Welcome to the 2016/17 Studio Theatre season
The Department of Drama recently unveiled its 2016/17 Studio Theatre season which showcases an ensemble of top university actors working with their peers in directing, theatre design, technical theatre production and stage management. Guests from the professional theatre community and faculty will add to the mix of artistic talent as well, to create five unique, live theatre experiences at the Timms Centre for the Arts.
“The season takes us into a myriad of different worlds and moods; dark and light, drama and comedy, land and sea,” explains Kathleen Weiss, Chair, Department of Drama. “We only need an audience to complete the image.”
The Studio Theatre season opens with Jenny Schwartz’s profound play, God’s Ear, directed by MFA Directing Candidate, Suzie Martin. Exploring grief and the strangeness that fills the void when experiencing loss, the play unfolds in a surrealist landscape where two spouses struggle to reconnect with each other after the death of their son. Challenging our understanding of reality, familiarity and connection, God’s Ear takes place October 13 – 22, 2016.
One of Shakespeare’s most popular and beloved of all his comedies follows in the fall. Hinging on romantic ambition and gender-bending disguise, Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare speaks about the madness of love. Provocative, raucous and rebellious, the story follows the adventures of twins separated by a shipwreck and the romantic paths they traverse in the mythical land of Illyria. The play, directed by MFA Directing Candidate, Ashley Wright, runs November 24 – December 3, 2016.
The Studio Theatre season continues with The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol from February 9 – 18, 2017. David Harrower’s new translation of Gogol’s time-honoured 1836 comedy remains a witty, smart and wild satire on political corruption, and reveals how a simple case of mistaken identity exposes the hypocrisy, self-deception and corruption that lies at the heart of a town. Directed by Mary Mooney Distinguished Visiting Artist, Ron Jenkins, The Government Inspector is a comedy of errors that shouldn’t be missed.
Colleen Murphy, award-winning playwright and current Lee Playwright in Residence at the U of A, premieres her new play Bright Burning. When a group of young people break into a mansion to steal stuff to pay off a drug debt, they unexpectedly confront their own ambition and sense of futility. Full of dark comedy and wild abandon, Bright Burning dramatizes the emotional cost of economic disparity to reveal the bottomless rage that often fuels the working poor. Directed by Department of Drama Professor, Jan Selman, Bright Burning is a commission by Studio Theatre and the University of Alberta’s Department of Drama for the BFA class of 2017. Studio Theatre patrons will be the first audiences to experience the play, which runs from March 30 to April 8, 2017.
Should I stay or should I go? Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea closes the 2016/17 season with a haunting story of the loss of a child and the unravelling of ties that bind a marriage. With performances May 18 – 27, 2017, directed by MFA Directing Candidate, Michael Bradley, audiences will find themselves immersed in a debate about partnerships, freedom and the seemingly difficult choices a couple must face in the pursuit of love and happiness.
Get out and experience outstanding live theatre on campus this year! Check out ualberta.ca/artshows for complete Studio Theatre subscription, flex pass and single ticket purchase details, as well as a multitude of other fine arts events, including music performances and gallery exhibitions, that will offer you the perfect study breaks when you need them the most!
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