Digital Commons Network^™

Stop Kiss, December 8-10, 2005, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Stop Kiss by Diana Son and directed by Megan Losure.

Synopsis: "A poignant and funny play about the ways, both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably," says Variety. After Callie meets Sara, the two unexpectedly fall in love. Their first kiss provokes a violent attack that transforms their lives in a way they could never anticipate.

The Merchant Of Venice, November 2-5, 2005, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: In the melting pot of Venice, currency opens many doors. A multicultural metropolis, Venice welcomes its arms to all – so long as they come prepared for the brutality of the business of trade. Young Bassanio wants to take a gamble for brilliant Portia, the wealthy heiress of Belmont. He is willing to risk all he has to win her hand, but all he has is not enough. In need of extra money to make a proper suit, Bassanio enlists the …

Proof, December 9-11, 2004, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Proof by David Auburn and directed by Tiffany Roufs.

Synopsis Catherine has inherited her late father’s mathematical brilliance, but she is haunted by the fear that she might also share his debilitating mental illness. She has spent years caring for her now-deceased father, and upon his death, she feels left alone to pick up the pieces of her life without him. Caught between a new-found connection with Hal, one of her father’s former students, and the reappearance of her sister, Claire, Catherine finds both her world and her mind growing increasingly unstable. Then Hal …

Blithe Spirit, October 28-30, 2004, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: Cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, re-married but haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira who is called up by a visiting “happy medium,” one Madame Arcati. As the (worldly and un-) personalities clash, Charles’ current wife, Ruth, is accidentally killed, “passes over,” joins Elvira, and the two “blithe spirits” haunt the hapless Charles into perpetuity.

The Hobbit, April 16-17, 2004, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, adapted by Markland Taylor and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: The classic fantasy about Bilbo, a young and extremely reluctant Hobbit, who leaves home and sets off with a band of adventurers to slay Smaug the dragon and recover an enormous treasure, discovering the ring in the process. Told with wit and humor, this entirely new play based on the Tolkien classic is especially designed for a small cast and suitable for touring.

The Shadow Box, February 5-7, 2004, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer and directed by Christopher Anderson.

Synopsis: n this compelling dramatic triptych, three terminal cancer patients dwell in separate cottages on a hospital's grounds. The three are attended and visited by family and close friends: Agnes and her mother Felicity, estranged further by the latter's dementia; Brian and Beverly, whose marital complications are exacerbated by Brian's new lover, Mark; and Joe and Maggie, unready for the strain of Joe's impending death and its effect on their teenage son.

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, November 5-8, 2003, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: The Mystery of Edwin Drood is a hilarious, interactive whodunit mystery musical that allows the audience to enter the action and become the ultimate detectives. The show is based on Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel of the same name. In small town of Chesterham, England, the young and charming Edwin Drood has been mysteriously murdered. But by whom? His leering romantic rival, John Jasper? The infamous purveyor of opium and vice, Princess Puffer? The mysterious Landless twins, newly arrived from Ceylon? Or someone …

Hyronomous A. Frog: The Frog Prince, April 11-12, 2003, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Hyronomous A. Frog: The Frog Prince by Edith Weiss directed by Kimberly Gamradt.

Synopsis: Hyronomous, an inept and lonely frog prince, lives in a bog in the kingdom of Spamelot. Hyronomous is bored and unhappy as a frog. He’s larger than the other frogs and hates the taste of flies. One day, the good witch Gloria appears to tell him he was once a human prince and it was a spell that turned him into an amphibian. To break this croak-filled wizardry, Hyronomous must be kissed by a maiden. In a hysterical scene, he …

Dancing At Lughnasa, Oct. 31- Nov. 2, 2002, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: Set in the fictional Irish village of Ballybeg, Ireland, Dancing at Lughnasa is a memory play, told from the perspective of an adult Michael. He recalls one summer he spent at his aunts' home when he was seven years old. The five Mundy sisters, all unmarried, live in a big cottage just outside of the small village. Kate, the eldest, is a schoolteacher; Agnes and Rose knit gloves and help keep house with Maggie and Christine (Michael's mother), who have no income …

The Little Prince, April 19-20, 2002, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry adapted by Rick Cummings, John Scoullar and directed by Kimberly Gamradt.

