2012-2013 Season
October 23, 2012 Tuesday
Behind-the-Scenes Lunch and Discussion: U.S. Drag
12:30 PM, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre
Join Director Alex Draper ’88, the cast and crew of US Drag, and Professors Matthew Kimble and Jennifer Sellers from the Psychology Department as they discuss their examination of the strains of collective hysteria that run through Gina Gionfriddo's raucous riff on Post Millenial NYC. Lunch is provided. Free to College ID cardholders; community donations welcomed.
October 25–27, 2012 Thursday–Saturday
U.S. Drag
8:00 PM each evening, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre
Playwright Gina Gionfriddo serves up the story of two vapid but stylish young women who move to Manhattan seeking love and happiness, but they’ll settle for rent money. Sure, they’ll use their limited wiles to schmooze free drinks and cuddle their way toward monthly rent checks, but they’re determined to receive an unwarranted life of stardom. A biting coming-of-age comedy that captures “the viciousness of a certain kind of New York dream”—New York Times. Directed by Alex Draper ’88. Sponsored by the Theatre Program. Tickets: $12/10/6, on sale October 8. Go to the Box Office>>
Read the press release>>
October 30, 2012 Tuesday
A New Play Reading: THE IGLOO SETTLEMENT by Daniel Sauermilch
4:30 PM, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Room 232
Who are the real Americans? A semi-finalist for the 2012 Princess Grace Foundation Playwriting Grant, The Igloo Settlement investigates this question as it follows a New York City couple who are just settling into their Pennsylvania getaway when a holiday blizzard strikes. The weather starts to seem benign, though, compared to their local cleaning lady, who suddenly claims that the property rightfully belongs to her and her Bucks County kin. From there, the battle for ownership quickly devolves into class warfare leaving no one unscathed, and making for a very un-merry Christmas. Inspired by the worldwide Occupy movement, The Igloo Settlement was recently developed at the Kennedy Center’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop where it was the only work written by an undergraduate. In 2011, Daniel’s play The Rwandans' Visit won the John Cauble Short Play Award, was presented at the PTP/NYC Reading Series, and was produced at SUNY Potsdam.
November 13, 2012 Tuesday
Behind-the-Scenes Lunch and Discussion: As You Like It
12:30 PM, Wright Memorial Theatre
Director Cheryl Faraone, Musical Director Carol Christensen and members of the As You Like It company both tell and show some of the experiences in the creation of the production. Middlebury's As You Like It is a play of impulsivemness and of exile, filled with music, movement and longing. Lunch is provided. Free to College ID cardholders; community donations welcomed.
November 15–17, 2012
Thursday–Saturday
As You Like It
8:00 pm each evening, plus 2:00 pm on Saturday only, Wright Memorial Theatre
“Sweet are the uses of adversity . . .” This new production of William Shakespeare’s beloved comedy is a melancholy tale of love and exile, set in the early part of the 20th century, as the old world tips forever into the new, and all is forever changed. Directed by Cheryl Faraone. Sponsored by the Theatre Program. Special panel discussion after the Saturday matinee: "Why Shakespeare Today?" Panelists include Middlebury Actors Workshop's Melissa Lourie, Town Hall Theater's Lindsey Pontius, UVM Theatre Professor Stephen Schillinger, and director Cheryl Faraone. Tickets: $12/10/6; on sale October 29. Go to the Box Office>>
Read the press release>>
January 18–19, 2013 Friday–Saturday
The Method Gun
Rude Mechs
According to the New York Times, the Rude Mechs are one of three ensemble-theatre companies in the country “making theatre that matters.” Their daring play The Method Gun explores the life of Stella Burden, actor and training guru of the ’60s and ’70s. Her training technique, The Approach (often referred to as “the most dangerous acting technique in the world”), fused Western-acting methods with risk-based rituals in order to infuse even the smallest role with sex, death, and violence. Sponsored by the Performing Arts Series, Theatre Program, and Committee on the Arts. Residency activities are made possible by the Rothrock Family Fund for Experiential Learning in the Performing Arts. Please note this performance includes adult content and nudity. Tickets: $25/20/6. Go to the Box Office>>
March 7, 2013 Thursday
CINDERELLA Symposium
4:30 pm Wright Theatre
Fairy tales travel far and wide, and narrators reinvent them each time. The symposium will discuss the history and the rewritings of one such tale, Cinderella’s, highlighting its role in our past, our imagination, and our future. Sponsored by Comparative Literature Program, Theatre Department, and Mahaney Center for the Arts. Free.
