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<\/a><\/h3>\nBook by Howard Ashman<\/span> April 16\u201318\u00a0 |\u00a0 7 p.m.<\/span> Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center<\/span><\/p>\n A plant that can make dreams come true…<\/span> After a total eclipse of the sun, the meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names “Audrey II” – after his coworker crush. This foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down and out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it, BLOOD. Over time, though, Seymour discovers Audrey II’s out of this world origins and intent towards global domination! A hilarious mashup of science fiction, horror, and musical theater, this nostalgic classic boasts Motown-inspired hits like \u201cGit It,\u201d \u201cSuddenly Seymour,\u201d and \u201cSomewhere That’s Green.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Little Shop of Horrors<\/em> is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). <\/p>\n by Luc\u00eda Salazar-Davidson and Kyle Hayes February 5\u20137\u00a0 |\u00a0 7 p.m. Tjornhom-Nelson Theater, Foss Center<\/p>\n A day at the state fair changes everything.<\/span> Lewis Palmer, radio-wave surfer and UFO enthusiast, works hard on his family\u2019s sunflower farm, and has no plans to ever leave it. Joan Palmer, his younger sibling, wants to escape their rural South Dakota town at any cost, desperate to come out as queer and live free of the expectations of a suffocatingly close-knit community. On the one-year anniversary of their parents\u2019 mysterious and untimely death, tensions rise to a snapping point as they deal with nosey neighbors, preparations for the state fair, and radio interference.<\/span><\/p>\n Static<\/span><\/i>, a tragicomedy written by students Luc\u00eda Salazar-Davidson and Kyle Hayes, explores what we do in irredeemably harmful situations. Can we stay? Should we escape? What happens to the ones we leave behind? Through various misadventures, devastating miscommunications, a dash of music, and a sprinkle of sci-fi flair, this play aims to explore these questions.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Co-directed by Jay Eisenberg and Madeleine Rowe ’19<\/span> November 13\u201315\u00a0 |\u00a0 7 p.m.<\/span> Every Fall, an extended family of farmers invites the community to attend their beloved haunted house.This year, the youngest among them has decided that it’s time for the group to apply their performance skills in a new way. Welcome to opening night of their very first play:\u00a0LUN<\/i>AR! SOLAR!<\/i><\/p>\n They\u2019ve cleared the cornfield. ANNUAL! PERENNIAL!\u00a0<\/i>is a beautifully stupid love letter to the comedies and tragedies of collaboration and the triumphs and failures of what we know as \u201ctheatre.\u201d Drawing on clown, physical comedy, theatre tradition, and folklore, co-directors Jay Eisenberg and Madeleine Rowe have guided a fantastic student ensemble through the process of original character creation, devising, and self-scripting to bring you this brand new play-within-a-play.<\/p>\n by Henrik Ibsen<\/p>\n directed by Darcey Engen<\/span><\/p>\n This adaptation of Ibsen\u2019s classic 1882 play, <\/span>An Enemy of the People,<\/span><\/i> is an original and contemporary musical that leads the audience through the story of two siblings, a doctor and a mayor of the same town, that find themselves on opposite sides of a major community crisis. <\/span>An Enemy of the People <\/span><\/i>examines how a community responds when the local doctor threatens to expose that the town\u2019s water source they rely on for tourism is contaminated. It raises questions of how far a community will go to protect their town\u2019s secret so they can keep tourism dollars coming and circumvent a path to financial ruin. Scenes and songs will happen in close proximity to the audience, compelling them tofeel as if they are part of the story. Immersed in the play’s dilemma, audiences will find themselves part of the climactic ending of the play when they actually vote to shape the ending of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Johanna Caroline Sch\u00f6n<\/span> directed by Kayla Marie Mielke and Johanna Caroline Sch\u00f6n<\/span><\/p>\n Who owns history? And who is allowed to tell its stories? The student-written piece Tian<\/em> centers around these fundamental questions. This conflict becomes clear when the audience is led through the life of romantic poet Karoline von Gu\u0308nderrode by two characters with two very different claims to Karoline\u2019s story: Bettine von Arnim, contemporary and close friend of Karoline, who\u00a0wants to paint a strong, feminist picture; and the Playwright whose goal is to create an enticing, heart-wrenching play. The audience finds themselves in the in-betweens of history, whilst being part of Karoline\u2019s personal journey filled with struggles, doubt, and dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n This production contains references to suicide, themes surrounding mental health including depression and eating disorders, and relationship abuse. Additionally, this production uses stage fog.