Theatre History Commons^™

Much Ado About Nothing, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1990-1991 Season

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623.

By means of "noting" (which, in Shakespeare's day, sounded similar to "nothing" as in the play's title, and which means gossip, rumour, and overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into rejecting Hero at the altar on the erroneous belief that she has been unfaithful. At the end, Benedick and Beatrice …

Good, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1990-1991 Season

Good is an award-winning play in two acts written by British playwright Cecil Philip Taylor. Good has been described as the definitive piece written about the Holocaust in the English-speaking theatre. Set in pre-war Germany, it shows how John Halder, a liberal-minded professor whose best friend is the Jewish Maurice, could not only be seduced into joining the Nazism, but step-by-rationalised-step end up embracing the final solution justifying to his conscience the terrible actions.

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

Charlotte's Web, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1990-1991 Season

This exciting, musical version of Charlotte's Web brings a new dimension to E.B. White’s beloved classic. All the enchanting characters are here: Wilbur, the irresistible pig who desperately wants to avoid the butcher; Fern, a girl who understands what animals say to each other; Templeton, the gluttonous rat who can occasionally be talked into a good deed; the Zuckerman family; the Arables; and, most of all, the extraordinary spider Charlotte who proves to be a “true friend and a good writer.” With music and lyrics by Charles Strouse (Annie, ‘Bye, ‘Bye Birdie) and book by Joseph Robinette (national award-winning children’s …

A Streetcar Named Desire, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1990-1991 Season

This celebrated American drama, which earned both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, ranks as one of the greatest in our theatre. A savagely arresting drama. Streetcar is one the those rare plays familiar to all. Primitive, graceful and poetic, the play reveals to the very depths the character of Blanche DuBois, a woman whose life has been undermined by romantic illusions, which lead her to reject so far as possible the realities of life with which she is faced and which she consistently ignores. The pressure brought to bear upon her by her sister, …

Fool For Love, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1989-1990 Season

Fool for Love is a play written by American playwright and actor Sam Shepard. The play focuses on May and Eddie, former lovers who have met again in a motel in the desert. The play premiered in 1983 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, where Shepard was the playwright-in-residence. The play was a finalist for the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

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

Evita, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1989-1990 Season

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics and book by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. The story follows Evita's early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evita_(musical)

Stepping Out, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1989-1990 Season

Stepping Out is a play written by Richard Harris in 1984. The play concerns eight individuals from disparate backgrounds and with differing motivations who attend the same weekly tap dancing class in a dingy North London church hall. Despite the students at first treating the classes as social occasions, and showing little co-ordination, they later develop a level of skill and cohesiveness. The dance routines are the background for the focus of the play, the relationship and interaction of different people.

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

Cinderella, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1989-1990 Season

One of the most universal and beloved fairy tales of all time. The story of a beautiful young girl forced by her stepmother and jealous stepsisters to keep house and sleep in the cinders. She finally marries a handsome prince and lives happily ever after with the help of some friendly mice, a fairy godmother and a glass slipper. To be presented in a fully staged version with music.

Present Laughter, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1989-1990 Season

The plot 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). The story was described by Coward as "a series of semi-autobiographical pyrotechnics".

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

1989 - 1990 Season Brochure, Otterbein University Department Of Theatre And Dance

Theatre and Dance Annual Brochures

Annual promotional piece of the upcoming season's shows.

Children Of A Lesser God, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1988-1989 Season

This play focuses on the conflicted professional and romantic relationship between Sarah Norman, a deaf former student, and her teacher, James Leeds. The play, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum, was produced on Broadway in 1980 and in the West End in 1981. The play won the 1980 Tony Award for Best Play.

Romeo And Juliet, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1988-1989 Season

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Romeo and Juliet. (2017, July 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 21:01, August 31, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Romeo_and_Juliet&oldid=791420844

Quilters, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1988-1989 Season

In the American West, a pioneer woman, Sarah, and six women, who are called her daughters, face frontier life. Rather than a straightforward story line, the musical is presented as a series of short tales and tableaux matched with musical numbers, each presenting an aspect of frontier life or womanhood. The patches or blocks show "girlhood, marriage, childbirth, spinsterhood, twisters, fire, illness and death."^[9] The patches are ultimately put together to form one dramatic tableau. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilters_(musical)

Alice In Wonderland, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1988-1989 Season

Alice the protagonist must find her way through this strange place called "Wonderland". She is a 7 year old girl who while sitting with her sisters falls asleep and enters this world by falling down a rabbit hole. She follows the White Rabbit who leads her on many adventures.