March 14–16, 2013 Thursday-Saturday
"17 1/2"
Hepburn Zoo TheatreSenior work of Rachel Goodgal (acting) & Sumi Doi (acting)
“We’re all explicable. What we’re not is extricable.” This evening of scenes, drawn from contemporary plays, will explore varying perceptions of power, gender, and how to save an animated dust ball.
April 9, Tuesday
Behind-the-Scenes Lunch and Discussion: A Festival of New Plays*
12:30 PM, Wright Memorial Theatre
Hear a discussion with the cast, crew members, and the audience. Lunch is provided. Free to College ID cardholders; community donations welcomed.
*Please note: new title/play in this time slot.
April 10-13, Wednesday-Saturday*
Middlebury Festival of New Plays: Undressing Cinderella*
8:00 PM* each evening, Wright Memorial Theatre*
What happens when Cinderella steps into a Rabbit Hole? Undressing Cinderella is a festival of new plays that have been created specifically for this Inaugural Middlebury New Play Festival. We challenged playwrights around the nation to turn the well known fairy tale inside out: write a play using any character other than Cinderella as the main focus. Get ready for an explosion of brand new plays and a company of artists ready to rewrite this fairy tale. Two evenings of short plays will be presented "in rep": one program will be shown Wednesday and Friday evenings; a second series will be shown on Thursday and Saturday. Directed by guest artist Andrew Smith ’97.5. Sponsored by the Theatre Program. Tickets: $12/10/6; on sale April 1. Go to the Box Office>>
*Please note revised dates, times, location, title, and description.
April 18–20, 2013 Thursday-Saturday
THE IGLOO SETTLEMENT by Daniel Sauermilch '13
Hepburn Zoo Theatre
Senior work of Daniel Sauermilch (playwriting), Paula Bogutyn (directing) and Jordan Jones (costume design)
On Christmas in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a cataclysmic snowstorm leads to a series of most surprising events. The Igloo Settlement seeks to define what remains of American values in the wake of catastrophe. Along the way we see patriotism, individualism, and capitalism—supposed values of democracy—being torn apart by the very people who have created and celebrated them. And in turn, we witness a very
un-merry Christmas.
April 30, Tuesday
Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: The Castle
12:30 PM, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre
Join director Richard Romagnoli and members of the cast and crew as they preview the upcoming production of Howard Barker's bawdy drama The Castle. Lunch is provided. Free to College ID card holders; community donations welcomed.
May 2–4, 2013 Thursday–Saturday*
The Castle*
8:00 PM each evening, Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre
Howard Barker’s play The Castle is an epic work blasting with humor, bawdiness, and violence the limits of desire, pain, and sexuality. After an absence of seven years, a group of Crusaders returns “home” to find authority, religion and gender relations all upended. The Theatre Program continues to explore this
controversial writer for audiences in Middlebury and New York at PTP/NYC. “Barker’s visceral explosion of sex and armaments… It’s pure oxygen time again. Prepare to be wowed.” —Bob Mondello, NPR. Directed by Richard Romagnoli. Sponsored by the Theatre Program.
For mature audiences only: strong adult language and imagery.
*Please note: this play will be presented in lieu of the previously announced title, Curse of the Starving Class, on these new dates/times/locations.
May 13, 2013 Monday
Student Playreading:
THE UGLY RICH: A ROMANCE
8:00 pm Seeler Studio Theatre
Senior work of Stephen Mrowiec (playwriting)
In the dark days of the Great Depression, a remote community in Northern Florida is rocked by a series of unspeakable crimes. Meanwhile, the remnants of the once-proud Larchmont family gather in their ancestral home for a settling of accounts. Equal parts baroque extravaganza, comic opera, and erotic nightmare, The Ugly Rich offers a bracing, uncompromising portrait of the ultimate in cruelty, corruption, and desire.
