10/TBA/09: Smith Theatre New Play Reading Series. Four new one-act plays by first and second year students in the Theatre Department MFA Playwriting program: Roger Gordon, Kendra Arimoto, Jeff Stingersteen, and Darren Harned. This series is an open forum to acquaint our community with plays they might not otherwise come to know. It is devoted to prizewinning plays–often the finalists for the International Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and for the Jane Chambers Prize–and to plays by our graduate students and winners of our Five College Denis Johnston Prize. Please watch for more details on our Web site: www.smith.edu/smitharts. Free, (413) 585.ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 7:30 p.m., Earle Recital Hall, Sage Hall, Smith College.
10/15-18/09: The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Greg Josselyn. Four women's lives collide in unexpected and seemingly ordinary ways in Sarah Ruhl's Pulitzer Prize-nominated play. The stories of a maid who won't clean, sisters who only know each other through dirty laundry, and an adulteress who seeks to befriend her partner's wife intertwine in this tragically hilarious play about dirt, death, and the jokes that happen in between. $3 students, $5 general, box office (413)-559-5351; 8 p.m., Emily Dickinson Hall, Studio Theater, Hampshire College.
10/22-24/09: The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, directed by Greg Josselyn. See 10/15-18. $3 students, $5 general, box office (413)-559-5351; 8 p.m., Emily Dickinson Hall, Studio Theater, Hampshire College.
10/22-24/09: Mrs. California by Doris Baizley, directed by Sam Rush. A crowd-pleasing comedy that pokes fun at “Homemakers’contests” popular in the post World War II 1950s. The scene is 1955, at a Los Angeles hotel, where the four finalists for the Mrs. California pageant vie for the state title of ‘ideal woman’ and for prizes that include a New Freedom All Gas Kitchen. Dot, Mrs. Los Angeles, and the other contestants must demonstrate their prowess at ironing a man’s shirt, sewing an apron from an original pattern, setting a table, preparing a meal, and delivering a monologue entitled “My Proudest Moment.” Distracting Dot are her friend and fellow ex-WAVE Babs who keeps sabotaging the other contestants’ equipment and her local gas company sponsor who objects to her ‘wrongheaded’ choice for monologue topic: saving an American naval force from submarine attack during World War II. Distracting Dot, Mrs. Los Angeles, are her friend and fellow ex-WAVE Babs who keeps sabotaging the other contestants’ equipment and her local gas company sponsor who objects to her ‘wrongheaded’ choice for her “My Proudest Moment” monologue: saving an American naval force from submarine attack. Doris Baizley is also the author of Sexsting. Written in collaboration with criminal defense lawyer Susan Raffanti, it was the winner of the 2004 Guthrie/Playwrights’ Center Two-Headed Challenge. Director Sam Rush is Production Coordinator for Smith College Theatre and co-founder and Producing Director of the critically acclaimed New Century Theatre, a professional summer theatre in Northampton, Mass. Please watch for more details on our Web site: www.smith.edu/smitharts. $8 general, $5 students/seniors, (413) 585-ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 8 p.m., Theatre 14, Smith College.
10/22-25/09: Harlequin's Lesson in Love by Marivaux, directed by Roger Babb. A short comedy concerning the determined attempt by a woodland fairy to capture the heart of the churlish and unappreciative Harlequin. Magic is involved and many of the theatrical conventions on Commedia dell'Arte. $5 general, $3 students and senior citizens (seating is limited), (413) 538-2406 (voicemail reservations accepted beginning 10/1— please speak clearly and leave a phone number as all reservations are confirmed; box office will be staffed beginning 10/19, 3-6 p.m., Monday-Friday and one hour prior to each performance) or email: rookeboxoffice@gmail.com; 10/22-24, 8 p.m. and 10/24- 25 2 p.m., Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.
10/28-31/09:Mrs. California by Doris Baizley, directed by Sam Rush. See 10/22-24. $8 general, $5 students/seniors, (413) 585-ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 8 p.m., Theatre 14, Smith College.