Musical Comedy Murders Of 1940, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1988-1989 Season

The creative team responsible for a recent Broadway flop (in which three chorus girls were murdered by the mysterious "Stage Door Slasher") assemble for a backer's audition of their new show at the Westchester estate of a wealthy "angel." The house is replete with sliding panels, secret passageways and a German maid who is apparently four different people- all of which figure diabolically in the comic mayhem that follows when the infamous "slasher" makes his reappearance and strikes again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Musical_Comedy_Murders_of_1940

To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1987-1988 Season

David loves his wife, Gillian. Unfortunately, she died two years ago. David deals with his grief by continuing his romance with Gillian during walks with her "ghost" on the beach at night. While David lives in the past, other family problems crop up in the present in the real world. Esther and Paul come for a visit to try to help Rachel. She has lost her mother and needs her father to snap back into the real world and help her. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Gillian_on_Her_37th_Birthday_(play)

The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1987-1988 Season

Jean Brodie is a free-spirited teacher at a Scottish girls' school during the 1930s. She encourages her young pupils to embrace romantic ideals, educating them about love and art rather than hard facts. However, her controversial teaching philosophy draws the ire of the school's headmistress, Miss Mackey, and, as Miss Brodie becomes entangled in a love triangle, her behavior towards her favorite students becomes increasingly manipulative.

A Flea In Her Ear, Otterbein Universitytheatre And Dance Department

1987-1988 Season

Raymonde Chandebise, after years of wedded bliss, begins to doubt the fidelity of her husband, Victor Emmanuel, who has suddenly become sexually inactive. Raymonde is unaware that his behaviour is due to a nervous condition. She confides her doubts to her old friend Lucienne, who suggests a trick to test him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Flea_in_Her_Ear

Robin Hood, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1987-1988 Season

Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend he is depicted as being of noble birth, and having fought in the Crusades before returning to England to find his lands have been taken by the Sheriff. In other versions this is not the case and he is instead born into the yeoman class. Traditionally depicted dressed in Lincoln green, he is said to have robbed from the rich and …

Brighton Beach Memoirs, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1987-1988 Season

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.

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

Frontiers, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1986-1987 Season

Frontiers is not a play in the strict sense of the word. It has no single story line or no central character who advances the action. Rather, Frontiers compresses several stories (and possibly many plays and films) into a series of vignettes which are unified by a single theme: the determination of people to improve their lot in life.

Carousel, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1986-1987 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

1986-1987 Season

Frequently acclaimed as Arthur Miller's finest play, this exciting drama centers on' the Puritan purge of witchcraft in old Salem. The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. A group of children caught dancing nude in the forest, apparently under the influence of a servant from Barbados who practices voodoo, results in the cry of witchcraft as the girls fall under spells to protect themselves. This brings about an investigation by church authorities and ultimately results in a major trial that culminates in one of the …

Noises Off, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1986-1987 Season

Noises Off. Called “the funniest farce ever written,” Noises Off presents a manic menagerie of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called Nothing's On. Doors slamming, on and offstage intrigue, and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play.

https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/2894/noises-off

Sleeping Beauty, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1986-1987 Season

Sleeping Beauty is a classic fairy tale which involves a beautiful princess, a sleeping enchantment, and a handsome prince.

Amadeus, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1986-1987 Season

Peter Shaffer's Amadeus is a reimagining of the lives of Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang AmadeusMozart. The play, brought to life with the music of Mozart, is a tale of jealousy and betrayal…and perhaps even murder. Our storyopens in 1825 on the eve of the elderly Salieri's death.

https://www.marinshakespeare.org/story-of-the-plays/amadeus-story-of-the-play/

Extremities, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1985-1986 Season

A play is always fundamentally play. Storytellers have known for centuries that the artistic medium that turns their stories Into play Is the theatre. It Is with this mind, that this company of players has approached Extremities. It is a story written about a contemporary social theme that affects each of our lives to a greater or lesser degree and a theme difficult with which to play. The Issue addressed is rape: not a playful subject, but a serious concern.

My Fair Lady, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1985-1986 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

Ladyhouse Blues, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1985-1986 Season

A poignant play set in St. Louis in 1919 where five women are gathered together awaiting the return of the family men from the war in Europe. A young, gutsy, widowed woman is faced with selling the family farm to pay debts. Her four daughters include one married into a society family, one affected with TB, another turning into a blooming activist and the youngest is on the brink of discovering sex and losing her innocence in general. New life appears just around the corner and the play examines the social and psychological state of women expectantly waiting for a …

Peter Pan, Otterbein University Theatre And Dance Department

1985-1986 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