Past Seasons
2010-2011 University Theatre Season
Greek Classic
Ion
By Euripides
Nov. 4-6 & 11-13 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Rhett Luedtke
Description:
As a young maiden, Kreousa unwillingly conceives a child with the god Apollo.
Not wanting to bring shame on her family, Kreousa hides her pregnancy and then abandons her baby in a cave hoping that Apollo will protect the child. Sixteen years later, Kreousa arrives at Apollo’s temple in Delphi and meets a young boy named Ion who serves as one of the temple’s servants. Will Apollo allow Kreousa and Ion to recognize each other as mother and son, or will he keep his crime a secret and lead the play to a tragic end? The play’s ending promises a surprise.
Winter Drama
Doubt
By John Patrick Shanley
Feb. 3-5 & 10-12 at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Caleb Thurston
Description:
1964. The Bronx, New York. Iron-willed Sister Aloysius, head of St. Nicholas Catholic School, suspects that Father Flynn is having an improper relationship with a student. The well-being of a young boy, the reputation of the school, and the fate of a popular priest are all at stake. Though lacking evidence, Sister Aloysius follows her convictions with singular focus. But what must be compromised in pursuit of the truth? is the truth more complex and more costly than first believed? With deeply drawn characters and taut dialogue, this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama explores the human discomfort with the gray areas of life.
Mature Content
Shakespearean Comedy
The Taming of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
April 7-9 & 14-16 at 7:30 p.m.
April 10 & 17 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Michael O'Neill
Description:
The wealthy merchant Baptista has a problem. His youngest daughter Bianca wants to get married, but according to custom Bianca can’t get married until her older sister Katerina is wed. Unfortunately, Katerina has no desire to get married. Her sharp wit, biting tongue, and fiery disposition have successfully scared all her suitors away. But when the free-spirited and rebellious Petruchio arrives on the scene, Katerina finds her match and a most extraordinary courtship begins.
2009-2010 University Theatre Season
Fall Drama
The Diviners
By Jim Leonard, Jr.
Nov. 5-7 & 12-14 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Caleb Thurston
Description:
Buddy Layman almost drowned as a toddler. Now, as a teenager, he can feel the rain coming from miles away and is the best water diviner in the county. The small farm community of Zion, Ind., (population 40) trusts Buddy’s water instincts, but they also marvel at his terror of water and his inability to bathe. When a charismatic but backsliding preacher drifts into town and befriends Buddy, the two lost souls find a common bond as they help each other divine for truth, faith and hope. But the play drifts toward irreversible tragedy when the townsfolk demand that the young preacher returns to the pulpit.
Players Presents
Threshold!
University Players, Drama Ministry Team
Feb 26-27 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Rhett Luedtke
Description:
This year, the University Players will be focusing on the moments in our journeys when we pause in the doorway at the threshold of change.
Winter Musical Revue
Rodgers and Hammerstein's A Grand Night for Singing
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Musical arrangements by Fred Wells
Orchestration by Michael Gibson and Jonathan Tunick
Conceived by Walter Bobbie
Feb. 4-6 & 11-13 at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 7 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Rhett Luedtke
Description:
Thirty-six of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most memorable romantic ballads comprise this delightful evening of theatre. The arc of Grand Night takes the audience on a musical journey through all the emotional stages of love. From “Oh What A Beautiful Morning”(Oklahoma), “We Kiss in the Shadows” (The King and I) and “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair” (South Pacific) to “A Lovely Night” (Cinderella), “My Little Girl” (Carousel) and “Maria” (The Sound of Music), this evening of theatre is sure to delight and inspire.
Spring Tragedy
Eurydice
by Sarah Ruhl
April 8-10 & 15-17 at 7:30 p.m.
April 18 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Director:
Megan Weaver
Description:
Ruhl’s imagination explodes on the stage in this fantastical retelling of the myth of Orpheus. Eurydice follows the story of Orpheus’ lover as she falls in love only to die on her wedding day. After falling to her death, Eurydice travels to the underworld, where she meets her father and struggles to remember her lost love. A visually dynamic and inventive story, Ruhl’s world features raining elevators, a room made of string, talking stones and letters sent through the earth via worms. This contemporary retelling of a timeless love story will take your breath away.
2008-2009 University Theatre Season
Fall 2008
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan
New music by Jeanine Tesori
New lyrics by Dick Scanlan
Nov. 6-8 & 12-15 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Directed by Teresa Thuman (guest director)
Vocal direction by Maggie Daane
Richard Elliot, conductor
Description:
This high-spirited musical comedy has it all. When small-town girl Millie Dillmount moves to New York City in 1922, she discovers a world filled with intrigue, jazz and danger. In her quest to move up in the world of glitz and glamour, Millie discovers there is more to being a modern girl than she imagined. Danger is around every corner, and it’s up to Millie to save the day, expose her sinister landlady, and finally marry her boss – whoever he may be. Adapted from the beloved 1967 Oscar-winning film starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore, this recent 2002 Broadway hit was a winner of six Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Spring 2009
The Triumph of Love
By Pierre Carlet de Marivaux
March 5-7 & 12-14 at 7:30 p.m.
