Past Seasons
2006-2007 The Orphan of Chao
2008-2009 Einstein and the Roosevelts
2010-2011 Because the Universe Tends Toward Entropy
2011-2012
URINETOWN
Music by Mark Hollmann
Lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis
Book by Greg Kotis
Directed by Susan Anthony
Music Direction by Steven Linville ’06
The 2002 Tony award-winning Urinetown depicts the harshness of life in a society that has depleted its natural resources. Following a 20-year drought, the worldwide water shortage has led to a government ban on private toilets, and all of the "public amenities" are controlled by one powerful company that profits – by charging admission. A young hero emerges to inspire the desperate poor to rebel. Musical numbers in Urinetown parody famous songs from Broadway hits, including Les Miserables, Evita, West Side Story and Annie. One critic notes, “ Of course, you’re not supposed to like that title – that’s part of the big, good-natured and remarkable successful joke that is Urinetown.” You won’t want to miss this “… terrifically spirited send-up of musicals and their conventions.”
Presented through arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
HEDDA GABLER
By Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Larry Sutton
In 1890 Henrik Ibsen created what many think is his most interesting and revealing study of a woman’s character – Hedda Gabler. The play is traditional in structure but breaks away from overly sentimental plays of the earlier 19th century and presents a world in which traditional social convention and morality appear inconsistent and irrelevant. The character of Hedda is a study of a frustrated, isolated woman striving to assert herself and control the world around her. Although she appears clever, assured, and proud, she lacks the inner strength to live independently of the world’s social and moral conventions.
Presented through arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
MYSTERIES ... AND SMALLER PIECES
Collectively Created by The Living Theatre
Directed by Tim Good
Mysteries ... and Smaller Pieces is a collective creation by The Living Theatre that changed theatrical history. Mysteries is the first play to be presented on the world’s major stages without fictional characters, plot, scenery or costumes. The virtually wordless composition redefines the nature of theater as pure communication between performers and audience. Relying on nonverbal sounds and improvised actions, Mysteries invokes the Dionysian sources of drama, offering the audience the opportunity of assisting in a series of rituals meant to liberate the actor’s deepest resources.
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES
By Wendy Wasserstein
Directed by Andrew Hayes
What has the Women’s Movement done for women? The Heidi Chronicles, the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Wendy Wasserstein asks this and other questions by tracing the life of a female art historian. Wasserstein’s main character, Heidi Holland, comes of age during the pivotal years of the Women’s Movement. Through her relationships with both men and women, we watch her struggle to determine what women have really gained and at what cost. The play has a wonderful mixture of probing intellectual questions and old-fashioned theatrical humor. Come see what the New York Daily News called, “not just a funny play, but a wise one.”
2010-2011
GERDA’S STORY: Memoir of a Holocaust Survivor
Based on the memoir of Gerda Nothmann Luner
Dramatized by Tim Good and J.C. Pankratz '12
Directed by Tim Good
This moving tale is based on the authentic account of Gerda Nothmann Luner’s Holocaust survival. As a young girl, all of Gerda’s hopes and dreams are forever shattered when Nazis invade her homeland. Alone, Gerda journeys to safety by way of a foster family in Holland, experiencing arrest, deportation, and a remarkable series of circumstances that lead to her emigration to America. A post-performance discussion on Friday will feature Gerda's husband, Charles Luner. Don’t miss this extraordinary narrative of hope and courage.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Andrew Hayes
What happens when the battle is over and the victorious and vanquished return home? Love, of course. Join us for a new twist on Shakespeare’s timeless comedy. Our setting is DePauw University, 1925. Pedro, Claudio, and Benedick return to Greencastle having triumphed at Wabash in the annual Monon Bell Game. Lucky Claudio also scores the love of the Mayor’s daughter, Hero. But Wabash’s John, Pedro’s brother, is a disgruntled loser in the classic rivalry, and instigates a vengeful plan to disgrace Claudio’s fiancée and destroy the intended marriage. Can love triumph over deception? Watch as the various plots twist and unravel in this comic race to happiness.
