Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

Black Comedy And The Tiger, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1970 Summer Theatre

Black Comedy - Black Comedy is a one-act farce by Peter Shaffer, first performed in 1965. The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage. A few minutes into the show there is a short circuit, and the stage is illuminated to reveal the characters in a "blackout." On the few occasions when matches, lighters, or torches are lit, the lights grow dimmer. The title of the play is a pun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Comedy_(play)

The Tiger - The Tiger is one of two short plays written by Murray Schisgal and published in …

The Odd Couple, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1970 Summer Theatre

Felix Ungar, a neurotic, neat freak newswriter, is thrown out by his wife, and moves in with his friend Oscar Madison, a slovenly sportswriter. Despite Oscar's problems – careless spending, excessive gambling, a poorly kept house filled with spoiled food – he seems to enjoy life. Felix, however, seems utterly incapable of enjoying anything and only finds purpose in pointing out his own and other people's mistakes and foibles. Even when he tries to do so in a gentle and constructive way, his corrections and suggestions prove extremely annoying to those around him. Oscar, his closest friend, feels compelled to …

1970 Otterbein Summer Theatre Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre & Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

My Fair Lady, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969-1970 Season

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison.

My Fair Lady. (2017, July 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:22, September 1, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Fair_Lady&oldid=789985734

Twelfth Night, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969-1970 Season

Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centers on the twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated in a shipwreck. Viola (who is disguised as Cesario) falls in love with Duke Orsino, who in turn is in love with the Countess Olivia. Upon meeting Viola, Countess Olivia falls in love with her thinking she is a man. The play expanded on the musical interludes and riotous disorder expected of the occasion, with plot elements …

The World Of Carl Sandburg, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969-1970 Season

The World of Carl Sandburg brings to the stage selections from ten of Sandburg's major works, including The People, Yes, Always the Young Strangers and The American Songbag. They show the basic uncluttered, incessantly hopeful lifeblood that was and is the foundation of our country. Through the media of speech, music, dance and stage actions, we present characters, emotions and memories that have made Sandburg a founding father in American poetry. We bring you no set time, no set people, no set age--only the ever-applicable Sandburg.

-Teri Hiatt

The Prince And The Pauper, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969-1970 Season

The Prince and the Pauper tells the tale of two boys who trade clothing one afternoon and, as a result, they trade lives as well. After many adventures, matters are set right again, with one of the boys resuming his rightful, royal position and the other boy accepting a position that recognizes his innate intelligence and good heartedness.

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/p/the-prince-and-the-pauper/book-summary

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969-1970 Season

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955. Set in the "plantation home in the Mississippi Delta" of Big Daddy Pollitt, a wealthy cotton tycoon, the play examines the relationships among members of Big Daddy's family, primarily between his son Brick and Maggie the "Cat", Brick's wife.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof features motifs such as social mores, greed, superficiality, mendacity, decay, sexual desire, repression and death. Dialogue throughout is often rendered phonetically to represent accents …

Thurber Carnival, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969 Summer Theatre

A Thurber Carnival is a revue by James Thurber, adapted by the author from his stories, cartoons and casuals (humorous short pieces), nearly all of which originally appeared in The New Yorker. It was directed by Burgess Meredith. Following a six city tryout, during which Thurber continued to rewrite the show, it premiered on Broadway on February 26, 1960, and ran for 223 performances, with a break from June 25 to September 5. It closed on November 26, 1960. The title is similar to that of The Thurber Carnival (1945), Thurber's most successful collection of stories and drawings.

A Thurber …

Bus Stop, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1969 Summer Theatre

Bus Stop takes place inside "a street-corner restaurant in a small Kansas town about thirty miles west of Kansas City." Due to icy conditions, an inter-state bus is forced to stop for the night. One by one, the bus passengers are introduced, each with their own quirks and conflicts.

https://www.thoughtco.com/bus-stop-a-comedy-william-inge-2713669

The Music Man, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968-1969 Season

The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to the naïve Iowa townsfolk, promising to train the members of the new band. Harold is no musician, however, and plans to skip town without giving any music lessons. Prim librarian and piano teacher Marian sees through him, but when Harold helps her younger brother overcome his lisp and social awkwardness, Marian begins to fall …

A Man For All Seasons, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968-1969 Season

A Man For All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt based on the life of Sir Thomas More. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.

The plot is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Chancellor of England, who refused to endorse King Henry VIII's wish to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon, who did not bear him …

The Subject Was Roses, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968-1969 Season

Timmy Cleary returns home from his service during World War II. While he seems to vindicate himself in his father's eyes for surviving the war, his drinking and cursing disturb his mother. Though his parents, John and Nettie, seem to be happy, the peace proves to be a facade. Soon old emotional wounds and unresolved marital problems resurface. Caught in the middle, Timmy feels responsible for their squabbling, but can see no way to resolve their problems.

The Subject Was Roses. (2016, October 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:46, September 1, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Subject_Was_Roses&oldid=747012293

Peter Pan, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968-1969 Season

Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys, interacting with fairies, pirates, mermaids, Native Americans, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside Neverland.

Peter Pan. (2017, August 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:33, September 1, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Pan&oldid=798044874

The Happy Time, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968 Summer Theatre

Young Robert "Bibi" Bonnard grows up in Ottawa, Ontario with his parents, Jacques and Susan , and his roving rogue of a grandfather, Grandpere. Across the street is his uncle, amiable drunkard Louis, who ignores the complaints of his hard-working dressmaker wife Felice and her worries about the future of their daughter Yvonne. Louis agitates about meeting his prospective son-in-law, Alfred Grattin, a teetotaler bank clerk who wishes to marry Yvonne. Next-door neighbour and schoolmate Peggy O'Hare (Marlene Cameron) has a crush on Bibi, but he is as yet too young to understand.

