Theatre History Commons^™

Between Body And Spirit: An Interview With Leszek Bzdyl, Barbara Świąder

Mime Journal

Barbara Świąder interviews Leszek Bzdyl, the artistic director of Dada von Bzdülöw Theatre, a dance theatre company that operates on the borderline of artforms. Bzdyl describes his evolution as a dancer, how he started the company with Katarzyna Chmielewska, how Dada’s plays are developed, and his artistic influences, including Jerzy Grotowski. He also assesses the contemporary Polish dance and alternative theatre scenes.

Introduction: Grotowski's Evolving Influence In Poland, Kathleen Cioffi

Mime Journal

In this introduction, Kathleen Cioffi discusses the physical basis of Jerzy Grotowski’s practice and describes how it developed through the various stages of his career, from the Laboratory Theatre stage to the Art as vehicle stage. She also surveys Grotowski’s Polish reception, including various controversies surrounding his work, and analyzes the evolution of his influence on several generations of physical theatre practitioners in Poland.

Front Matter, Contents - Grotowski And His Legacy In Poland, Kathleen Cioffi

Mime Journal

No abstract provided.

Dames At Sea, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

When talented young hopeful Ruby arrives in New York City with nothing but a pair of tap shoes in her suitcase, she is determined to break into show business. She stumbles into the cast of troubled show “Dames at Sea”, in which broke and pessimistic producer Hennesey is terrorized by Mona Kent, the aggressive, seductive, and surprisingly shady leading lady. Dames at Sea is a light, bright, and hilariously tuneful homage to the glamorous and hopeful movie musicals of the 1930s. https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/2374/dames-at-sea

The 39 Steps, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have the intriguing, thrilling, riotous and unmissable comedy. The show hurtles a notorious fugitive and a spellbound blonde from a London music hall north by northwest to Scotland’s most remote highlands. Will they save Britain from a den of devious spies? A cast of four actors plays over 150 characters in this fast-paced tale of an ordinary man on an extraordinarily entertaining adventure. The 39 Steps contains every single legendary scene from the award-winning movie — including the chase on the Flying Scotsman, …

The Fantasticks, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2014 Summer Theatre

Whimsical, poignant, and romantic, The Fantasticks is an allegorical story that focuses on two young lovers, their meddling fathers, and the journey we all must take through adolescent thrills, the growing pains of hurt and betrayal, the highs of passion, the challenges of distance, and the agonies of heartbreak to discover how to truly love. The Fantasticks is a gem of the American musical theatre. Featuring timeless classics like “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” this simple and beautiful ensemble piece is as beloved and as timely as it was when it opened over 50 years ago. https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/1377/the-fantasticks

The Miracle Worker

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.

The Miracle Worker is based on the autobiography of Helen Keller.

This show was in memory of Dr. Oliver Hubbard, former professor and director of Taylor Theatre. The performance was directed and designed to be as close to the previous performance of The Miracle Worker Dr. Oliver Hubbard directed in 2002. The performance on May 3 was part of a full day dedicated to honoring his work and service. (See the playbill of "The Servant of Two Masters" for the schedule.)

The Full Monty, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013-2014 Season

Six unemployed steelworkers in Buffalo, New York are miserable. They have no cash and no prospects. Meanwhile, they catch their wives and other women going crazy over male strippers. The six men then set out to make some quick cash showing off their "real man" bodies by becoming a team of male strippers. As the guys work through their fears, self-consciousness and anxieties they find strength as a group and overcome their inner demons.

https://stageagent.com/shows/musical/2441/the-full-monty

The Importance Of Being Earnest (2014), Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013-2014 Season

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. It's the story of two bachelors, John 'Jack' Worthing and Algernon 'Algy' Moncrieff, who create alter egos named Ernest to escape their tiresome lives. www.importanceofbeingearnest.co.uk/synopsis/

The Servant Of Two Masters

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, translated by Jeffry Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi.

The Servant of Two Masters is a comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1746. It follows the story of Beatrice and her comical servant, Truffaldino. Beatrice goes disguised as her dead brother to find her lover, Florindo, plotting to acquire money from her brother’s betrothed to help her run away with her lover. Meanwhile Truffaldino secretly takes on an additional service to Florindo, and must do his best to serve his two …

The Cherry Orchard

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov.

The play follows an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage.

Dance 2013: Once Again, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013-2014 Season

No abstract provided.

Kiss Me, Kate

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter and Samuel and Bella Spewack.

Kiss Me, Kate follows the story of divorcees Fred and Lilli and their onstage/offstage drama as they rehearse and perform a musical version of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Speed-The-Plow, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013-2014 Season

Speed-the-Plow is another of Mamet's business plays, this one exploring the relationship between business and art. Bobby and Charlie are film producers who are considering greenlighting the script for a prison buddy movie that they believe will be a huge blockbuster. Bobby has been reading an apocalyptically spiritual novel that has deep meaning, but Charlie points out that this book would never make a great movie. After the temp, Karen, leaves the office, Charlie bets Bobby that he cannot get her into bed. When she returns, Bobby asks her to read the novel and give him her thoughts later. That …

Les Misérables, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013-2014 Season

One of the world’s most iconic and longest-running musicals, Les Misérablestells the story of Jean Valjean, a former convict who spends a lifetime seeking redemption. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France and the aftermath of the French Revolution, this timeless story of intertwined destinies reveals the power of compassion and the quiet evil of indifference to human suffering. As Valjean’s quest for a new life carries him into Paris and to the barricades of the Student Revolution, he is hunted by Inspector Javert and the ghosts of his past. Amidst a battle for the soul of Paris, he …

Though The Earth Give Way

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Though the Earth Give Way by William Gebby, commissioned and presented by the Taylor Theatre Touring Company.