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Savannah Reich directed by Alex Barreto Hathaway<\/p>\n The animals at the zoo are very busy\u2014experimenting with meditation, processing their relationships, honing their wilderness survival skills, hosting community meetings, arguing about doors. No one is talking about the cages. The cages are not important\u2026or are they?<\/p>\n Paradise Park Zoo<\/i>\u00a0is a dark-comedy that follows a group of zoo animals as they struggle to free themselves from their own cages. This fantastical dark-comedy critiques our lack-luster dating pool, our ineffective work meetings, and how our people-pleasing tendencies are caging the true and wild animal within.<\/p>\n Complete with a live band, group dance numbers, and several public break-ups,\u00a0Paradise Park Zoo<\/i>\u00a0is a theatrical event not to be missed.<\/p>\n Written by 2020\u20132021 McKnight Fellow in Playwriting,\u00a0Savannah Reich<\/u><\/a>, and directed by Minneapolis-based director and theater-maker,\u00a0Alex Barreto Hathaway<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Music, Book, and Lyrics by Richard O’Brien Directed by Darcey Engen Music Direction by Jill Dawe<\/span><\/p>\n The cult classic musical <\/span>The<\/span><\/i> Rocky Horror Show<\/span><\/i>, written in 1973, brings together song, camp, fluid sexuality, and blurring gender identities in a time when any sexual difference was taboo. Rooted in B movie horror and science fiction tropes, this humorous countercultural musical sees an apparently innocent heteronormative couple \u201ctransduced\u201d into gender non-normativity, queerness, and sexual liberation while encountering quirky characters, catchy rock and roll music, an alien scientist and his Frankenstein-like creation, and audience participation! One of the first experiences many mainstream audiences would have had to experience such thinking, <\/span>The Rocky Horror<\/span><\/i> Show<\/span><\/i> is still as relevant today, linking 21st century thinking and experiences to question, complicate, and celebrate expansive yet controversial ideas from the 1970\u2019s. In the current moment with its political push to erase certain experiences of gender, <\/span>The Rocky Horror Show<\/span><\/i> allows us to celebrate differences\u2013so let\u2019s do the Timewarp\u2026again!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Maggie Lee<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Beliza Torres Narv<\/span>\u00e1ez<\/span><\/p>\n Professor Shae Pemberton is a humble, secretive inventor who leads a quiet life focused on science. However, as her loyal assistant Matilda reminds her, fixing broken toys, clocks, and household gadgets is what she must do to pay the bills. When her friend Lawrence visits her with a business proposal from two shady fellows, buried secrets from her past resurface. As political unrest sweeps over the great city of New Providence, unexpected (and weird!) events start to unravel and threaten to destroy everything Pemberton holds dear, perhaps even the Crown itself!\u00a0The Clockwork Professor<\/em>\u00a0is an action-packed adventure of fantastical science fiction with a steampunk twist.<\/p>\n Content Disclosure:<\/strong>\u00a0The Clockwork Professor<\/em>\u00a0is a comedy intended for young adult and adult audiences. This play includes the use of some strong language (swearing) and contains suggested nudity (the characters are nude, the actors are not). There are also simulated fights, physical restraint, and a bit of romantic display of affection. Ah! And there will be some occasional theatrical smoke, too!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Audrey Cefaly<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Lauren Stadler<\/span><\/p>\n The divide between Kendra and Betty mimics the very world that devours them: a vast and polarizing abyss. On a quiet summer evening, somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, Kendra and Betty troll the flats looking for red fish.\u00a0 After Betty begins diagnosing Kendra\u2019s dead-end life with career picks from What Color is Your Parachute, their routine fishing excursion takes a violent turn.<\/span><\/p>\n by Lulu Raczka<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Alondra Alamilla Benitez<\/span><\/p>\n A Girl in School Uniform Walks into a Bar is the third play by award-winning playwright Lulu Raczka, set in the shadows of a dystopian city. We learn that there are frequent blackouts, people regularly go missing and women are being killed. Whatever happened to create this dystopian world remains a mystery.