AT THE DINER
Written By Emily Terrell '11
Directed by Steve Timm
Loosely based on the Greek myth of Io, At the Diner tells the story of a young woman waitressing at a Midwest diner, who has decided to break away from her going nowhere existence and forge ahead at the life she’s always wanted. Io's plans go drastically awry, however, when she becomes the prey of Zeus and nemesis of his wife, Hera. With no recourse, Io is swiftly enveloped in the couple’s tragic cycle of lust, secrecy, and revenge. This first play by senior Emily Terrell examines the classic Greek theme of fate versus free will within an imaginative modern context.
Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman
Written by Oscar Wilde
Directed by Susan Anthony
As the play opens, the young and happily married Lady Windermere, a “good woman,” receives two items for her birthday: a lovely antique fan and the startling news that her husband may be having an affair with an older woman, the beautiful and famously promiscuous Mrs. Erlynne. But is the hold Mrs. Erylnne has on Lord Windermere of the adulterous kind? And why is she so interested in Lady Windermere? At the play’s crisis, Lady Windermere has risked her reputation and her happy life to obtain revenge upon her husband, only to be saved by none other than Mrs. Erylnne, the true exemplar of a “good woman.” First produced in 1892, Lady Windermere’s Fan, like many of Wilde's comedies, is a stinging satire on the morals of Victorian society, particularly the institution of marriage.
2009-2010
TARTUFFE
Written by Moliere
Directed by Susan Anthony
It is 1668, and Monsieur Orgon, a wealthy Parisian, has fallen under the spell of Tartuffe, a swindler who masquerades as a holy man. Although the other members of Orgon’s household see Tartuffe for what he really is, Orgon dismisses their concerns and recklessly lavishes on his “holy” friend money, possessions--even his daughter in marriage. Meanwhile, Tartuffe lies, cheats, steals and does his best to seduce Orgon’s wife. By the time Orgon finally recognizes his folly, it could be too late to save his fortune and his family! Moliere’s comic masterpiece so brilliantly skewers religious hypocrites that the play, when first introduced to Paris audiences, was banned for five years. Described as a “delightful romp,” Tartuffe is acknowledged as one of the greatest comedies of Western literature.
EURYDICE
Written by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Gigi Jennewein Fenlon
On the day Eurydice marries her true love Orpheus, a tragic misstep sends her plummeting to the surreal depths of the Underworld. Memories are forbidden in this world of the dead, but an unexpected reunion with her father vividly awakens Eurydice’s mind to the love she felt in life. When in his search for her, Orpheus uses his music to penetrate the gates of the Underworld, Eurydice must painfully decide whether to remain with her father or return with her earthly love. A modern tale of love and loss, Eurydice is playwright Ruhl’s imaginative interpretation of the classic Orpheus myth told from the heroine’s point of view, abounding with surprising plot twists and quirky humor.
BECAUSE THE UNIVERSE TENDS TOWARD ENTROPY
Directed by Tim Good
A collection of one-act plays by Chekhov, Strindberg, Picasso, and Goodman
The horrifying things that we do to one another, and the lengths to which we go to try to repair them, take center stage in this assemblage of one-act plays from Modernist masters. Chekhov's riotous farce, The Marriage Proposal, is followed by Strindberg's exploration of infidelity in The Stronger. Pablo Picasso's only play, Desire Trapped by the Tail, offers a funny, abstract take on personal relationships. The stories conclude with Dust of the Road by Kenneth Sawyer Goodman, where we encounter Judas eternally wandering the earth, trying desperately to undo the damage he has done.
POLVADERA
Written by Steve Timm
Directed by Ron Dye
During the Great Depression a young woman’s hope to escape the rural Midwest for the big city is compromised when she makes a gruesome discovery in a neighbor’s field. Haunted by the discovery and by her ability to witch water, she instead seeks refuge in the canyon country of southeastern Utah. But both her past and water are relentless in pursuing her. Thirty‑five years later she’s forced to return to the same field where she makes yet another terrible discovery. In this new play, Professor Timm shrewdly explores the impact of polvadera, or ‘the dust we leave behind.”
