CHESTERTOWN, MD—The 2015 fall drama season at Washington College continues October 9 through December 5 with six student productions that Department of Theatre and Dance Chair Michele Volansky describes as “a great combination of classic plays and new works, which means that every weekend will give our community something completely different.  We hope the campus comes along for the ride with us.” The lineup includes five established plays and the world-premier of a student play. Through these productions, drama majors fulfill their Senior Capstone requirements for graduation by writing an original play or completely directing a production from casting to closing.  

All performances are staged in Tawes Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, and begin at 7:30 p.m.  Admission is free and open to the public, but reservations are recommended. To guarantee a seat, go to http://ow.ly/SzolL. For questions, email to theatre_tickets@washcoll.edu. 

The season kicked off Oct. 2 and 3 in experimental fashion with Autoquette, an original performance piece by student Anna Baldwin that required instruction-based audience participation.  The remaining plays for fall are:

 

Running

by Arlene Hutton

A Senior Directing Thesis from Andrew Huelskoetter

October 9 & 10

It’s the weekend of the New York City Marathon, and Stephen, a first time marathon runner, is set for a quiet evening of preparation and sleep. His night is interrupted when Emily, his wife’s old roommate, shows up unexpectedly in the midst of a crisis. Seeing her old apartment brings back memories and Stephen, dealing with his own troubles, is suddenly forced to face his failures. Late night conversations become late night confessions and connections. Will Stephen be running on empty?

 

Equus

by Peter Shaffer

A Senior Directing Thesis from Charlotte Cugnini

October 23 & 24

Martin Dysart is a well-respected child psychiatrist, known for his great understanding and work with young patients. Yet when he meets Alan Strang, a disturbed teenager whose dangerous obsession with horses leads him to commit an unspeakable act of violence, Dysart struggles to understand him. As Dysart searches for the motivation behind Alan’s act he finds himself increasingly draw into this psychological puzzle that leads the two into a complex and disturbing dramatic confrontation. 

 

The Revisionist

by Jesse Eisenberg

A Senior Directing Thesis from Alex Foxwell

November 6 & 7

When young writer David arrives in Poland with a crippling case of writer’s block, all he wants is to be left alone. But when his 75-five-year-old second cousin Maria welcomes him with a deep desire to connect with her distant American family, their relationship develops. As these two different walks of life collide, Maria reveals details about her war-torn past that test their ideas of what it means to be a family.

 

A Streetcar Named Desire

by Tennessee Williams

A Senior Directing Thesis from Amanda Klute

November 13 & 14

A Streetcar Named Desire is all about the conflict and marriage between beast and man. How do we confront ourselves? How do we confront those around us? Is confrontation necessary for survival? In this gritty American classic, given a modern twist, a collection of lost souls find themselves together testing how far will we go to protect themselves and others?

 

39 Steps

by Patrick Barlow

A Senior Directing Thesis from Sean Syme

November 20 & 21

Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theater! In this play, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!

 

Boxes

by Reilly Cox

A Senior Playwriting Thesis

December 4 & 5

After the death of their father, three siblings struggle to navigate their new landscape and the impact their father’s death has had on their family history in this original play written by Cox and directed by Professor Volansky.