March 15 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Auditorium
Description:
This delightful 18th-century romantic comedy is filled with all the confusions and complexities of love. Princess Leonide's world turns upside down when she falls in love with a young man who can rightfully usurp her kingdom. Unfortunately, her love interest is being tutored by an over-rational philosopher who hates love and has taught the young man to hate women. So Leonide and her maid, Corine, dress up as men, invade the phiolosopher's estate and try to prove to the men that love conquers all.
2007-2008 University Theatre Season
Fall 2007
Whatever Kindles
Written by Tricia Gates Brown
October 25-27 & November 1-3 at 7:30 p.m.
November 4 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Description:
A "world premiere" event for the George Fox campus. Alumna Tricia Gates Brown's Whatever Kindles is about the lives of individuals who volunteer for the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) that work to prevent violence and promote alternatives to war in Iraq, the West Bank, Columbia, and other regions in the world devastated by violence. Whatever Kindles is an artistically challenging and intellectually stimulating fictional play based on the stories of actual events in the lives of CPT members who are following Jesus' example of bringing peace to the world.
Winter 2007
One-Act Festival
January 31 - February 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis:
This winter, our best student directors and designers will take over Wood-Mar Auditorium and call it their own! Come and celebrate our students' work as they embrace their storytelling instincts and work to bless our community with disciplined and often challenging stories.
Black Boy
Adapted by Wynn Handman from the Richard Wright novel
A joint presentation by the university's Multicultural Services and Theatre departments
February 8-9 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis:
Broadway actor Charles Holt plays Richard Wright and a host of additional characters in Wynn Handman's adaptation of Wright's influential 1945 autobiography Black Boy. This taut, one-hour show about Wright's dawning awareness of racism and the power of the written word is aimed squarely at family audiences. Join us for a talkback with Mr. Holt after the show.
Spring 2008
As it is in Heaven
Written by Arlene Hutton
April 10-12 & 17-19 at 7:30 p.m.
April 13 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Description:
The 1830s Shaker society of Pleasant Hill, Ky., is set in an ordered way until a newcomer, Fanny, sees angels in the meadow. Soon all the young women are receiving spiritual "gifts" of songs, drawings, ideas, and giggles and completely upsetting the community. Are these gifts an honest resurgence of original Shaker celebration, or something manufactured by Fanny? Traditional Shaker hymns are woven into the action of this family-friendly play.
2006-2007 University Theatre Season
Fall 2006
The Secret Garden
Written by Marsha Norman & Lucy Simon
based on the children's novel by Francis Hodgson Burnett
October 26-28 & November 2-4 at 7:30 p.m.
November 5 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis:
Howling winds, a drafty mansion, a hunchback uncle, and a forlorn garden greet Mary Lennox when she arrives at Misselthwaite Manor. The mysterious and cold mansion threatens to engulf Mary as she mourns her parents' death while she tries to adjust to her new life in England. But then Mary finds the key to a secret garden and what she discovers there changes her broken world and the people around her forever. Join us for an evening of family entertainment as we celebrate the journey from mourning to dancing.
Winter 2007
Damien
A one-man play written by Aldyth Morris
Based on the life and death of Father Damien DeVouster, priest to the exiles of Hawai'i.
February 16-17 at 7:30 p.m. & Feb. 18 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis:
Some said he was a hero and a martyr. Others said he was coarse, hot-tempered, and drunk with pride. Who was this fiery and passionate man? And why did he fight his family, government, and church to serve a group of dying outcasts? Featuring theatre professor Bryan Boyd, Father Damien's story is told in a compelling and intimate form of theatre - the one-man play.
Spring 2007
Pride and Prejudice
Written by Jon Jory
Based on the novel by Jane Austen
April 12-14 and 19-21 at 7:30 p.m. & April 15 at 2 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis:
Jon Jory's 2004 adaptation of Jane Austen's masterpiece is a breath of fresh air in a world of adaptations gone awry. Jory captures the heart of this masterpiece with all its biting wit, idiosyncratic personalities and problematic courtships. Join us as for a delightful evening of romantic comedy as we witness the young and head strong Elizabeth Bennet battle it out with the high and mighty Mr. Darcy only to discover that Mr. Darcy may be her perfect match.