<\/span><\/p>\n Schoolgirl Steph is in search of her best friend Charlotte, she enlists the help of Bell, a barmaid who runs the empty bar where Charlotte was last seen. Their conversations shift between truth, lies and fantasy. In this tense atmosphere, where there is a sense of growing fear, the play “forces the audience to turn detective not just to track down the elusive Charlotte but also to find meaning itself” (<\/span>The Guardian<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Anthony Clarvoe<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Richard Remedios<\/span><\/p>\n Set in London during the plague of 1665 and based on true accounts of some who survived, <\/span>The Living<\/span><\/i> reveals what happens when a government under-reports the case numbers and fails to act in the face of a devastating epidemic. It is a heart-wrenching and sometimes funny display of human frailty and ignorance, courage and cowardice, survival and desperation, suffering and communion.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n by Madeleine George<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Amanda Todd<\/span><\/p>\n Challenging, brutal and hilarious, four women of various shapes and sizes sitting in the waiting room of a liposuction clinic explore their perceptions of body image. The women reveal their experiences dealing with their weight issues through monologues, short scenes, and even schoolyard rhymes. From painful childhood memories to frustrations with the opposite sex, these experiences both haunt and empower these women as they imagine their way to a new vision of themselves as beautiful and whole.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n by William Shakespeare<\/span><\/p>\n Directed by Darcey Engen<\/span><\/p>\n Shakespeare frequently reminds viewers not to misuse power\u2013there will be consequences. In Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>Macbeth,<\/span><\/i> political ambitions arise in the Scottish soldier after he receives a prophecy of power from three eerie witches\u2013he will be a nobleman and then he will be King! Working with his wife, Macbeth kills the King and takes power\u2013only to be caught in a web of shame and guilt that requires him to continue to murder to keep his position. Eventually\u00a0<\/span>both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth descent into insanity, prompting a civil war that\u00a0<\/span>leads to their own demise. There are consequences when one misuses power!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim<\/p>\n Book by James Lapine<\/p>\n Directed by Darcey Engen<\/p>\n Music Direction by Jill Dawe<\/p>\n The woods can be dark, the woods can be scary, the woods can give you what you wish for\u2014but no one leaves the woods unchanged.\u00a0Into the Woods<\/em>, the musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapin, asks how we encounter the world in which we live, how we deal with the consequences of actions taken by others, and how our own actions create consequences as well. No one is alone!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nMusic by Alan Menken<\/span>
\nLyrics by Howard Ashman<\/span>
\nBased on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith<\/span>
\nDirected by Luverne Seifert<\/span><\/p>\n
\nApril 23\u201325\u00a0 |\u00a0 7 p.m.<\/span>
\nApril 26\u00a0 |\u00a0 3 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOr is it a mean green mother from outer space?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nAll authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
\nwww.mtishows.com<\/a><\/p>\nStatic
<\/a><\/h3>\n
\ndirected by Luc\u00eda Salazar-Davidson<\/p>\n
\nFebruary 8\u00a0 |\u00a0 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
\nBut are we certain we know what we know?<\/span><\/p>\nAnnual! Perennial!
<\/h3>\n
\nDevised in collaboration with the student ensemble
\nAdditional Text by Jay Eisenberg<\/p>\n
\nNovember 20\u201322\u00a0 |\u00a0 7 p.m.<\/span>
\nNovember 23\u00a0 |\u00a0 3 p.m.<\/p>\n
\nThey\u2019ve hoisted the moon.
\nThey\u2019ve had five days to rehearse.
\nWhat\u2019s the worst that could happen?<\/p>\n
\nRecent Productions<\/b><\/strong><\/h2>\n
Enemy of the People, a Musical Adaptation<\/h3>\n
<\/p>\nTian<\/b><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/em><\/p>\nParadise Park Zoo<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Rocky Horror Show<\/h3>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nThe Clockwork Professor<\/h3>\n
An Evening of Student Produced Work<\/h3>\n
The Gulf<\/h4>\n
A Girl in School Uniform (Walks Into a Bar)<\/h4>\n
The Living<\/b>
<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\nThe Most Massive Woman Wins
\n<\/b><\/h3>\nMacbeth
<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/b><\/h3>\nInto the Woods
<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<\/i><\/b><\/b>White<\/b><\/h3>\n