Join the Department of Theatre and Dance this November and December as we present:
Into the Woods
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Directed by Dee Dee Batteast and Bill Jenkins
Musical Direction by Beth Truitt
Choreography by Dylan Cole Passman
University Theatre
November 4-5, 8-12 at 7:30 pm
November 6 at 2:30 pm
Currently on Broadway, this James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim classic takes everyone's favorite storybook characters and brings them together for a timeless, yet relevant, piece where each person's wish is granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later with disastrous results.
Trifles
By Susan Glaspell
Directed by Alaina Moore
Fine Arts Building, Recital Hall, AR 217
November 5-7, 9-10, 12 at 7:30 pm
Trifles is unusually powerful and effective, and gives fine roles for two good actresses. The wife of a strangled farmer is arrested on suspicion. While officers and neighbors are searching the old farmhouse for evidence, two women friends discover a slain canary and a broken cage. This evidence can prove the wife guilty, but by keeping her secret, they free her. An American classic by one of the original members of the Provincetown Playhouse, where this play was premiered.
Ludlow Fair
By Lanford Wilson
Directed by Erin Takahashi
Fine Arts Building, Recital Hall, AR 217
November 5, 7-8, 10-11 at 7:30 pm
November 6 at 2:30 pm
In the words of the Village Voice, this “…is a bedtime story about two girl roommates. Rachel is glamorous, fast-living, sometimes lost in her own self-dramatizations; Agnes is plain, matter-of-fact, her shyness masked by a kooky personality. The play is ostensibly about Rachel: She turned her latest boyfriend in to the police when he stole from her, and now she is remorseful—now she decides she is in love with him. Agnes tries to cheer her up with wisecracks, then tries to rekindle her self-awareness, and finally Rachael goes to sleep. Agnes is left alone, thinking about her lunch date with the boss’ disappointing son tomorrow. And suddenly it is her play, the realist is the true romantic. Agnes’ unprepossessing but real emotions outweigh Rachel’s trumped-up, self-indulgent flourishes, and suddenly the play is simple and moving.”
Three More Sleepless Nights
By Caryl Churchill
Directed by Lily Weidenbach
Fine Arts Building, Recital Hall, AR 217
November 6, 8-9, 11-12 at 7:30 pm
November 6 at 2:30 pm
Using what is now Caryl Churchill's famous device of overlapping dialogue, this one act focuses on relationships and happy endings....or can there be a happy ending?
The Nutcracker
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Original choreography by Marius Petipa
Directed by Audra Sokol and Christie Zimmerman
Choreography by Mya Ajanku, Susan Koper, Audra Sokol, and Christie Zimmerman
Emens Auditorium
December 10 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm
Featuring live music by Ball State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gregory Robbins, the age-old tale of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker provides the setting for the return of the Department of Theatre and Dance and School of Music collaboration to the Emens Auditorium stage! Enjoy an unforgettable kickoff to the holiday season with the telling of the story of Clara, the Mouse King, and the Nutcracker Prince.