The Happy Time. (2017, March 5). In …

Antigone, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968 Summer Theatre

Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and the play of the same name (Antigone, by Sophocles) from the fifth century B.C. In English, it is often distinguished from its antecedent by being pronounced similarly to its original French form [ɑ̃tiɡɔn], approximately on-tee-GONE.

The play was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre de l'Atelier on February 6, 1944, during the Nazi occupation. Produced under Nazi censorship, the play is purposefully ambiguous with regard to the rejection of authority (represented by Antigone) and the acceptance of it (represented by Creon). The parallels to …

Barefoot In The Park, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968 Summer Theatre

Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963 and starred Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. The play was made into a film in 1967, also starring Redford, and Jane Fonda.

Corie and Paul Bratter are a newlywed couple. For their first home, they live in an apartment on the top floor of a brownstone in New York City. During the course of four days, the couple learns to live together while facing the usual daily ups-and-downs. Corrie wants Paul to become more easy-going: for example, to run "barefoot in the …

American Dreams & Zoo Story, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968 Summer Theatre

The American Dream - The story of one of America's most dysfunctional families, it is a ferocious, uproarious attack on the substitution of artifical values for the real values- a startling tale of murder and morality that rocks middle-class ethics to its complacent foundations.

The Zoo Story - A harrowing depiction of a young man alienated from the human race- a searing story of loneliness and the desperate need for recognition that builds to a violent, shattering climax. Together, these plays show men and women at their most hilarious, heartbreaking, and above all, human.

(https://www.amazon.com/American-Dream-Zoo-Story/dp/0452278899)

Once Upon A Mattress, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1968 Summer Theatre

Due to an unhappy curse, King Sextimus is unable to speak. Meanwhile, his terror-of-a-wife, Queen Aggravain, has taken over control of the kingdom. Most importantly, in an attempt to keep Prince Dauntless single, she has decreed that only the princess that can pass her test may marry her son. Further, no one else in the kingdom may marry until Prince Dauntless does. Lady Larken and Sir Harry are extremely disturbed by this fact since Lady Larken is now pregnant with Sir Harry's baby. Luckily, Sir Harry is able to find an amazing princess, Winnifred the Woebegone. She instantly catches the …

Carousel, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967-1968 Season

The story revolves around carousel barker Billy Bigelow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan comes at the price of both their jobs. He attempts a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it goes wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pipperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone".

The Crucible, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967-1968 Season

The Crucible is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692/93. Miller wrote the play as an allegory for McCarthyism, when the United States government ostracized people for being communists. Miller himself was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.

The play was first performed at the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway on January 22, …

The Wizard Of Oz, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967-1968 Season

No abstract provided.

Waiting For Godot, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967-1968 Season

It has been said Waiting for Godot, with destructive intent, that it is a drama in which absolutely nothing happens. "And does that seem a small accomplishment?" we should ask. This is precisely what is so fascinating about Waiting for Godot: that nothing happens. It is a lucid testimony of nothingness. But while we are left cold by many dramas of intrigue in which a great deal happens, this "nothing happens" of Waiting for Godot keeps us in suspense. These men who are bored cast us out of our own boredom; their boredom produces our catharsis, and we …

The Merchant Of Venice, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967-1968 Season

The Merchant of Venice is a 16th-century play by William Shakespeare in which a merchant in Venice must default on a large loan provided by an abused (Jewish) moneylender. It is believed to have been written between 1596 and 1599. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic scenes, and it is best known for Shylock and the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech. Also notable is Portia's speech about "the quality of mercy".

The Merchant of Venice. (2017, June …

1967-1968 Annual Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

The Philadelphia Story, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967 Summer Theatre

The Philadelphia Story is a 1939 American comic play by Philip Barry. It tells the story of a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and an attractive journalist.

Take Her, She's Mine, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967 Summer Theatre

A father is overprotective toward his teenage daughter as she leaves home to go to college and study abroad in Paris.

Take Her, She's Mine. (2017, June 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17:05, June 14, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Take_Her,_She%27s_Mine&oldid=783721960

The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967 Summer Theatre

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is a 1957 play by William Inge about family conflicts during the early 1920s in a small Oklahoma town. It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play in 1958 and was made into a film of the same name in 1960.

The drama centers on Rubin Flood, who loses his salesman job. While searching for a new job, he must deal with his wife, Cora, who shuns intimacy and mistakes his joblessness for stinginess, his shy daughter who prepares for her first dance and his pre-teen son who runs to …

Rhinoceros, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967 Summer Theatre

Rhinoceros (French original title Rhinocéros) is a play by Eugène Ionesco, written in 1959. The play was included in Martin Esslin's study of post-war avant garde drama, "The Theatre of the Absurd", although scholars have also rejected this label as too interpretatively narrow. Over the course of three acts, the inhabitants of a small, provincial French town turn into rhinoceroses; ultimately the only human who does not succumb to this mass metamorphosis is the central character, Bérenger, a flustered everyman figure who is initially criticized in the play for his drinking, tardiness, and slovenly lifestyle and then, later, for …

The Fantasticks, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1967 Summer Theatre

The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who trick their children, Luisa and Matt, into falling in love by pretending to feud. The fathers hire traveling actors to stage a mock abduction, so that Matt can heroically seem to save Luisa, ending the supposed feud. When the children discover the deception, they reject the arranged love match and separate. Each then gains disillusioning experiences of the real world, …