Theater

2022-2023 Mainstage Productions

Everybody

Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Katie Pearl
Co-directed by Visiting Professor of Theater Erica Wray

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 8:00pm
Friday, November 11, 2022 at 8:00pm
Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 2:00pm
Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 8:00pm
CFA Theater

Who's gonna die? Everybody. When it happens all depends on the roll of the dice.

Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Everybody (2017) is both a response to and a dismantling of the 15th-century morality play Everyman, in which the title character, wildly unprepared to meet his maker, tries to get the people in his life to accompany him to his death. In Everybody, five of the nine actors choose their parts by lottery before every performance. Why? As the character of the Usher (who also happens to be God) tells us: “It is required that the actor’s roles be decided by lottery every night in an attempt to more closely thematize the randomness of death while also destabilizing preconceived notions about identity, blah blah blah…” Everybody is a wild, involving, provocative,​ hilarious journey for both the actors and the audience. Jacobs-Jenkins won the 2014 Obie Award for Best New American Play for his plays Appropriate and An Octoroon. Everybody was a 2018 Pulitzer Prize finalist.

This production will also serve as the Senior Theater Capstone Project in Lighting Design for Sam Harris ’23.

TALK IT OUT: How We Have Died—Antigonick and Everybody

Tuesday, October 18, 2022 at 6:00pm
The Russell House, 350 High Street, Middletown

In the Theater Department mainstage production Everybody, the characters do everything they can to get out of dying alone. In the thesis production Antigonick, Antigone chooses to die rather than sit by while her brother is dishonored in his death. So what exactly is death's role in both these societies? How did people deal with it then, how do we deal with it now?

Talking Out Death in Ancient Greece, Medieval Europe, And Today
Join us for an open conversation with: Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek Andrew Szegedy-Maszak, offering the Classical perspective; Professor of History Gary Shaw, offering the Medieval perspective; Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology Benjamin Haber, offering a perspective on today; Assistant Professor of Theater Katie Pearl, Director of Everybody; Sarah Shapiro, Thesis Director of Antigonick;  and Nikhil Sekaran, Classics major and actor in Antigonick.

Sponsored by the Creative Campus Initiative and the Theater Department.

2022-2023 Senior Projects

One Night in the Tavern

Senior Project by Ryan Natcharian '23
Advised by Assistant Professor of the Practice Mary Paul
Wednesday October 26 through Saturday October 29, 2022 
The Russell House, 350 High Street, Middletown

Heavily inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, we present a night of myth, magic, and maybe even romance, as a Bard attempts to tell the tale of a mighty hero. What could possibly go wrong?

This immersive performance capstone based on Dungeons & Dragons and other elements of the Fantasy genre, was created over a period of six weeks.  The creator worked with the cast to devise and develop both the story of the play and their characters, giving the actors agency over their roles in the show. 

 

Mulaqat: A Staged Reading

Written by Malaika Fernandes '23 in partial fulfillment of Honors in Theater
Directed by Avanti Sheth '23
Stage Managed by Sabrina Ladiwala '24
Playwriting Advised by Assistant Professor of the Project Edwin Sánchez
Friday December 2, 2002 at 8pm
The Ring Family Performing Arts Hall

When a young woman finds herself alone in the U.S. during her pregnancy, her Marathi-speaking mother and Urdu-speaking mother-in-law rush across continents to care for her. The two older women cannot understand each other’s languages, and so all three must learn to communicate with each other as they await the birth of the child. MULAQAT explores how we can redefine a South Asian community by pushing the boundaries of language in a world where understanding each other is vital.

This staged reading is the very first public sharing of this play,  followed by a brief talkback to continue the development of this piece.

Antigonick

Written by Anne Carson
Directed by Sarah Shapiro '23 in partial fulfillment of Honors in Theater
Stage Managed by Tabitha Davidson '25
Advised by Assistant Professor Katie Pearl
Wednesday December 7 through Friday December 9 at 8pm
CFA Theater Studio

Which is more important: caring for and honoring those you love, or respecting the letter of the law? What is really being measured in this life? Anne Carson brings Sophocles’ Greek tragedy Antigone into the contemporary world by fracturing it into stupendous imagery and startling, spare language. This production will use the structure of Carson’s Antigonick (2012) to explore how theater can function as a ritual to create community and connection.