Theater in the fall

By: Stacy Horowitz

Posted: 9/5/06

Imagine people fighting wars for no reason, wars against themselves to gain beauty, love and recognition, and wars against others over religious, sexual and physical differences. These are among the themes to be explored during Brandeis' fall theater season, in the theater arts department and undergraduate productions alike.

Prof. Eric Hill, theater arts department chair and artistic director of the department's Brandeis Theatre Company, believes that this semester's plays will "address a range of ideas and issues relevant to our culture and our times, and therefore to our university." Their season begins with David Hare's one-man show, Via Dolorosa, which will arrive fresh from the Berkshire Theatre Festival.

The Waiting Room, directed by Prof. Janet Morrison (THA), explores women's constant struggles to obtain beauty throughout the centuries. The Physician of His Honor, co-directed by Hill, is a play from the Spanish Golden Age set during the 14th-century reign of King Pedro of Castile.

New this year, undergraduates have created the Free Play Theatre Co-op under the umbrella of the theater department. The group will perform at least three plays this season: Summer Evening in Des Moines, The Black Eyed and The Last Five Years.

Beyond the department, the Undergraduate Theater Collective season begins with Brandeis Ensemble Theatre's The Laramie Project, a docudrama about reactions to the murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, WY. The Tectonic Theatre Group, who wrote the work, traveled to Laramie and interviewed its residents in hopes of understanding the murder.

Laramie has been widely produced in the last five years. Director Mike Carnow '07 (The Water Children) offered an explanation: "This is the type of play that asks important questions about who we are both individually and as a community and the types of plays that challenge us to be better are the types of plays that should be done over and over again," he said. "I think theater should be entertaining always, but there's nothing wrong with making the audience think and question, as well."

The Brandeis Players' The Goat, or Who is Sylvia follows a successful architect who's up for promotion. His picture-perfect life takes a turn for the worse when his secret is revealed: He's having an affair with a goat.

"The Goat is both wildly hilarious and devastatingly tragic. It covers an unthinkable subject, yet it always takes itself seriously," director Dave Klasko '07 (Fool for Love) said. As the protagonist's family struggles with the play's shocking revelation, Klasko hopes his audience "will think afresh about whether or not all the values they hold are valid."

Tympanium Euphorium will produce the only big musical of the season, Seussical the Musical. The stories are all taken from Dr. Seuss's books and center around the classic Horton Hears a Who.

Tymp's production will add a rock concert style to the production, with The Cat in the Hat as the MC, complete with boy bands and alternative music. Hannah King '08, director and choreographer, explains that while "Seussical seems like a kid's show, it has a lot of pertinent issues. It's serious stuff presented in a light manner." King said she hopes the actors and audience will be able to "enjoy the show and have fun while seeing the value of the play."

Hillel Theatre Group will continue the season with the acclaimed British playwright Harold Pinter's Betrayal. This backwards-running play centers around the affair of Emma and Jerry, who is the best friend of Emma's husband Robert. The play opens two years after the affair has ended and closes with the beginning of the affair nine years earlier.

The biggest challenge both director Allie Winer '08 and actors will face, according to Winer, is how to "strip away the influence that years of experience have had on their character" as the play progresses, clearly exposing "the many lies and betrayals that have taken place between the three [characters]."

Sketch comedy group Boris' Kitchen will bring back two favorites: the Old Sh*t Show, which incorporates popular sketches from years past, and the annual Sketch Comedy Festival, now in its seventh year, in which Boris' Kitchen performs alongside a number of groups from other schools.

Separate from the UTC, Brandeis boasts the Shakespeare-centered club Hold Thy Peace. Their mainstage show this semester will be The Tempest, directed by Dina Maron '08. Maron's traditional take on the storm-filled, magical show will include original music by Deniz Cordell '07 (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg).

From Shapiro to Spingold, from two actors to a potential eighty-five in a show, the Brandeis season promises to offer challenging roles and polished performances.

Coming Attractions

Via Dolorosa
Brandeis Theater Company
Sept. 14 through 17

Boris' Kitchen's Old Sh*t Show
Boris' Kitchen
Oct. 6

The Waiting Room
Brandeis Theater Company
Oct. 12 through 22

The Laramie Project
Brandeis Ensemble Theatre
Oct. 19 through 22

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
Brandeis Players
Oct. 26 through 29

The Tempest
Hold Thy Peace
Nov. 3 through 5

Seussical the Musical
Tympanium Euphorium
Nov. 9 through 12

The Physician of His Honor
Brandeis Theater Company
Nov. 9 through 19

Betrayal
Hillel Theatre Group
Nov. 16 through 19

Boris' Kitchen's 7th Annual Sketch Comedy Festival
Boris' Kitchen
Dec. 1 through 2

Summer Evening in Des Moines
The Black Eyed
The Last Five Years
Free Play Theatre Co-op
Dates TBA