10/29-31/09: The Burial at Thebes (a version of Sophocles' Antigone) by Seamus Heaney. In a future time, the citizenry has been pushed to breaking by a fierce civil war. Attempting to consolidate his power in a fragile peace, the newly crowned King Creon takes a harsh stand against dissent, and here, Antigone faces a terrible choice. A brother who died in the war lies unburied outside the city gates. To bury him is treason; to leave his corpse to rot is untenable. Antigone’s integrity and defiance, and her honor, shine like a beacon in Seamus Heaney’s powerful version of Sophocles’ tragedy. 10/25-30, 8 p.m.
and 10/31, 2 p.m.; The Curtain Theater, UMass Amherst.
11/3-7/09: The Burial at Thebes (a version of Sophocles' Antigone) by Seamus Heaney. See 10/29-31. 11/3-7/09, 8 p.m.
and 11/7, 2 p.m.; The Curtain Theater, UMass Amherst.
11/12/09: Smith Theatre New Play Reading Series. A new play written and directed by Holly Derr, who most recently directed House of Gold by Gregory Moss, at the PlayPenn New Play Development Festival in Philadelphia. She has also directed Common Decency by Ann Marie Healy, with the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Consortium; The Front Page at the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training; and she has been a regular director for the ART/Brown annual “Bakeoff.” She has an MFA in directing from Columbia University and a BA in dramatic arts from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has taught acting, directing, theater history, and play analysis at Smith College and, before that, at Marlboro College in VT. Please watch for more details on our Web site: www.smith.edu/smitharts. Free, (413) 585-ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 7:30 p.m., Earle Recital Hall, Sage Hall, Smith College.
11/12-14/09: Midsummer, Brooke McVety’s Senior Project in Directing. A darkly comic exploration of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Four young adults on the verge of growing up lose themselves for a night in a world of love, lust and fairies. They manipulate each other and get manipulated. They fall in and out of love. They have the most ridiculous night ever, and they can’t remember a thing in the morning. Project Midsummer uses Shakespeare’s language to tell a hysterically true story about anyone and everyone. Free, reservations recommended, (413) 542-2277, 8 p.m., Holden Theater, Amherst College.
11/12-14/09: Marta the Divine by Tirso de Molina, translation/adaptation by Harley Erdman. Funny, sexy subterfuge is the order of the day Marta the Divine. Tirso, who lived at the same time as Shakespeare, is one of Spain’s greatest playwrights, but in this country we don’t know much about him. With this vivid new translation/adaptation of a comedy that feels utterly contemporary, the UMass Department of Theater is proud to present the world premiere of this play in English. Like many a Renaissance-era heroine with moxie, Marta is a clever young woman who must resort to trickery to be with the man she loves. In her case, she pleads a religious conversion. What will happen as she maneuvers those around her so she can get her way? Only one way to find out… 8 p.m., The Rand Theater, UMass Amherst.
11/18-21/09: Marta the Divine by Tirso de Molina, translation/adaptation by Harley Erdman. See 11/12-14/09. Special student matinee 11/18, 10 a.m. and 11/19-20, 8 p.m.
and 11/21, 2 p.m.
, The Rand Theater, UMass Amherst.
12/3/09: Smith Theatre New Play Reading Series: Amateur Wrestlers by Roger Gordon, MFA candidate in Playwriting, Smith College; directed by Sam Rush. This series is an open forum to acquaint our community with plays they might not otherwise come to know. It is often devoted to prizewinning plays by our graduate students and winners of our Five College Denis Johnston Prize. Please watch for more details on our Web site: www.smith.edu/smitharts. Free, (413) 585-ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 7:30 p.m., Earle Recital Hall, Sage Hall, Smith College.
12/3-5/09: The Mistakes Madeline Made by Elizabeth Meriwether, directed by Peter Lobdell. Edna is working for a company devoted to taking care of a hugely wealthy family. We follow Edna’s interactions with her boss and another rather eccentric employee. At the same time we learn that Edna’s brother was a journalist who has died in Iraq. The Mistakes Madeline Made is an existential comedy about survivor guilt and a moving testimonial to the power of affection. The title doesn’t refer to any character; rather to an article by Dr. Joyce Brothers, “What every woman ought to know about love and marriage.” Open seating, no reservations required, (413) 542-2277. 8 p.m., Kirby Theater, Amherst College.
