Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

"Desdemona: A Play About A Handkerchief" And "The Tragedie Of Othello, The Moor Of Venice"

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

Appropriate

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

Spring Awakening, November 1-4, 2017, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Spring Awakening, book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.

Picnic

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

The Who's Tommy

Theatre Programs

The Who's Tommy
Book by Des McAnuff and Pete Townshend
Music and Lyrics by Pete Townshend
Additional Music and Lyrics by John Entwistle and Keith Moon
Directed by Oanh Nguyen

Rock musical; adult language and content as well as strobe lighting effects will be utilized

Based on the iconic 1969 rock concept album, The Who’s Tommy is an exhilarating story of hope, healing, and the human spirit. The story of the pinball-playing, deaf, dumb and blind boy who triumphs over his adversities has inspired, amazed, and puzzled audiences for more than 40 years. This five-time Tony Award-winning musical was translated …

Intimate Apparel

Theatre Programs

INTIMATE APPAREL by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Dr. Jaye Austin Williams

Drama: In this brilliantly crafted portrait of turn-of-the-last-century New York, Nottage gives us a story about desire and common sense, of pleasure and pain, of resilience and fragility, and above all the unlikely triumph of the human spirit. True to its title, Intimate Apparel presents a story that is both delicate and eloquent. Winner of the 2004 New York Drama Critics Circle, Outer Critics Circle Awards and Sternberg New Play Award.

Waltmar Theatre
7:30pm – Dec. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, & 10
2:00pm – Dec. 3 & 10 …

Good Kids And Dog Sees God: Confessions Of A Teenage Blockhead

Theatre Programs

Good Kids by Naomi Iizuka
Directed by James Gardner

Drama, adult language: Something happened to Chloe after that party last Saturday night. Something she says she can’t remember. Something everybody is talking about. Set at a Mid-western high school, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and YouTube, Good Kids explores a casual sexual encounter gone wrong and its very public aftermath. Who’s telling the truth? Whose version of the story do you believe? And what does that say about you?

Studio Theatre, Moulton Hall, Room 149
October 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22

To view photos from …

2016 Eiu Undergraduate Theatre History/Dramatic Literature Research Symposium, Theatre Arts

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

The Merchant Of Venice

Theatre Programs

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE by William Shakespeare
Directed by Thomas F. Bradac and starring Michael Nehring as Shylock

Bassanio, needing money to be a suitor to Portia, asks his close friend, Antonio, for a loan. Antonio's money is tied up in shipments away from Venice so he approaches Shylock, a money-lender. After being insulted in the street by Antonio, Shylock agrees to lend the money, jesting that if Antonio does not pay it back by an appointed time, Shylock may cut a pound of flesh from him. Antonio agrees, and so begins one of Shakespeare's most brilliant comedies. The Merchant …

A Flea In Her Ear

Theatre Programs

A new version of Georges Feydeau's farce by David Ives
Directed by Tamiko Washington

Ives’ reimagining of the George Feydeau comedy is a farcical romp set in France at the turn of the 20th century. Raymonde Chandebise suspects her husband Victor is having an affair after he suddenly seems blasé about sex (though it’s actually due to a nervous condition). This sets off a whirlwind of comic mishaps, wild misunderstandings, and hilarious exchanges at the Frisky Puss Hotel!

Waltmar Theater
7:30 p.m. - February 18, 19, 20, 25, 26 & 27
2 p.m. - February 27

To view photos from …

Eurydice

Theatre Programs

Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Theresa Robbins Dudeck

In Eurydice, Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

Waltmar Theatre
7:30 p.m. - November 12, 13 & 14
2 p.m. - November 14 & 15

To view photos from this production of Eurydice, please …

Rent

Theatre Programs

Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson; loosely based on Puccini’s La Bohème
Directed by Matthew McCray
Music Direction by Diane King Vann

Impoverished young artists and musicians struggle to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. The physical and emotional complications of the disease pervade the lives of Roger, Mimi, Tom, and Angel. Maureen deals with her chronic infidelity through performance art; her partner, Joanne, wonders if their relationship is worth the trouble. Benny has sold out his Bohemian ideals in exchange for a hefty income and is on the outs with …

Bent, February 6-8, 2014, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Bent by Martin Sherman and directed by Deon Haider.

