Inc.

This production is sponsored in part by the E.J. Safirstein ’83 Memorial Fund

Unsettled (a working title)

November 3, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.
Martel Theater, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film

• Written by Jimmy Pavlick* an original play
• A senior project in Drama*
• Co-facilitators for the reading are: Kayleigh Marshall ’18, Scott Szpisjak ’20

Run time: Approximately one hour followed by a brief talk-back A working description of play: Home invasions seem to be the worst of all possible scenarios: An unstoppable, violent stranger breaking into your house. However, what’s even more unpredictable than the invaders is the history they bring with them. An original play - work in progress

The Spitfire Grill a Musical

November 16, 17, and 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Powerhouse Theater

• By Fred Alley, James Valcq, and Lee David Zlotoff
• Co-directed by Christopher Grabowski and Emlyn Doolittle ’20
• A senior project in Drama: Imani Russell ’18

Spitfire Grill depicts the journey of a young woman just released from prison who decides to start her life anew in a rural Wisconsin town called Gilead and finds a place for herself working at Hannah’s Spitfire Grill. It is for sale but there are no takers for the only eatery in the depressed town, so newcomer Percy suggests to Hannah that she raffle it off. Soon, mail is arriving by the wheelbarrow full and things are definitely cookin’ at the Spitfire Grill. Samuel French Inc. and adaptation by Imani Russell ’18

Presented through special arrangements with Samuel French, Inc.

Crimes of the Heart

November 30, December 1, 2 at 8:00 p.m.
Martel Theater, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film

• By Beth Henley
• Directed by Shona Tucker
• Senior project members: Tonya Ingerson ’18, Arianna Sacristan-Benjet ’18, Anisa Threlkeld ’18, Christy Honore ’18

Crimes of the Heart, Beth Henley’s award-winning tragic comedy, follows three sisters as they weather crisis after crisis in Hazlehurst, Mississippi. After the youngest sister shoots her husband, the sisters gather at their grandfather’s house for support. Their reunion reignites past drama, and reveals secrets the sisters must each come to terms with.

Presented through special arrangements with Dramatists Play Service Inc.

Huntress a working title

April 6, 7, 8 at 8:00 p.m.
Powerhouse Theater

• Written by Ariel Atlas, Jenna Doherty, and Elizabeth Snyderman
• Directed by Ariel Atlas ’17 and Jenna Doherty ’17

A quirky comedy loosely adapted from the mythology surrounding the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, and her followers. Through a series of vignettes set in a non-linear time straddling the contemporary and the ancient, Artemis is reframed as asexual and aromantic in a world that offers women few options outside of marriage. As Artemis crafts an alternative lifestyle with her cult, Huntress examines the role of female friendship in patriarchal resistance. Through glimpses into the lives of these women, the play remembers as the friends love, laugh, play, drink, run, fight, and cry together for as long as they are able. Ultimately, Huntress is a story about love, love in many forms, and how love can be an instigator for change.

A senior project in Drama

This production is sponsored in part by the E.J. Safirstein ’83 Memorial Fund

Trippin’ Through the Mud: A Diversity Reading

A faculty presentation

February 16, 17, 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Martel Theater, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film

• Written and directed by Shona Tucker

“Trippin’ Through Mud” is the third segment of a trilogy of pieces I’ve written currently titled Mississippi Mud. These pieces speak to the Black experience in America from slavery to the present and explore themes of struggles with self-definition, forgiveness, and reckoning with social customs and norms. The pieces explore moments of the Second Great Migration of African Americans, including episodes of rape, mafia violence, homosexuality, absolution and redemption. “Trippin” is a crazy road trip of two Black women back to the South, back to the core of themselves.

The Importance of Being Earnest: a Queer Adaptation

April 27, 28, 29 at 8:00 p.m.
Martel Theater, Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film

• Based on the works of Oscar Wilde, adaptation by Christian Lewis ’17*
• Directed by Darrell James and John Michael Rezes ’18

This adaptation queers the 1895 classic by exploring the relationship between Jack and Algernon as they explore their sexualities. Set in modern-day America, this work confronts the politics of homophobia, living in the closet, coming out to family, and the pressures to have a straight marriage. Although Jack loves Algernon, Algernon is unsure what he wants. Afraid to come out, Jack proposes to Gwendolen so he can hush rumors about his sexuality. Thankfully Gwendolen seems as disinterested in procreation as Jack. Things get complicated though when Algernon meets Cecily and falls in love, leaving Jack behind. Over it all stands Lady Bracknell, as set on heterosexuality as the Victorians were.