2008-2009
EINSTEIN AND THE ROOSEVELTS
Music by Nancy Ford
Book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer
Directed by Andrew Hayes
Written by the Broadway award-winning team and DePauw alumni Nancy Ford ('57) and Gretchen Cryer ('57), Einstein and the Roosevelts is the premiere of an inventive musical presenting some lesser-known history of one of America’s most influential couples. The story takes place at an after-life birthday party thrown for Eleanor in the cosmos to which Albert Einstein has been invited to provide entertainment with a violin that summons up moments from the past. The production's imaginative revelation of buried secrets and passions promises to both entertain and educate by combining history and whimsy to illuminate the characters' past choices surrounding love, marriage, and politics during wartime.
NATURAL SELECTION
Written by Eric Coble
Directed by Susan Anthony
It’s the very near future and humans are coping with Earth’s devastation. People risk radiation poisoning when they step outdoors. Children attend virtual school. Friends interact via internet. Some populations, such as Native Americans, have been nearly eradicated, so representatives are displayed in “Cultural Pavilions.” In seeking a genuine Indian, curator Henry Carson encounters a most charismatic and unsettling Navajo, who soon teaches everyone a few things about tolerance and borders. A dark comedy that examines our blind dependence on technology, our isolation from each other, and our detachment from our own spirituality, Natural Selection, which premiered at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2007, is being presented in conjunction with DePauw's ArtsFest 2008: Art & Borders.
TWELFTH NIGHT
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Amy Hayes
“If music be the food of love, play on….” So begins one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. Part love story, part high jinks, part philosopher’s musings, and part intrigue, Twelfth Night examines gender, practical joking, and the nature of true love, making us wonder if clothes really do make the man. Collaboratively created with live music, imaginative costumes, and fast-paced hilarity, this show is a joyful romp with a romantic and moving climax.
The Who's TOMMY
Music and lyrics by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff
Directed by Steve Timm
The Who's Tommy is a musical based on the rock opera Tommy, written and recorded by the 1960's band The Who. The story follows the rise of the title character, Tommy, from a traumatizing childhood event that leaves him psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind through an abusive adolescence to stardom as a world champion pinball player. This mythic tale of a young boy's journey from pain to triumph includes such classic rock singles as "See Me, Feel Me" and "Pinball Wizard" and promises to be one of the most electrifying evenings of rock and roll ever to play in the theatre.
2007-2008
MEDIEVAL TALES
Directed by Andrew Hayes
The production is a collection of short works from the late Medieval/early Renaissance when theatre as we know it was beginning to reemerge in the Western world. With the late 15th century morality play Everyman as its centerpiece, this assortment of tales explores the medieval worldview on religion and domestic life, and captures the humor, daily concerns and lifetime dreams of a continent and culture on the cusp of a multifaceted explosion.
STEVE HERE
Written and directed by Steve Timm
Based on encounters during months of backpacking and kayaking in wilderness areas across the country, this new work tells the stories of people immersed in the wild. Common to all is the search for meaning in the struggle between life and death in the wilderness, and the challenge to find peace of mind in an environment that is both beautiful and violent. Produced in conjunction with ArtsFest 2007, the play includes excerpts from Of Wolves, Moose and Daughters, written as part of a residency at Isle Royale National Park.
CHILDREN OF EDEN
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Directed by Tim Good
From the composer of Wicked and Godspell comes the telling of epic stories from Genesis told through music. In Children of Eden, Stephen Schwartz brings us the relationship of God with Eve and Adam, and the trials facing Noah's family in The Flood, in songs such as "Lost in the Wilderness", "In Whatever Time We Have," and "Spark of Creation." These tales of struggle and hope remind us that we are all still "children of Eden."
