Category: drama

University Theatre's 80th season continues with Charles Mee's "Under Construction," a play that explores the controversial issues that define and deconstruct what it means to be American, March 21-23 and 26-28 at 8 p.m. in the Cellar Theatre with a matinee performance March 24 at 2:30 p.m.

"Under Construction" is part of American playwright and historian Charles Mee's "the (re)making project," an online resource that strives to rearticulate historical narratives via performance research. Mee's project encourages directors to freely pillage his plays as he has "pillaged the structures and contents of Euripides and Brecht and stuff out of Soap Opera Digest," engaging in a process of making and remaking challenging works of theatre.

Directed by C.A. Farris, a doctoral candidate in the department of theatre and film studies, this production of "Under Construction" incorporates original poetry, a women's barbershop quartet, experimental movement and a medley of humorous and provocative scenes that explore historical and up-to-date questions about who and what constitutes the American public.

Tickets here.

Image: Flag on Tin by the late great friend of the blog from just up the road in Gainesville, R.A. Miller.
 

David Saltz, head of the department of theatre and film studies, and assistant professor Anthony Marotta are presenting a paper this weekend at the International Conference in Commedia dell'Arte at the University of Windsor, Ontario.

Their paper, A 21st century huminoid robot, becomes a commedia performer, details a project that brings together several UGA units that we've written about previously when it was performed for the public back in December. This is a truly interdisciplinary project that has garnered a lot of attention for its innovative integration of technology and art, including in the New York Times. It's sure to be a hit at the conference, for which we put together this short video from the December performance.

A terrific, original new work is coming from University Theatre at the end of this month:

the University of Georgia Theatre will present the world premiere of "Must Go On," a comedy written and directed by John Kundert-Gibbs, an associate professor in the department of theatre and film studies. The homage to morning talk shows will feature a combination of onstage theatre and live television broadcast Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 27 to March 2 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Building's Cellar Theatre, with a matinee performance March 3 at 2:30 p.m.

The comedy takes place on the day that everyone learns "Taste of the Morning," a fictional Atlanta-based live talk show, has been cancelled. While the cast and crew try to keep up the illusion of calm on screen, things backstage start going wrong. As the various guests on the show—including a high school dance troupe and a possum trainer—get drawn in, chaos threatens to overwhelm the action in front of the cameras as well.

In its 80th season, University Theatre presents a production of the light-hearted musical, The Fantasticks:

A lighthearted, modern twist on Romeo and Juliet featuring well-known musical numbers such as “Try to Remember” and “Soon It’s Gonna Rain,” The Fantasticks features neighboring fathers in a feud over a shared wall, their lovestruck offspring, and a hired villain with his troupe of traveling actors. The young lovers face the conflict between moonlight fantasy and the reality of harsh sunlight as the question of “who gets the girl” is not quickly answered.

With music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones, The Fantasticks opened Off-Broadway in 1960 and went on to become the longest-running musical in history, playing continuously for over four decades. Directed by professor Farley Richmond, this University Theatre production features musical direction by Rachel Townes.

“Much of The Fantasticks' distinctive charm derives from its minimalistic style, which stands in contrast to the theatrical extravagance of most musical blockbusters,” Richmond said. “The stage is virtually bare, with audience's imagination filling in most of the details.”

The primary scenic element is a wall created by a character, performed by undergraduate theatre major Connor Brockmeier, called simply the “Mute." "The musical's stripped-down style makes it ideal for the University Theatre’s Studio Series, which is dedicated to highlighting the actors' skill, humanity, and intimate connection with the audience," said David Saltz, head of the department of theatre and film studies.

The performances begin February 5 and run through Sunday the tenth with two performances at 2:30 and 8 p.m. that day. Come and enjoy the hardwork of our theatre students and faculty in the wonderful venue of the Seney-Stovall Chapel.

With so many arts events on campus this week, we might take the highly-charged collaborative atmosphere for granted. It's more difficult to do this, however, when you see an event so out-of-the-ordinary that it stops you and demands your attention.

"The Little Clay Cart," a classical Sanskrit play performed in English, will be presented Nov. 10 at 2:30 p.m. and Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in the Cellar Theatre. The play will be performed by the Epic Actors' Workshop, a not-for-profit theatre organization in New Jersey, and directed by Farley Richmond, a professor in the department of theatre and film studies. Both performances are free and open to the public.

Owing to certain features of structure and language, scholars believe that "The Little Clay Cart" was composed no earlier than the first century B.C. and no later than the fourth century A.D. In the prologue of the piece, accolades are showered on its author, King Sudraka, by the stage manager.

