Department of Theatre Arts
2017 – 2018 Season
LITTLE WOMEN, The Musical
OCTOBER 19-29, 2017
Music by Jason Howland, Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein, Book by Allan Knee
Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic comes to life in this acclaimed musical filled with the sound of a young America discovering its voice. Follow the adventures of the March sisters - Beth, Meg, Amy, and the fiery Jo, who chronicles their struggles and triumphs as they come of age in Civil War-era Massachusetts. A timeless story, indelible characters, and a soaring score promise an uplifting theatre experience to start our season.
ENGLISH MADE SIMPLE
and other short plays
By David Ives
NOVEMBER 15-19, 2017
In the O'Sullivan Studio Theatre
The world according to David Ives is a decidedly odd place, and his plays constitute a virtual stress test of the English language. In Ives-land, "hello" may translate as "Velcro"; Leon Trotsky is doomed to die many times a day; and two mayflies fall in love, only to learn that they have a lifespan of just 24 hours. A sidesplitting evening of "theatre that aerobicizes the brain and tickles the heart . . ." (Time Magazine)
DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE
By Sarah Ruhl
FEBRUARY 15-25, 2018
In a quiet café a cell phone rings endlessly, its owner unresponsive; a woman at the next table takes matters into her own hands. Thus begins the hallucinatory adventure that fuels this compelling comedy about the place where life's mysteries and its trivialities intersect. From MacArthur "genius" award recipient, Sarah Ruhl, comes this quirky, compassionate, boldly theatrical speculation on life, loss, technology, and the poetry of every day.
PICNIC
By William Inge
APRIL 19-29, 2018
As the residents of a small Kansas town prepare for their annual Labor Day picnic, the arrival of a passionate drifter turns their lives upside down. We proudly revive this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic (later a film starring William Holden and Kim Novak), in which the master of American realism depicts a rich gallery of heartland archetypes, pits the longings of youth against the desperate complacency of middle age, and reveals the urgent hopes beneath the surface of "ordinary" life in the 1950s.