Synopsis: The Little Prince may have returned to his own tiny planet to tend his Rose and look after his Sheep, but for a short enchanted time he returns to us and comes alive on stage. This play/musical tells the story of a world-weary and disenchanted Aviator whose sputtering plane strands him in the Sahara Desert and a mysterious, regal "little man" who appears and asks him to "Please, sir, draw me a sheep." During their two …

The Laramie Project, February 14-16, 2002, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: In October 1998 in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old student at the University of Wyoming, was tied to a fence post, severely beaten, robbed, , tortured and left, alone, to die. His body -- battered, bloody, barely clinging to life -- was discovered eighteen hours later. He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He died five days later. The reason for this brutal crime? Matthew Shepard was gay.

The …

Medea, October 25-27, 2001, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Medea by Euripides, adapted by Robinson Jeffers and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: In a continuation of the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, foreign princess and sorceress Medea has murdered her own father to help Jason win the Golden Fleece and the kingdom of Thessaly. They have married and have two sons. Now in ancient Corinth, Medea is told that Jason will be marrying the Corinthian princess. The King of Corinth, anticipating her wrath, sends her into exile. She plans revenge against Jason and negotiates safe haven with the naïve King of Athens. …

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, April 20-21, 2001, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis adapted by Joseph Robinette and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.

Synopsis: This new dramatization of C.S. Lewis' classic, set in the land of Narnia, faithfully recreates the magic and mystery of Aslan, the great lion, his struggle with the White Witch, and the adventures of four children who inadvertently wander from an old wardrobe into the exciting, never-to-be-forgotten Narnia. The intense action features chases, duels and escapes as the witch is determined to keep Narnia in her possession and to end the reign of …

Prelude To A Kiss, February 15-17, 2001, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Prelude to a Kiss by Craig Lucas and directed by Gretchen Weinrich.

Synopsis: Peter and Rita are two young, happy lovers who are getting married. On their wedding day, after their nuptial kiss, an old man comes up to kiss the bride. During this kiss, their souls exchange, and the young, beautiful woman Peter just married now houses the soul of a dying, old man. On their honeymoon, Peter starts to notice that something's not quite right. When he discovers the truth, he confronts the old man, who now holds Rita's soul. Peter struggles …

Viva La Revolucion, November 12-14, 2000, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Viva La Revolucion—three one acts directed by Chris Batteen, Alan Pagel and Jon Dent.

Synopsis: The Root of Chaos by Douglas Soderberg - he place is the home of the Cernikowski family in Centralia, Pennsylvania, where a subterranean fire in the abandoned coal mines has been burning out of control for years and moving steadily closer to the houses of the few remaining residents. The Cernikowskis, father Joe, mother Wilma, teenage daughter Doublemint (named after her grandmother) and nine-year-old son, Skeeter, seem to be oddly unconcerned about their own peril, although Wilma does make …

And Baby Makes Seven, April 13-15, 2000, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel and directed by Janelle Alvstad.

Synopsis: Anna, Ruth and Peter await the arrival of their newborn child, but first they must rid the crowded apartment of their three imaginary children.

Wiley And The Hairy Man, Spring 2000, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Wiley and the Hairy Moon by Suzan Zeder and directed by Oscar Prill.

Synopsis: This drama is a spine-tingling tale of a boy and his worst fears in the swamp—eventually overcome by Wiley himself. Set deep within the mysterious Tombigbee Swamp, Wiley and the Hairy Man centers around a young fatherless boy, his conjure-woman mother, his faithful dog, and the Hairy Man who haunts Wiley's days and dreams. Through rhythm and rhyme, a chorus creates the mystery of the swamp. The magic of this play is not fairy dust, it is soil—the magic of …

Cabaret, November 3-6, 1999, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Cabaret by Joe Masteroff and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.

Synopsis: Cabaret takes place from 1929-1930, a time when Berlin, in the midst of a post-World War I economic depression, is transitioning from a center of underground, avant-garde cultural epicenter to the beginnings of Hitler’s totalitarian regime and the rise of the Nazi Party. Into this world enters Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling American writer looking for inspiration for his next novel. On his first night in Berlin, Cliff wanders into the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub overseen by the strange, omniscient and gender-bending …

The Trojan Women, November 14-16, 1999, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Trojan Women by Euripides and Brendan Kenelley, directed by Brenna Jones.

Synopsis: This play follows the fates of Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra and the other women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their remaining families about to be taken away as slaves.