OUR TOWN
Written by Thornton Wilder
Directed by Gigi Jennewein Fenlon
In this age of cell phones, Internet and reality shows, Thornton Wilder's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic reminds us to slow down, open our hearts and minds, and embrace the significance of our day-to-day experiences. Our Town is one of the most produced dramatic works of the 20th century, possibly because it so succinctly captures - with warmth and humor - the eternal truths of human existence.
2006-2007
QUILTERS
Written by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
Music and lyrics by Barbara Damashek
Directed by Andrew Hayes
Quilters is a musical journey through the joys, struggles, amusements, and sorrows faced by the women who helped settle the American frontier. This intricately woven collage combines the art and craft of quilting with dance, music, and drama to tell richly-textured stories attesting to the great courage and spirit of our female ancestry. As America is largely a nation of settlers and immigrants, Quilters has the power to touch a chord in all of us.
THE ORPHAN OF CHAO
Adapted from the folk tale by Wang Yan
New English translation by Sherry Mou
Directed by Tim Good and Sherry Mou
The laws of heaven ultimately win in this ancient Chinese story of power and revenge. When the evil General Tu-An Ku has the entire Chao clan slaughtered, several give up their own lives to assist with the rescue of the lone survivor, the title character, in the hopes that he will grow up to avenge Tu-An Ku's ruthless political persecution and clan cleansing. Produced in conjunction with ArtsFest 2006: Art and The Silk Road, the production is highlighted by performances in the traditional Peking Opera style.
INHERIT THE WIND
Written y Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Directed by Steve Timm
Based on the famous "monkey trial" courtroom battle between lawyers Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan during the sultry summer of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee, this American classic weaves the gripping story of the prosecution of high school teacher John T. Scopes for his teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution against state law. Inherit the Wind has riveted stage and film audiences for over 50 years with its compelling depiction of the ongoing debate of creationism vs. evolution.
THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND
Written by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Susan Anthony
The perfect season ender, The Real Inspector Hound is a smart and snappy lampoon of self-important theatre critics and the predictable English weekend country-house murder mystery. While reviewing the production, critics Moon and Birdboot trade pompous critiques and mourn their disappointing careers. Soon, however, the two are swept up into the action and onto the stage, with startling (and hilarious) results. Stoppard’s searing commentary and outrageous characters make for an engaging comedic romp.
2005-2006
SWEENEY TODD
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Written by Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Susan Anthony
Step into the 19th century barbershop of Sweeney Todd, where the floor is littered with more than hair clippings as Todd’s irrepressible thirst for revenge against a crooked judge has expanded to include his unfortunate customers. Add to this the resourceful proprietress of the pie shop downstairs who soon has the people of London lining up in droves to savor her mysterious new meat pies, and you’ll discover a multiple award-winning musical thriller! At the play’s premiere in 1979, The New York Times opined, “There is more artistic energy, creative personality and plain excitement than in a dozen average musicals."
AS YOU LIKE IT
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Andrew Hayes
One of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies - where anything can and does happen - is reset in America of the 1950s. His juxtaposition of town and country relations is as fresh today as it was over 400 years ago. With power-plays, banished children, dueling brothers and misguided country-bumpkins we see truly that “all the world’s a stage.”
VENUS
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Gigi Jennewein Fenlon
You’ve never seen anything like her. She’s an exotic African beauty: her dark skin, her gorgeous eyes, her full bosom. And she’s a big-bottomed girl! A novelty. She’d make a splendid freak! The Hottentot Venus! Pulitzer Prize-winning author Parks has crafted Venus from the true story of Saartjie Baartmann, who was deceptively lured from her South African home to a life of exploitation and disappointment in early 19th-century London.
IN THE SILENCE YOU DON’T KNOW: Short Plays by Samuel Beckett
Directed by Tim Good
Six short plays. 4 with no words. 1 with no actors. 1 with just heads sticking out of urns. Sample the existential world of the Nobel Prize-winning author of Waiting for Godot, Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. When it’s quiet, with the silence screaming in your ears, you see the bleakness, the pointless vacuum of nothingness before you, and you go on anyway . . .