Synopsis: Bent is a story of living versus survival. It concerns Max, a gay "wheeler-dealer" who leads a dissolute life of drink, drugs, and sporadic sex in prewar Berlin. One night he and his lover Rudy pick up the wrong man--someone who's on the Nazi's wanted list. Max and Rudy are forced to flee Berlin and live underground. Ultimately they are arrested, and sent to Dachau. En route, Rudy is murdered, but Max survives with the help of a "pink triangle" prisoner, Horst.

Once in …

Twelfth Night, November 7-9, 2013, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: Twelfth Night—an allusion to the night of festivity preceding the Christian celebration of the Epiphany—combines love, confusion, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery.After the twins Sebastian and Viola survive a shipwreck, neither knows that the other is alive. Viola goes into service with Count Orsino of Illyria, disguised as a young man, "Cesario." Orsino sends Cesario to woo the Lady Olivia on his behalf, but Olivia falls in love with Cesario. Viola, in the meantime, has fallen in love with Orsino.At the estate of …

An Evening Of One Acts, April 25-27, 2013, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Legend by Floyd Dell and directed by Ian Donahue; Time Flies by David Ives and directed by Will Hanson; The Visitor by Dean Laccohee and directed by Dean Haider.

Synopsis: Legend- Luciano has a present for Donna Violante. The gift is actually from her husband - a mirror he found in the catacombs. Luciano keeps her from seeing it because he wants to talk his love for her. He begs her to leave her husband. Faced with rejection, Luciano leaves. When Donna finally looks at the mirror, her life changes.

Time Flies- Two …

The King Stag, April 12-13, 2013, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The King Stag by Carlo Gozzi adapted by Sylvia Ashby and directed by Kathy Ray.

Synopsis King Stag takes place in a theatre where we see the kingdom of Serendippo appear before our eyes with the help of the great and magnificent wizard, Durandarte. At issue is the wish of King Deramo to find an honest woman to be his queen. He does so with the help of the wizard's invention, a statue whose smiles can alert the king to lies and dishonesty. Unfortunately, his prime minister, Tartaglia, wickedly undermines his trust, his government …

God Of Carnage, February 7-9, 2013, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, God of Carnage relates an evening in the lives of two couples, residents of a tony Brooklyn neighborhood, who meet to discuss a playground incident. Alan and Annette’s son hit Michael and Veronica’s son in the face with a stick, resulting in two broken teeth. The four of them agree to discuss the incident civilly, but, as the night wears on and drinks are imbibed, the polite veneer breaks down. The couples initially …

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, November 1-3, 2012, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, Stephen Belber and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of the town, the event was deeply personal. In the aftermath, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and …

Medea, April 26-28, 2012, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Medea by Euripides, translated by Frederic Raphael & Kenneth McLeish and directed by Lynn Bixler.

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 …

Blance And Beyond: Letters Of Tennessee Williams, March 1-2, 2012, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Blanche and Beyond: Letters of Tennessee Williams adapted by Steve Lawson and performed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: Blanche and Beyond is the stage sequel to A Distant Country Called Youth. While the first play traced the evolution of a young man finding his artistic voice, Blanche and Beyond spans the peak of Williams' career - the period of Streetcar, Rose Tattoo, Summer and Smoke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - and explores a no-longer obscure playwright facing the seismic shock of international fame.

The Emperor's New Clothes, March 30-31, 2012, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Emperor’s New Clothes by Blanche Marvin and directed by Shaune Wunder.

Synopsis: A parody of medieval morality plays, this delightful version of the classic tale incorporates comedy traditions from Moliere to Giraudoux.

No Placed Called Home, February 24, 2012, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of No Place Called Home by Kim Schultz and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde.

