Volume 7, Number 1 Spring 2009

Theatre News at Middlebury: Seventh Sequel!

Doug Sprigg News from the Department: 2005–09

In 2007, the Department bade reluctant farewell to Doug Sprigg, Isabel R. Mettler ’39 Professor Emeritus of Theatre, who retired after 33 years, many of them spent as Chair of the Theatre Program. In October 2008, Doug gave a lecture entitled ‘Holding the Mirror Up to Nature: The Dialectic of a Divided Consciousness in the Performance of Shakespeare and Chekhov’ as part of his professorship, and was celebrated with a dinner at the President’s home. Doug’s influence lives on in his students and in the memory of his many productions.

On March 8, 2008, the Center for the Arts was rededicated as the Mahaney MIDDLEBURY Center for the Arts, in honor of supporter Kevin Mahaney, alum and parent. THEATRE REUNION! Despite a ferocious ice storm, the evening attracted many student and community members. Theatre presented an evening of scenes, entitled Curtain WEDNESDAY, MAY 27 Up!, hosted by Alex Draper ’88, with alums including Greg Naughton ’90, NEW YORK CITY at ANGUS McINDOE Matt Saldivar ’92, Christian Parker ’93, Nina Silver ’93, Aidan Sullivan ’95, 8:00 p.m. Megan Byrne ’96.5, Michael Wrynn Doyle ’98, Alex Cranmer ’99, Rich Price 258 West 44th Street ’99.5, Sarah Peters ’03.5, David Moan ’04, Dan Pruksarnukal ’04, Cassidy Freeman ’04.5, Julia Proctor ’06.5, Lauren Turner Kiel ’07, Allison Corke ’08, It’s the Grand Reunion of ALL Rishabh Kashyap ’08, Willie Orbison ’08, Stephanie Strohm ’08, Alec Strum THEATRE STUDENTS from the Richard & Cheryl years, aka, “Alex ’08, Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki ’08, Justine Katzenbach ’08.5, Lucy Faust ’09, Draper to the Present Time.” So here’s Jimmy Wong ’09.5, Cassidy Boyd ’10, Peter Hoffman ’10, John Glouchevitch what you can do to help: PLEASE ’10.5, and guests, honorary alum Jim Ryan and visiting lecturer Vanessa FORWARD THIS TO ALL MIDD Mildenberg, appearing in a wide selection of work from Midddlebury and THEATER TYPES! Clearly my list PTP stages. leans a bit to the 1992–94 classes, but this is for ALL the theatre grads of the Faromagnoli Era. I am open to a si- multaneous West Coast Party and we Returning Alums….WELCOME! pass the phones around, but I praefer Fall 2005: Michael Wrynn Doyle ’98: Acting I and The Bewitched that Nina Silver charters a jet to fly Spring 2007: Josh Bradford ’93: Lighting Design for Cabaret all the West Coasters out for this. But more on those details later. Winter 2009: Kate Pines ’04: Director of Uncommon Women and Others For now, just start sending Multiple visits: Josh Bradford ’93, Carl Forsman ’93, Christian Parker ’93 RSVPs of any intent to me at And Other Artists... [email protected] Fall 2007: London Theatre Exchange (Chris Hayes, William Richards, Vanessa Mildenberg) Vanessa continued to work frequently with My love to everyone. Look forward to seeing many of you in May! the department through spring 2009! All best - Carl Spring 2008: Jim Ryan, Guest Artist for Jumpers Update on the Department

• Jim Dougherty Associate Technical Director. Jim continues his work with the Theatre Department, most recently as TD of our production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It was the first departmental production attended by his sons Owen and Sean; other accolades notwithstanding, it received the coveted Fifth and Second Grader’s No Squirming and Rapt Attention awards. The current students are clearly upholding the tradition of fine work done here on campus! His work with the American College Theatre Festival has progressed to working as Facility Technical Director at the Dukakis Theatre for the most recent and upcoming festivals. Those who were part of the tour for The Bewitched will no doubt have fond memories of the space.

