Dance Commons^™

Hamlet (1976), Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1975-1976 Season

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is home from school to mourn the death of his father, King Hamlet, who has died two months earlier. Hamlet is disgusted by the marriage of his newly widowed mother, Queen Gertrude, to his Uncle, King Hamlet's brother, Claudius, who now has the throne. https://www.hartfordstage.org/stagenotes/hamlet/synopsis

Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1975-1976 Season

No abstract provided.

The Matchmaker, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1975-1976 Season

Yonkers store-owner Horace Vandergelder refuses to allow his niece, Ermengarde, to marry Ambrose Kemper. He informs Ambrose that he is sending his niece away to stay with a friend, but Ambrose easily learns that she will be in New York City and plans to follow her there. Meanwhile, Horace has arranged for a matchmaker to find a wife for himself. https://www.bard.org/study-guides/synopsis-the-matchmaker

Hansel & Gretel (1975), Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

1975 Summer Theatre

No abstract provided.

A Streetcar Named Desire, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974-1975 Season

A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams that received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Streetcar_Named_Desire

Scapin, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974-1975 Season

Scapin constantly lies and tricks people to get ahead. He is an arrogant, pompous man who acts as if nothing were impossible for him. However, he is also a diplomatic genius. He manages to play the other characters off of each other very easily, and yet manages to keep his overall goal — to help the young couples — in sight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapin_the_Schemer

The Wizard Of Oz, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974-1975 Season

No abstract provided.

Count Dracula, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974-1975 Season

This is a witty version of the story of a suave vampire whose passion is sinking teeth into the throats of young women. There are many surprising but uncomplicated stage effects including mysterious disappearances, secret panels, howling wolves and bats that fly over the audience. Magically, Dracula vanishes in full view of the spectators.

http://www.samuelfrench.com/p/2218/count-dracula

Present Laughter, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1974 Summer Theatre

Present Laughter follows a few days in the life of the successful and self-obsessed light comedy actor Garry Essendine as he prepares to travel for a touring commitment in Africa. Amid a series of events bordering on farce, Garry has to deal with women who want to seduce him, placate both his long-suffering secretary and his estranged wife, cope with a crazed young playwright, and overcome his impending mid-life crisis, since he has recently turned forty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_Laughter

Kiss Me Kate, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973-1974 Season

Kiss Me, Kate is a musical that involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_Me,_Kate

Three Men On A Horse, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973-1974 Season

Three Men on a Horse is a play about a man who discovers he has a talent for choosing the winning horse in a race as long as he never places a bet himself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_on_a_Horse

Six Characters In Search Of An Author, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973-1974 Season

Tonight's production is Pirandello's play about six characters who were created by an author, but left incomplete. They now intrude upon a theatre rehearsal demanding that they be given life. At first, the troupe of players share their Director's view that they are mad. But as the pathetic dilemma of this wayward, disturbing family is unfolded, their reality imposes itself and commands consideration. Are they "real"? What is "real"? Is a person's role his identity? Eventually the Director and his company, you and I, are made to question some of our previously assumed certainties...

The Story Theatre Of Hans Christian Anderson, Otterbein Universitytheatre And Dance Department

1973-1974 Season

This performance includes play adaptations of Hans Christian Anderson's tales, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Princess and the Pea.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Otterbein Universitytheatre And Dance Department

1973-1974 Season

This was a mod-style production of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.

See How They Run, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973 Summer Theatre

See How They Run is an English comedy in three acts by Philip King. Its title is a line from the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". It is considered a farce for its tense comic situations and headlong humour, heavily playing on mistaken identity, doors, and vicars. In 1955 it was adapted as a film starring Roland Culver.

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

Till Death Do Us... & Adaptation, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973 Summer Theatre

Till Death Do Us... - We are especially proud to present Till Death Do Us..., an original script by Carter Lewis. This play was written last winter as part of the Otterbein College requirements for "Graduation with Distinction," and the play was presented in the Workshop Theatre.

Adaptation - This is a contest, played like Parcheesi, in which the contestant advances or is sent back through the seven ages of man. The Author has written a parody of life with such incisiveness that it becomes life Swift in its barbs.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Adaptation.html?id=TZGXD57r-EkC

The Mousetrap, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973 Summer Theatre

The Mousetrap is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. The Mousetrap opened in London's West End in 1952, and has been running continuously since then. The longest running West End show, it has by far the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 25,000th performance taking place on 18 November 2012.^[1] The play is known for its twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mousetrap

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1973 Summer Theatre

Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (251–183 BC), specifically Pseudolus, Miles Gloriosus, and Mostellaria, the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Funny_Thing_Happened_on_the_Way_to_the_Forum

The Male Animal, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1971 Summer Theatre

Elliott Nugent scored his biggest stage success with The Male Animal, which he co-wrote with his longtime friend James Thurber. It centers on a college professor who faces dismissal for his defense of free speech. Further complicating matters is the arrival of his wife’s former boyfriend. The play premiered in 1940, with Nugent in the lead role.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elliott-Nugent

Camelot, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1970-1971 Season

Lerner and Loewe’s majestic Camelot brings the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to life with an extraordinary score and a story that poignantly dramatizes the human conflict at the heart of this classic tale. Based on T.H. White’s novel, The Once and Future King, Camelot tells the story of Arthur, a young squire who becomes King after extracting the sword Excalibur from its legendary rock. Camelot opens in the midst of the battle that destroyed King Arthur’s kingdom, and goes back to tell the story of how the battle came to be. The …

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 …

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 …

Ah, Wilderness!, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

Ah, Wilderness! is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theater on October 2, 1933. It varies from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a happy family in turn of the century America. It is O'Neill's only well-known comedy. Ah, Wilderness!. (2017, April 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:10, May 23, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ah,_Wilderness!&oldid=777914403

One Acts, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1958-1959 Season

"The purpose of the Annual Freshman One-Acts is fourfold: first, these plays offer advanced members of Cap and Dagger an opportunity to gain valuable directing experience; secondly, the plays offer valuable acting experience and training to those Freshmen who are interested in dramatics; thirdly tonight's plays are the Cap and Dagger Dramatic Club annual Christmas gift to the students and faculty of Otterbein College, and the the village of Westerville; and lastly, to provide a greater variety of dramatic entertainment for our audience".

As You Like It, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1907-1958 Productions

We celebrate the best of Shakespeare with laughter...music...dances...romance...comedy at all levels. The story of how the banished Duke, Rosalind, Orlando and others find happiness through love is one of the most delightful of all Shakespearean tales. The wit of the clown, Touchstone, the philosophy of "All the world's a stage...", the music of "It was a lover and his lass...", the earthy needs of the country people, the romantic honesty of young lovers in tune with nature...all can be found in As You Like It.