Theatre and Performance Studies Commons^™

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.

Charlotte's Web, May 3-4, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Charlotte's Web by Joseph Robinette and directed by Rachel Smoka.

Synopsis: A stage musical based on the book of the same name by E.B. White about a literate spider that weaves an elaborate plan to save a young pig from the butcher's block.

Meiningens Menagerie, April 22-23, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of Meiningens Menagerie, a production of three plays: The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year by John Guare, Lone Wolf by Greg Riedesel, Deceptions by Eric Michael Bauer, and True Capricorns Can't Fall in Love by Miss Evol Jennifer Sayre.

The Pajama Game, February 29-March 3, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of The Pajama Game written by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, directed by Eric Johnson.

Synopsis: The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where workers' demands for a seven-and-a-half cent raise are going unheeded. In the midst of this ordeal, love blossoms between Babe, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the new factory superintendent.

Top Girls, February 27-28 & March 1, 1996, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill and directed by Beth Cherne.

Synopsis: Marlene has been promoted to managing director of a London employment agency and is celebrating. The symbolic luncheon is attended by women in legend or history who offer perspectives on maternity and ambition. In a time warp, these ladies are also her co-workers, clients, and relatives. Marlene, like her famous guests, has had to pay a price to ascend from proletarian roots to the executive suite: she has become, figuratively speaking, a male oppressor, and even coaches female clients on adopting odious male …

The Rivers And Ravines, November 16-18, 1995, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Rivers and Ravines by Heather McDonald and directed by Anne M. Ellis.

Synopsis: This is an engrossing political drama about the contemporary farm crisis in America and its effect on rural communities.

Alice In Wonderland, May 12-13, 1995, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Alice in Wonderland adapted by Brainerd Duffield and directed by Zachery Anderson.

Synopsis: Alice plunges down the rabbit hole and becomes involved in that madcap and deliciously satiric series of adventures immortalized by Lewis Carroll.

Stages, April 21-22, 1995, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Stages: four stories about love, heartache and all of the stage in between.

Synopsis: The Man in a Cas by Wendy Wassterstein -- Varinka is a free spirit in love with the older Byelinkov, the most proper man in town. But his inhibitions and worries about how he and Varinka are perceived when she boldly rides a bicycle about town threatens to unravel their impending marriage.

27 Wagons Full of Cotton ­by Tennessee Williams -- After Jake, a shady, middle-aged cotton gin owner, burns down rival Silva Vicarro's mill, Vicarro attempts to …

Marat/Sade, February 22-25, 1995, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (Marat/Sade) Peter Weiss directed by Michael Shiller.

Synopsis: In the Charenton Asylum in 1808, the Marquis de Sade stages a play about the murder of Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday, using his fellow inmates as actors. The director of the hospital, Monsieur Coulmier, supervises the performance, accompanied by his wife and daughter. Coulmier, who supports Napoleon's government, believes that the play will support his own bourgeois ideas, and denounce those …

Waiting For The Moon To Rise, January 26-28, 1995, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Waiting for the Moon to Rise – a trilogy of women’s plays.

Synopsis: Am I Blue by Beth Henley and directed by Jen Brooks -- Am I Blue, the first play of well-known author Beth Henley, is a brief one-act that opens on a rainy street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. John Polk, a young college student, is having a drink at a dingy bar when he meets Ashbee, a small and feisty 16-year-old girl dressed a bit maturely for her age. She’s hiding in the bar to steal their ashtrays, and …

Picnic, November 10-12, 1994, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Picnic by William Inge and directed by George Fosgate.

Synopsis: On a sweltering Labor Day morning, the women of a quiet neighborhood on the wrong side of the tracks are preparing for the annual picnic. Watchful mother Flo Owens has hopes that her beautiful daughter Madge will get a proposal from Alan, the local millionaire’s son. Younger sister Millie, the “smart one”, yearns to grow up and leave her small town behind. Good-natured Mrs. Potts is happy to get a break from taking care of her aged mother. And spinster schoolteacher Rosemary Sydney cheerfully …

The San Of Youth, How Quickly & The Dressing Room, February 24-26, 1994, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Sand of Youth, How Quickly and The Dressing Room by Shimizu Kunio.

Synopsis: The Dressing Room (Gakuya) is a play that takes place backstage. In the play there are four actresses who are getting ready for a production of The Seagull, a play by Anton Chekhov. However, during the play it is learned that everything is not just what it seems. The play has theme of memory not being perfect and memory lasting beyond the body and into death.

