A season of innovation and premieres distinguishes the plays and performances on this year’s Performing Arts calendar. With a combination of student and faculty compositions, dance performances and a well-known musical, the Performing Arts Department is continuing the tradition of supporting the works of new playwrights while bringing well-acclaimed projects to Washington University.
The upcoming season is especially exciting for the Chair of the Performing Arts Department, Henry Schvey. Four new plays will be unveiled, including one written by Schvey himself.
“This year, there is an emphasis on student and faculty writing,” said Schvey. “It will be a season of new work.”
Two of the new plays are by former Washington University students. “Hickorydickory” is the first play of the semester and it is written by Marisa Wegrzyn who was recently commissioned to write a play by the famed Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. “Hickorydickory” examines the themes of time and mortality, family ties and past actions.
Another student-written play will debut in March called “Highness,” written by Carolyn Kras. Queen Elizabeth I is known today as one of the most powerful woman monarchs in history, but “Highness” focuses on her formative years and follows her tutelage under her step-mother Katherine Parr, seeing her through court intrigues and eventual ascension to the throne. Kras is latest winner of the A.E. Hotchner Playwriting Competition, geared towards exposing aspiring University playwrights to a rigorous but rewarding selection and review process.
“The A.E. Hotchner award is an open competition,” said Schvey. “All submissions are anonymous and a committee is formed to select the finalists.”
Workshops then follow, and each year, a well-known dramaturge is brought to the University to act as a literary advisor who helps the winner refine his or her play.
The two other plays to premier this year are “Kokoschka: A Love Story,” and “civil disobedience.” “Kokoschka” is written by Schvey and reveals the story of Oskar Kokoschka, an Austrian painter living in post World War I Germany whose tragic Pygmalion twist is a testament to the powers of love and memory.
The other faculty written play is set in modern day United States. “Civil disobedience” takes the audience on a road-trip of conflicting ideals and beliefs, one that is fraught with both inter-generational conflict and life lessons from unlikely wanderers.
The familiar strains of “If I Were A Rich Man” and “Miracle of Miracles” will fill Edison Theater when “Fiddler on the Roof” is performed during Parent’s Weekend. The classic musical of a father learning to let go of his daughters will be especially poignant during the three days when parents of University freshman will come to realize that the St. Louis campus is truly the new home of their sons and daughters.
The season concludes with an unearthed treasure, “House of Desires,” written by a seventeenth-century woman. The play is quick to remind us that the love affairs and comedic exploits in today’s movies are themes eternal and timeless.
The dance faculty is behind two performances combining innovation of movement with original choreography. Dance Closeup in early September is faculty-directed with evenings of contemporary, modern and world dance. Bodymind/Art of Movement appears in December and features student performed work under both faculty and guest choreographers.
Many students seek entertainment and performances outside of campus at concert venues and movie theaters. Downtown St. Louis is usually buzzing with activity and awash in the lights of the Fox Theater and Powell Symphony Hall on weekend nights. However, attending a performance at Edison Theater – a venue many students pass everyday when walking to class – is not to be missed as a unique undergraduate experience. Be prepared to be amazed by the talent of your peers and by the breadth and quality of this unique PAD season. Who knows? You might catch the acting bug yourself.