Sudraka composed the play in the form of a prakarana, one of the 10 major forms of dramatic composition in ancient India. According to the Natyasastra, the oldest surviving source of dramatic composition, a prakarana may have a hero who is a Brahmin, or aristocracy, a maximum of 10 acts and a story that is invented. "The Little Clay Cart" possesses all of these requirements. It often has been compared with Greek new comedy because of its host of city characters and fast-moving and complicated plot.

"Our production makes use of a wide variety of theatrical conventions found in ancient and modern India as well as those on the tiny island of Bali, an outpost of Hinduism," said Richmond, who regularly travels to the Indian subcontinent and Asia. "Given the number of characters that make an appearance in the play, we chose to use Topeng masks from Bali to represent most of the minor and a few of the major characters. This keeps the company smaller and allows individual actors to work with many different characters wearing a variety of character masks."

These will be fantastic performances, not to be missed.

Image: The villain and maid from "The Little Clay Cart", courtesy of the Epic Actors' Workshop.

University Theatre will present Rita Dove's powerful "The Darker Face of the Earth" begining on Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre:

Dove, a former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, set "The Darker Face of the Earth" on a pre-Civil War plantation in South Carolina. She loosely based the plot on the Greek myth of King Oedipus, an abandoned son who unwittingly returns to his birthplace, kills his father and marries his mother. The play grapples with the historical reality of American slavery to confront still-urgent questions about freedom, reconciliation and prejudice.

 

In a twist on the traditional crime of white male slave owners' sexual use of female slaves, the play's plantation owner is a married woman, Amalia Jennings, played by senior theatre and Spanish major Sarah Newby Halicks of Peachtree City. Amalia's affair with slave Hector, played by master of fine arts in performance student Moses McGruder of Augusta, produces a beloved child who she reluctantly gives up. Unable to love freely and openly in defiance of strong social norms, over time Amalia grows bitter and becomes a savage "master" who rules her plantation with absolute power. Hector loses his mind and retreats to a solitary life in the woods.

This continues a tremendous run this fall by the students and faculty of University Theatre, which has re-established itself as the home of serious, challenging and entertaining live theatre. Our students are receiving high-level, professional training, and each performance showcases their dedication. Art is very demanding as an occupation, and yet some of these student actors, directors, costume and lighting designers are beginning careers right before our eyes. 

Get your tickets now.

Image: Sarah Newby Halicks, left, as Amalia; Dane Alexander, center as Augustus; and Moses McGruder as Hector take the lead in "The Darker Face of the Earth." Photo by John Gallagher-Gonzales

The department of theatre and film studies launched a terrific new website redesign this week.

Because it's the internet and we're a university, and because the need to communicate with a variety of audiences continues to grow across devices - not to mention all the important things we need to share with you - we put a lot of time and effort into the websites that represent our units and the college. Of course, we're not alone in this and UGA has a very dynamic web presence, all considering. But a big salute to theatre and film studies for this great new, easy to navigate site. It takes a lot of collaboration to get this right, and then a lot of back-end fuss to make it work. Great job all around.

One of the most dynamic units in the Franklin College, indeed in the entire University, is the department of theatre and film studies. Long a mainstay on our campus, they have engaged our students, faculty and facilities to keep the campus and community entertained and informed for more than a century. Now in 2012, they announce their 80th season as University Theatre:

The season's highlights include former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove's play "The Darker Face of the Earth," the musical "The Fantasticks" by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt and a new version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" featuring the use of interactive media.

"UGA has one of the oldest theatre programs in the country, and the tradition of live theatre is vital and thriving," said David Saltz, head of the department of theatre and film studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

The fine arts lobby will be home to a yearlong display of the history of the University Theatre, which will include material from the Edward C. Crouse Collection and the University Theatre Collection at UGA Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Back in the fall, a film crew from the National Geographic Channel came to campus to make use of the motion-capture lab in the department of theatre and film studies. This week, that episode arrives to your TV.

Get ready for the University Theatre production of Chicago.

The University of Georgia University Theatre will present Chicago, the world-famous musical about fame, fortune and "all that jazz" on April 12-14 and 18-21 at 8 p.m. and on April 22 at 2:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre. Originally crafted by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, Chicago at UGA will be directed by Tony award-winning guest artist Chet Walker.

...

Fosse "changed my life forever," Walker said, "and was part of my life from the day I auditioned for him until five minutes before his passing."

Walker describes his pleasure in sharing his own wisdom and skills with a new group of musical theatre students, "just as Mr. Fosse shared with me. His showmanship, his talent as a director/choreographer/writer and his humanity all have influenced the shows he created. ... And his way of working in detail, imagery and layers are all that I want to share every time I work as a director/choreographer."