Keep Tightly Closed In A Cool Dry Place, May 27-29, 1999, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place by Megan Terry directed by James Allen Gappa.

Synopsis: Three men share a cell-- for life. They play games and fantasize about the event that brought them together: the hired murder of one prisoner's wife that was botched. This event is recreated with Sir Walter Raleigh and red men and Custer, and in recollections of rapes previously achieved.

The Wishing Stone, May 6-8 & 12-14, 1999, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Wishing Stone based on a story by Wolfram Eberhard adapted by Alexander Barrett and directed by Amanda Petefish.

No Exit, February 11-13, 1999, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre and directed by Kelly L. Classen.

Synopsis: Sarte’s famous existentialist play follows three people to a room in hell, where their torture is revealed to be each other’s company. Three damned souls, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle, are brought to a lavish room to await their punishment. While they expected some sort of torture chamber to punish them in the afterlife, they instead begin to realize where the true torment really lies. Their constant arguing finally has Garcin state the famous line: “Hell is other people”. An exploration of human …

Marvin's Room, Nov. 19-21, 1998, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Marvin’s Room by Scott McPherson and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.

Synopsis: First produced in 1990, Marvin’s Room tells the story of two sisters, Bessie and Lee. They have not seen each other for many years but when Bessie is diagnosed with leukemia, Lee travels to Florida to be tested as a bone marrow donor for her sister. Bessie has cared single-handedly for their father, Marvin, who suffered a severe stroke and is now bed-bound. She also looks after their eccentric Aunt Ruth, who has electrodes (her “cure”) wired up to her brain to …

Many Moons, May 8-9, 1998, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Many Moons by James Thurber, adapted by Charlotte B. Chorpenning and directed by Sarah Nylander.

Synopsis: Princess Lenore falls ill of a surfeit of raspberry tarts and cries for the moon. The king tells her she can have it today—tomorrow at the latest—and summons his wise men. First comes the Lord High Chamberlain, who wears thick glasses that make him look twice as wise as he really is. Then comes the Royal Wizard, who wears a high-peaked cap with silver stars on it. Finally, the Royal Mathematician, who can walk in squares, appears. But …

Personality, May 21-22, 1998, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production Personality by Gina Wendkos & Ellen Ratner and directed by Mark Halvorson.

Fool For Love, May 22-23,29-31, 1997, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Fool for Love by Sam Shepard and directed by Nathan Carlblom.

Synopsis: This play takes place in a cheap hotel room. May, Eddie and the Old Man are the main characters. The old man, however, is a figment of May and Eddie's imaginations. May can't decide if she wants Eddie to stay or go. Eddie has had affairs and she is deciding whether she should leave him. She gets dressed up to go on a date with Martin. At the end of the play, May leaves with her suitcase packed.

Winnie The Pooh, May 9-10, 1997, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Miline, dramatized by Kristen Storgel and directed by Jason Schommer.

Synopsis: Winnie-the-Pooh is Christopher Robin's fat little "bear of very little brain" who would like to drift peacefully through life, humming tunes and stopping frequently to eat "a little something." However, he finds himself involved in all sorts of frantic adventures, assisted by such friends as the dismal Eeyore, Piglet and Rabbit, with his countless relations. Pooh's intentions are always the best, but his passion for honey and condensed milk keeps getting him into trouble. When friend Piglet gets …

All In The Timing, March 5-7, 1997, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of All in the Timing by David Ives, directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.

Synopsis: All in the Timing is a collection of one-act plays by the American playwright David Ives.

Taruffe, November 14-16, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Taruffe by Moliere and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.

Synopsis: The story takes place in the home of the wealthy Orgon, where Tartuffe—a fraud and a pious imposter—has insinuated himself. He succeeds magnificently in winning the respect and devotion of the head of the house, and then tries to marry his daughter and seduce his wife and scrounge the deed to the property. He nearly gets away with it, but an emissary from King Louis XIV arrives in time to recover the property, free Monsieur Orgon, and haul Tartuffe off to jail. And so …

Measure For Measure, May 16-18, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare and directed by Anne M. Ellis.

Synopsis: The play's plot features its protagonist, Duke Vincentio of Vienna, stepping out from public life to observe the affairs of the city under the governance of his deputy, Angelo. Angelo's harsh and ascetic public image is compared to his abhorrent personal conduct once in office, in which he exploits his power to procure a sexual favor from Isabella, whom he considers enigmatically beautiful.