2006-07 Special Events
Ten! Ten! Ten!Directing Showcase
December 6-9 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Players Presents
Drama Ministry Team
Feb. 8-10 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Theatre Games
A Comedy Sports Extravaganza
March 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
2005-2006 University Theatre Season
Fall 2005
Machinal (1928)Written by Sophie Treadwell
October 20-22 & 27-29 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis: A 1928 Broadway hit, Machinal is a modern parable that depicts one woman's tragic journey from isolation to murder. In Treadwell's words the play is about "a young woman, ready, eager for life, for love...but deadened, squeezed, crushed by the machine like quality of the life surrounding." This highly charged and moving play asks us to re-examine how our own lives are part of various societal "machines" that can crush our spiritual hunger for God. Join us for a thought provoking evening of 1920s Expressionism as we explore the spiritual consequences of obedience to the machines of life.
Winter 2006
The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997)Written by Alfred Uhry
Jan. 26-28 & Feb. 2-4 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Synopsis: It's December 1939. Love is in the air, Christmas is around the corner, Gone with the Wind is taking the world by storm and World War II is under way. Meanwhile the Freitag family scrambles to get ready for Ballyhoo, an extravagant ball for Atlanta's Jewish elites. This 1997 Tony Award winning play by the author of Driving Miss Daisy is a fun-filled, family-centered, living room comedy. However, the depth of this often hilarious romantic comedy is revealed as the characters face unexpected obstacles and learn to hold close to their family values, traditions and faith. Join us for an evening of heartfelt family entertainment.
Spring 2006
Macbeth (1605-06)Written by William Shakespeare
April 4-8 at 7:30 p.m. & April 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
School Matinee: Thursday April 6, at 10:00 a.m. Call 503-554-2639 for information and reservations.
Synopsis: Written in 1605-06 at the height of his dramatic powers, Shakespeare's Macbeth is the story of a war hero and his wife who struggle with fate and their own ambitions. Urged on by his wife, Macbeth betrays and murders his king in an attempt to gain the power and prestige of the crown. The cycle of violence, betrayal and murder that follows the couples' ascent to the throne is both as ancient and as fresh as today's news. Despite the grisly themes, some of Shakespeare's most beautiful verse and profound wisdom come to life in this wonderfully supernatural play. "Something wicked this way comes."
2005-06 Special Productions
Players PresentsThe University Players Showcase
Theatre Ministry in Action
Feb. 9, 10 & 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Fee: Pay what you can
Theatre Games
Comedy Improv Showcase
March 2nd & 3rd at 7:30 p.m.
Wood-Mar Theatre
Fee: Pay what you can
Shakespeare Under the Stars
A student showcase of scenes and monologues in celebration of Shakespeare's birthday
Student-Actors Showcase
April 21st at 10:00 p.m.
Location: On the Quad Fee: Pay what you can
2004-2005 University Theatre Season
Fall 2004
Trojan Women (415 B.C.E.)Written by Euripides and Translated by Paul D. Streufert
Oct. 27-30 & Nov. 3-6 at 7:30 p.m.
Synopsis: After 10 years of war, the women of Troy are left standing in the ruins of their country, enslaved by the conquering Greeks and awaiting an uncertain fate. While their men and children are slaughtered, their city destroyed, the women survive the extreme desolation of war with determined nobility. Euripides' plea for peace has spoken to war-torn cultures for 2,400 years and still packs a punch.
Winter 2005 Musical
Smoke on the Mountain (1991)Written by Connie Ray, Conceived by Alan Bailey
Musical Arrangement by Mike Craver and Mark Hardwick
Feb. 2-5 & 9-12 at 7:30 p.m.
Synopsis: It's 1938 and the Sanders family is back on the North Carolina Gospel Circuit for their first Saturday Night Gospel Sing in five years. While the Sanders' first-performance jitters cause them to make a few mistakes, testify a little too much, laugh a little too loud, and dance too much, their country-gospel songs are both inspiring and uplifting. Join us for an evening of gospel songs from the good old days.
Spring 2005
Dancing at Lughnasa (1991)Written by Brian Friel
April 14-16 & 21-23 at 7:30 p.m.
Synopsis: Friel's heartwarming story about five Irish sisters won three Tony Awards in 1992, including Best Play. The texture of the Mundy sisters' 1936 pastoral life starts out simply and elegantly as each sister attempts to deal with the tides of change - the old world versus the new, the old versus the young and the familiar versus the different.
2004-05 Special Productions
Ten! Ten! Ten!Student-Directing Showcase
Ten-minute plays at 10:10 p.m.
Dec. 10 & 11 at 10:10 p.m.
FREE
Players Presents
The University Players Showcase
Theatre Ministry in Action
Directed by Michael McConaughey
Feb. 25 & 26 at 7:30 p.m.
FREE
Theatre Games
Comedy Improv Showcase
March 12 at 7:30 p.m.
FREE
Shakespeare In the Quad
Shakespeare's Birthday Celebration!
Student-Actors Showcase
April 23 at 2 p.m.
FREE