12/3-6/09: Rust and Dust conceived by Kyle Zamcheck in collaboration with Cassandra Mills and Luke Taylor. In a world painted by the fingertips of her own imagination, Bess exists among lost trinkets and whimsical stories. Exploring movement, music, and multi-media design Bess’ world unfurls in the most unexpected ways. Rust and Dust shows us that all matter yearns to be saturated with life and color, and that even on the most mundane of days we can find ourselves swept up by the elusive nature of time. $3 students, $5 general, box office (413)-559-5351; Emily Dickinson Hall, Mainstage Theater, Hampshire College.
12/4-5/09: Las Meninas by Lynn Nottage, directed by Ellen W. Kaplan. A Yoruba proverb states: “The white man who made the pencil also made the eraser.” From a forgotten history, playwright Lynn Nottage creates a hilarious and heart-wrenching play about a romance between Louis XIV’s Queen, Marie-Therese and Nabo Sensugali, an African dwarf sent as a gift for her royal amusement. These two lonely people find comfort in an illicit love, for which Nabo pays with his life. Their affair produced a daughter, Louise Marie, who was immediately whisked off to a convent and never heard from again. “The play is a mix of politics and really good royal dish. ‘French Queen Has Black Dwarf’s Baby’ would be a tabloid cover for the ages..,” said San Francisco Weekly. Ms. Nottage’s most recent work, Ruined, won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and also received an OBIE, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, a Drama Desk and an Outer Critics Circle Award (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre). Nottage’s 2003 play Intimate Apparel received awards for Best Play by the New York Drama Critics Circle and the Outer Critics Circle. Director Ellen W. Kaplan is Professor of Acting/ Directing at Smith College, a Fulbright Scholar (Costa Rica), twice Fulbright Senior Scholar in Hong Kong, and recipient of multiple NEH and Mellen grants. Her play Pulling Apart received the 2006 Moss Hart Award, and was also a finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference. Last winter at Smith she directed her translation and adaptation of Cuentos de Eva Luna before sold-out audiences. Please watch for more details on our Web site: www.smith.edu/smitharts. $8 general, $5 students/seniors, (413) 585.ARTS (2787) or boxoffice@smith.edu; 8 p.m., Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre, Smith College.
12/8-12/09: Curiosity, puppetry devised by Miguel Romero and students, music by Eric Sawyer.
Made possible in part by Live In Concert, Inc.
Suitable for ages 7 and up. Pandora discovers a mysterious box hidden at the back of a cabinet. “Don’t open,” it says -- but curiosity is a powerful force. Puppetry artist Miguel Romero and his students craft a new puppet theater piece inspired by the music of Eric Sawyer. A trio of singers generates a live soundscape to a series of provocative vignettes based on the age-old myth liberally leavened with compelling flights of visual fancy. 12/8-10/09, 8 p.m. and 12/11, 7 and 9 p.m., and 12/12, 2 and 4 p.m.;
The Curtain Theater, UMass Amherst.
12/10-12/09: Rust and Dust conceived by Kyle Zamcheck in collaboration with Cassandra Mills and Luke Taylor. See 12/3-6/09. $3 students, $5 general, box office (413)-559-5351; Emily Dickinson Hall, Mainstage Theater, Hampshire College.
12/10-13/09: Trifles
by Susan Glaspell
and
A Quarreling Pair
by Jane Bowles,
directed by Brooke O'Harra. Two short provocative plays
written by American Women:
Trifles -- the 1916 proto-feminist one-act and A Quarreling Pair -- an absurd feminist 1943 mini-play.
About Trifles: "Exploring the real-life murder case that Glaspell covered extensively as a reporter, wherein a man was killed by his wife, Trifles is ultimately concerned with the changing female role in a society that was not wholly ready to accept it. The play might literally be about the murder, but much more is at stake -- Trifles is a groundbreaking work that demanded a recognition of the powerlessness of females of the time, and made way for a realization of a more subtle, sophisticated power, even in the face of law triumphing over justice." Rooke Theatre, Mount Holyoke College.
12/11-12/09: Performance Project. An evening of original choreography and performance works developed by students during the fall semester in Theater & Dance 62, Performance Studio, Amherst College taught by Wendy Woodson. Free, reservations recommended, (413) 542-2277, 8 p.m., Holden Theater, Amherst College. |
