2010-2011 Season
2010-2011 season information for the Theatre Department at Middlebury College.
15th Annual First Year Show: This Kind of Close: Stories of Love
October 7-9 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
This Kind of Close is a collection of scenes exploring the joy and complexity of being young and loving today. The show celebrates the butterflies of new love, the strange bond between siblings, the excitement in flirtation, the pain of devotion, and the perfection in true connection.
Directed by Caitlin Dennis ‘06.5
Major Barbara by George Bernard Shaw
October 28-30 | Wright Memorial Theatre
A controversial munitions manufacturer is reunited with his three children, challenging their views on religion, war, profit, and poverty.
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
Hecuba by Euripides, translated by Kenneth McLeish
November 18-21 | Seeler Studio Theatre
Troy has fallen to the Greeks, and Hecuba, its beloved queen, is widowed and enslaved She mourns her great city and the death of er husband, but when fresh horrors emerge, her grief turns to rage and a lust for revenge. A poignant and ruthless indictment of political necessity when it conveniently turns a blind eye to human suffering. Euripides’s play proves that Greek tragedy remains compelling 2,500 years later.
Directed by Cláudio Medeiros
Carnal Embrace
December 2-4 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
A carnival of controversial works examines “the practice of throwing one’s arms around”… Through the phantasmagoria, the protagonist falls down the rabbit hole and must crawl her way through the darkest tunnels and locked doors of sexuality, growing from girl to woman. Selections include Tennessee Williams, Lillian Hellman, Judith Thompson, and Tom Stoppard.
Senior 700 work in Acting of Lilli Stein ‘11 and Directing of Becca Wear ‘10.5
Daddy and the Devil by John Glouchevitch ‘10.5
December 5 | Seeler Studio Theatre
A reading of John Glouchevitch’s playwriting thesis. A storyteller recounts the tale of his father, the town liar. His daddy lies to keep afloat in a rough and tumble mining town, but curses himself when he lies about his love for a woman. The devil meets him in his dream, and steals his voice as punishment. To reclaim his voice back, the storyteller’s father must travel far and wide to each place he told a lie and undo the wrong by retelling the lies as truth.
Senior 700 work in Playwriting of John Glouchevitch ‘10.5
Green Eden by Noah Mease ‘11
December 6 | Seeler Studio Theatre
A reading of Noah Mease’s playwriting thesis. Decades later, Philip Cummings finally tells the story of an August in his youth spent with Federico García Lorca, the famous Spanish poet, in the wilds surrounding Lake Eden, Vermont. But memory and translation obscure the truth, and both young men discover the destructive power of genius amidst the verdant hills and summer rainstorms.
Senior 700 work in Playwriting of Noah Mease ‘11
Drinking in America by Eric Bogosian
March 17-19 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
Drinking in America by award-winning playwright Eric Bogosian explores out inebriation with fantasy and power in a series of monologues, at times hilarious, at times tragic, and always pointed.
Senior 700 work in Acting of Reilly Steel ‘11
Directed by Lilli Stein ‘11
Vanya by Sam Holcroft
April 7-9 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
Holcroft distills Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya into a comic but heart-wrenching adaptation where each character’s crippling inability to take action disarms him or her against the slings of life: family, career, and love. Each character burns for the next, but all their love seethes from the hearts of a race bent on self-destruction.
Senior 700 work in Acting of Cori Hundt ‘11 and Mike Kessler ‘11, and Lighting/Set Design of Mindy Marquis ‘11
Independent 500 work in Directing of Charles Giardina ‘12
Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl
April 7-9 | Seeler Studio Theatre
Award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl weaves a dreamlike retelling of the Orpheus myth. A story of love, loss, and the mystery of death.
Senior 700 work in Set Design of Ryan Bates ‘11 and Costume Design of Carlie Crawford ‘11
Directed by Alex Draper
Low Level Panic by Clare McIntyre
April 14-16 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
Clare McIntyre’s Low Level Panic chronicles the lives of three tenants in an English boarding house. Using three women as the vehicle, McIntyre rasies questions about gender, sexuality, violence, and fear.
Senior 700 work in Acting of Jessica Spar ‘11 and Ele Woods ‘11, and Directing of Lindsey Messmore 11.5
Playing at War: British Military Theatre in Occupied New York
April 15-17 | Chateau Grand Salon
Dave Malinsky ‘11 discusses the theatrical life in New York City, battered and occupied in the American Revolution. Embark on a surprising and enlightening journey into the past, which might just change your view of this exciting period in both our nation’s history, and its relationship with theatre.
Senior 700 work in Acting of Dave Malinsky ‘11
Directed by Lilli Stein ‘11
Speed the Plow by David Mamet
April 28-30 | Hepburn Zoo Theater
Two Hollywood producers face a difficult decision when a beautiful temp secretary tries to seduce them into making art instead of making money in David Mamet’s satirical dissection of the American movie business.
Senior 700 Work in Acting of Will McKay ‘11 and Dustin Schwartz ‘11
Directed by Ben Orbison ‘12.5
Victory by Howard Barker
April 28-30 | Seeler Studio Theatre
It is 1660: Britain’s brief experiment with republicanism ends, and the monarchy is restored. As Charles II returns to the now-powerless throne, the wife of one of the former republican leaders sets out to recover the peices of her husband’s body, which has been dug up and exhibited on the orders of the new king. Written a few years after Thatcher’s ascendancy, Howard Barker’s blistering analysis of a failed regime interweaves the national, political, and intensely personal to study the life-shattering effects of fundamental change.
Senior 700 Work in Costume Design of Carlie Crawford ‘11
Directed by Richard Romagnoli
Play Outside by Sasha Rivera ‘12
May 8th | Seeler Studio Theatre
A reading of Sasha Rivera’s independent playwriting project. Play Outside takes theatre out of the theatre and into the world—a trio of plays inspired by, and meant to be performed in, alternative theatre spaces.
Independent 500 work in Playwriting of Sasha Rivera ‘12
Seduction Panties by Gillian Durkee ‘11
May 9th | Seeler Studio Theatre
A reading of Gillian Durkee’s playwriting thesis. Three young adults explore previously abandoned paths, re-examining their views on sex, success, and happiness.
Senior 700 work in Playwriting of Gillian Durkee ‘11
Untitled New Play by Galen Anderson ‘11
May 10th | Seeler Studio Theatre
A reading of Galen Anderson’s playwriting thesis. Based on real observations and conversations, a fictional look into an Egyptian woman’s life in activism, as a wife, and her path to reclaim agency in the midst of social and familial pressures.
Senior 700 work in Playwriting of Galen Anderson ‘11