Though the Earth Give Way is a reimagined telling of the story of King Hezikiah and his resistance of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.. The story is found in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 18-20 and Psalm 46.

Freud's Last Session

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Freud’s Last Session by Mark St. Germain.

Freud’s Last Session focuses on psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud who has invited Oxford professor C. S. Lewis to his London home. The two men enter debate about the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own.

The play was suggested by the best selling book The Question of God by Armand M. Nicholi, Jr..

Little Shop Of Horrors, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013 Summer Theatre

Little Shop of Horrors is a delectable sci-fi horror musical with an electrifying 1960s pop/rock score by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.

Seymour Krelborn is a meek and dejected assistant at a floral shop who happens upon a strange plant, which he affectionately names “Audrey II” after his crush at the shop. Little does he know that this strange and unusual plant will develop a soulful R&B voice, a potty mouth, and an unquenchable thirst for HUMAN BLOOD.

As Audrey II grows bigger and meaner, the carnivorous plant promises limitless fame and fortune to Seymour, as long as he continues …

Boeing Boeing, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013 Summer Theatre

A hit comedy similar in vein to Shakespeare’s comedies of merry misadventures and mistaken identities, Boeing Boeing tells the exploits of French bachelor Bernard and his lovely female flight attendants. Three flight attendants, to be exact, from three different countries: and they all believe they’re engaged to Bernard! In the past, Bernard has been able to juggle these women due to his detailed timetable of his fiancés’ flight schedules. When the situation changes and all of the women end up at his apartment on the same day, Bernard (with help from his bewildered friend Robert) struggles to keep them from …

Almost, Maine, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2013 Summer Theatre

A woman carries her heart, broken into nineteen pieces, in a small paper bag. A man shrinks to half his former size, after losing hope in love. A couple keep the love they have given each other in large red bags, or compress the mass into the size of a diamond. These playful and surreal experiences are commonplace in the world of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine, where on one deeply cold and magical Midwinter Night, the citizens of Almost -- not organized enough for a town, too populated for a wilderness -- experience the life-altering power of the human …

The Curious Savage

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2013 performance of The Curious Savage by John Patrick.

The Curious Savage is the story of Ethel P. Savage, an elderly lady whose husband has died and left her approximately ten million dollars. When she sets up a memorial fund for average people to pursue their dreams, her three stepchildren commit her to a sanatorium and try to discover where she has hidden the fortune. As the search for the fortune plays out the question becomes who is really crazy, the residents of the sanatorium or Ethel’s stepchildren.

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012-2013 Season

No abstract provided.

The Art Of Adaptation, Katharine E. Jordan

Honors Theses and Capstones

My honors thesis The Art of Adaptation discusses the process of adapting old stories and theatrical pieces for modern audiences through the exploration of various adaptations (theatrical, operatic, dance and film) of Euripides' Medea. It also touches on my own short, modern, adaptation; FURY: A Rock Musical Inspired by Medea. All of this research was important in making the performance aspect of my capstone the best it could be.

After The Fall, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012-2013 Season

In the early stages of a new love, paralyzing memories of past relationships haunt Quentin, a liberal New York attorney who questions his own ability to truly connect with the women in his life. Arthur Miller’s most personal and autobiographical play, After the Fall, unflinchingly tackles the emotional brutality that can unfold within a marriage, against a national backdrop of McCarthyism and the commodification of celebrity. In doing so, Miller unravels the political complications in personal relationships while exposing the personal consequences of big-issue politics.

https://stageagent.com/shows/play/5665/after-the-fall

Godspell

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2013 performance of Godspell by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak.

Gospell is a musical telling the parables and life of Jesus found in the gospel of Matthew.

Romeo & Juliet

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about two young lovers from feuding families and how their relationship and deaths reconcile their families.

Spring Awakening, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012-2013 Season

Based on Frank Wedekind’s groundbreaking and controversial play (once banned in Germany), Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s brilliant rock score and searingly emotional book take the story of sexual awakening, youth revolt, and self-discovery into a new century. It’s 1891, and grown-ups hold all the cards. Headstrong Melchior and naive Wendla stumble into each others’ arms, passionate and curious, while anxious Moritz struggles to live up to the stringent expectations of society. With only each other for guidance, this group of young men and women travel the fraught and rocky path of adolescence, discovering their bodies, their minds, and themselves …

But Not Destroyed: The Story Of Calvin Fairbank

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of But Not Destroyed: The Story of Calvin Fairbank by William Gebby.

But Not Destroyed tells the story of Calvin Fairbank who was among forty-four persons imprisoned in the Kentucky State Penitentiary for the crime of helping African-Americans escape from slavery.

Performed by the Taylor Touring Company.

Waiting For Godot

Taylor Theatre Playbills

The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.

Waiting for Gadot is the story of two men and their conversations as they wait for someone named Gadot, who never arrives.

Noises Off, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

2012-2013 Season

Michael Frayn's Noises Off takes a fond look at the follies of theatre folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss, and passionate affairs turn every performance into a high-risk adventure. This play-within-a-play captures a touring theatre troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance, and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Frayne gives us a window into the inner workings of theatre behind the scenes, progressing from flubbed lines and missed cues in the dress rehearsal to mounting friction between cast members in the final performance. Brimming with slapstick comedy, Noises …