Mother Courage And Her Children, November 18-20, 1993, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht and directed by Michael A. Shiller.

Synopsis: Mother Courage and Her Children, follows one mother -- Mother Courage -- and her three children -- Eilif, Swiss Cheese, and Kattrin -- as they struggle to survive the Thirty Years War that ravaged Europe in the early 17th century. As a canteen woman, Mother Courage attempts to make a profit off the war by selling goods to soldiers. The very war that Mother Courage seeks to use to her advantage, however, ends up depriving her life of all …

A Midsummers Night's Dream, 1992/93, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of A Midsummers Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by Raymond Lammers.

Synopsis: Four Athenians run away to the forest only to have Puck the fairy make both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. The four run through the forest pursuing each other while Puck helps his master play a trick on the fairy queen. In the end, Puck reverses the magic, and the two couples reconcile and marry.

Lovers, November 14-17, 1990, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of Lovers by Brian Friel and directed by Raymond J. Lammers.

Synopsis: Lovers consists of two parts: Winners and Losers. In Winners, two commentators speak without emotion about the life and death of young Mag and Joe, who are destined to be married in three weeks due to Mag’s pregnancy. The two young people are bursting with life, enthusiasm, and hope. Mag and Joe truly care for each other, and though their youth often leads to heated arguments, they soon dissipate through vows of love and carefree joking. Their youthful passion, however, threatens …

King Patch And Mr. Simpkins, 1990/91, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of King Patch and Mr. Simkins by Alan Cullen, directed by Melissa Nyman.

Synopsis: An unemployed jester, down on his luck, recklessly releases a jinn from captivity, who grants him a wish. Against the advice of his companion, a distinguished English sheepdog named Mr. Simpkins, he wishes to be a king. But this proves complicated, as he first has to pass the Test, and he finds his kingdom impoverished and endangered and protected only by two bumbling baronets who are constantly on the verge of killing each other for love of the Lady Fenella. Bewitched …

Scrooge, December 14-17, 1989, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota Morris production of Scrooge by Leslie Bricusse and directed by Christi Madison.

Synopsis: A musical adaptation of the 1970 musical film Scrooge, based off of Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.

Of Mice & Men, February 1-4, 1989, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck and directed by Dan Perdue.

Synopsis: Based on the classic novella written by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men tells the tale of two great friends and their struggle to live the American dream. George and Lennie have been traveling together from ranch to ranch for years, working hard to make ends meet and save enough for a place of their own. The two are polar opposites: George is intelligent, quick and small, while Lennie is slow-minded, childlike, and giant. Though they are different, they care deeply about …

Six Short Plays, February 22-25, 1989, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Six Short Plays consisting of:

This Property is Condemned by Tennessee Williams; Before Breakfast by Eugene O’Neill; Playgoers by Arthur Wing Pinero; Susugigawa (The Washing Bucket) by Kyogen; The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco; Augustus by Jean Anouilh and Jean Aurenche. All directed by Raymond J.Lammers.

Synopsis: This Property is Condemned -- Willie, a 13-year old girl from Mississippi, is world-weary before her time. She dropped out of school years ago, her family died, and now she lives alone in their condemned boarding house and dreams of becoming a whore. One day as she walks …

She Stoops To Conquer, 1988, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith and directed by Raymond Lammers.

Synopsis: One of the eighteenth-century’s most enduring comedies, She Stoops to Conquer takes a comedic, often farcical, look at the behavior and marital expectations of the upper classes in England at this time. The play centers around the desire of Hardcastle, a wealthy landowner in the country, for his daughter, Kate Hardcastle, to marry the well-educated Charles Marlow. Together with Marlow’s father, Sir Charles Marlow, they arrange for the younger Marlow to visit the Hardcastle’s house and court Kate. However Kate is …

Private Lives, 1988, Theatre Arts Discipline

Theatre Programs

University of Minnesota, Morris production of Private Lives by Noel Coward and directed by Laura A. Lehner.

Synopsis: In Private Lives, passion, laughter, romance, anger, and love set the stage for a battle of the sexes as divorced couple, Amanda and Elyot, find themselves unwittingly thrown together in Coward’s classic comedy of manners. Unknowingly booking adjoining rooms while on honeymoon with their respective spouses, Victor and Sybil, Amanda and Elyot are forced to face their true feelings for each other. Realizing they have made a pair of mistaken marriages, the divorcees attempt to escape their mismatched partners. With haste, and …