Synopsis: No Place Called Home is an unexpected story—a story about an American woman and an Iraqi man, a story about one refugee out of millions, a story that isn’t supposed to be a love story.

Gross Indecency: The Three Trials Of Oscar Wilde, December 9-10, 2011, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moisés Kaufman and directed by Jessie Sherman.

Synopsis: In early 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Wilde's young lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, left a card at Wilde's club bearing the phrase "posing somdomite." Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel. The defense denounced Wilde's art and literature as immoral, leading the prosecuting attorney to declare, "It would appear that what is on trial is not Lord Queensberry but Mr. Wilde's art!" In the end Queensberry was acquitted, and evidence that had been gathered …

Anything Goes, November 16-19, 2011, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Anything Goes by Cole Porter and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: The S. S. American is sailing between New York and England with a comically colorful assemblage of passengers: Reno Sweeney, a popular nightclub singer and former evangelist, her pal Billy Crocker, a lovelorn Wall Street broker who has come aboard to try to win the favor of his beloved Hope Harcourt (who is engaged to another passenger, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh), and a second-rate conman named Moonface Martin, aka “Public Enemy #13.” Song, dance, and farcical antics ensue as Reno and Moonface try to …

Sophie And The Adventures Of Ice Island, April 15-16, 2011, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Sophie and the Adventures of Ice Island by Forrest Musselman and directed by Siobhan Bremer.

Synopsis: Sophie always wanted to be a superhero, so when her homemade sail boat travels to Ice Island, Sophie gets a chance to save the island from melting. Can she be the hero or will the Dark Figure and his minion of penguins stop her? This play received its world premiere at the University of Minnesota-Morris and was also shown on local PBS stations: Pioneer TV and KMSQ.

Recent Tragic Events, February 10-12, 2011, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Recent Tragic Eventsf by Craig Wright and directed by Alex McGreavey.

Synopsis: It is September 12th, 2001; the setting is the Minneapolis apartment of Waverly, a young advertising executive. Soon to venture on a blind date amidst the television news coverage of the September 11th attacks, Waverly becomes preoccupied when she discovers that her twin sister, Wendy, a student in New York, has not been heard from. Waverly reassures herself that Wendy had no reason to be at the World Trade Center. As the evening unfolds, Waverly and her blind date, Andrew, an airport …

Art, November 3-7, 2010, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Art by Yasmina Reza and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: A translation of a French-language play, Art is about one man, Serge, who buys an expensive painting, a white canvas with a few white lines, and the reactions of his friends, Marc and Yvan, to his purchase. Marc responds with shock and anger; for him, Serge's purchase of the painting is a cruel joke. Yvan tries to mediate the hostility between Serge and Marc, at the cost of redirecting them to himself. As the conversations moves from the theoretical to the personal, the three …

As You Like It, April 22-24, 2010, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare and directed by Ray Schultz.

Synopsis: In one of Shakespeare’s most beloved romantic pastoral comedies, we follow the young heroine Rosalind from the court of her vindictive uncle, Duke Frederick, into the Eden-like Forest of Arden, where her banished father is living in exile. In order to avoid running into trouble, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man, “Ganymede,” and, accompanied by her faithful cousin Celia and the court clown, Touchstone, makes her way into the woods. She soon encounters the young, handsome Orlando, who is also …

Antigone, November 5-7, 2009, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

No abstract provided.

Jack And The Beanstalk, April 24-25, 2009, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of Jack and the Beanstalk dramatized by William Glennon and directed by Kelli Tucker.

Synopsis: There is much more to this play than Jack and a beanstalk. Of course, there's the proverbial giant, but there is also the giant's overworked, over-wrought wife, an aria-singing harp, a golden-egg-laying chicken with performance anxiety, and a blue-eyed stranger who looks surprisingly like Jack's long-lost father. Naturally, there's the village at the foot of the beanstalk and the giant's home in the sky, but there is also, 10 years earlier, a sailing ship caught in a storm off the …