• Alex Draper ’88 In the Fall ’05, Alex returned to Middlebury as a leave replacement for Doug and to perform in Richard’s production of The Bewitched, which was subsequently re-mounted for both the regional and the national American College Theatre Festivals. The next year, he accepted an offer to teach full-time, and moved from Brooklyn to Vermont with his wife Lorraine, daughter Nora, and son Toby (born 2 days after the Bewitched was performed at the Kennedy Center). Since joining the faculty, he has developed 2 new courses; directed productions of Janusz Glowacki’s Cinders, Matt Pepper’s Saint Crispin’s Day, and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night; performed in Cheryl’s production of Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers; and had the thrill of being involved in PTP’s first two seasons in NYC. He has managed to keep working in film and television, most notably in the Law and Order franchise and the HBO miniseries John Adams, and this summer he will travel to the wilds of New Hampshire to shoot Andy Mitton ’00 and Jesse Holland’s ’01 indie horror film Yellowbrickroad also involving Clark ’00 and Cassidy Freeman ’04.5 and Tara Giordano ’02. In the spring of 2008 he was offered a tenure-track position, and he and his family are thrilled to call Middlebury home.

• Jule Emerson continues to design for the department’s productions and is currently working with new Costume Director Marcia Provoncha on the costumes for After Mrs. Rochester and The Europeans. Jule’s sabbatical last fall featured two amazing weeks in Paris (during fashion week, of course!) and, yes, it was FABULOUS! She has also been engaged in research for her upcoming Victorian and Edwardian costume exhibit at the College’s Museum of Art. Jule had a splendid time last summer with the PTP gang recreating the costumes for Scenes From an Execution and thoroughly enjoyed teaching PTP’s brilliant student actors how to sew and run wardrobe. As always, she is completely smitten with her fabulous design students. In addition to their usual work behind the scenes, these students were front and center modeling their incredible designs at the Bicentennial Ball and The Geiger Runway Show last spring.

• Mark Evancho is still teaching intro and advanced scenic and light design courses and designing the college productions since the last newsletter: The Wedding Dress, The Bewitched, Cinders, Jumpers, Lysistrata, St Crispin’s Day, The Heidi Chronicles, and Twelfth Night. The design program is growing with an average of 10 to 12 set, light, and costume design students each year. We are moving slowly into intelligent lighting, with new ETC lighting boards in Wright and Seeler Theatres. Outside the college, Mark has designed My Fair Lady at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and has designed Scenes From An Execution, Somewhere in the Pacific, and Crave for the Potomac Theatre Project in NYC. Mark is now serving as Chair of the Theatre and Dance Department for the next three years with all the rights, privileges, and honors pertaining thereto.

• Cheryl Faraone’s recent directing work includes Sarah Kane’s Crave (NY, 2008, Maryland, 2003) and The Politics of Passion, the Plays of Anthony Minghella (NY 2007) Company members included Stephanie Janssen, Cassidy Freeman, Tara Giordano, Adam Ludwig, Jesse Hooker, David Barlow, Michael Wrynn Doyle, Stephanie Strohm, Julia Proctor, Rishabh Kashyap, Laura Harris, MacLeod Andrews, Lauren Kiel. In 2005, she directed the professional premiere of Snoo Wilson’s Lovesong of the Electric Bear, on the life and times of Alan Turing, mathematician and code-breaker, with Tara Giordano as Turing’s teddy bear, Porgy. The cast also included Middlebury people Jay Dunn, Andrew Zox, Lucas Kavner, Meghan Nesmith and Julia Proctor. For Olney Theatre Center this spring she directed The King of the Jews by Leslie Epstein and spent some time in London initiating various projects. Middlebury projects in recent years have (also) included Five Hysterical Girls Theorem, The Heidi Chronicles, Talking With and Jumpers. Finally, a recent interest in plays about science and/or mathematics (note titles above) is the continuing impetus for “Math and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre,” co-taught with Steve Abbott in fall 2004, 2006 and 2008, which also led to conferences in Glamorrgan,Wales, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Santa Barbara, California, with more travel to come. In spring 2009, Cheryl directed King Of The Jews by Leslie Epstein for the Olney Theatre Center. The cast included Peter Schmitz.

• Claudio Medeiros ’90 After 6 consecutive years of teaching at Middlebury, Cláudio had his first leave year in 2008–09. His sabbatical research projects, though focused on Brazilian theatre, took him to very different areas of interest. In the first one, he researched German Expressionism and Melodrama to write an article about hyper- emotionalism in the work of Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues; in this work he focuses on his favorite Rodriguean text, All Nudity Shall Be Punished, which he hopes to direct for PTP some day. His other research project sent him on a 3-month voyage to Rio this past Spring, something he “hated” with a passion for he “detests” Rio—you would too, trust him!!! This multi-disciplinary, cross-cultural project centers around a 1970s avant-garde, gender-bending theatre troupe named Dzi Croquettes, a group of 13 non-traditional Brazilian male performers at the center of which stood an American dancer/choreographer from Brooklyn. He hopes to publish both works next year. At Middlebury his last two productions were Cabaret—yes, the musical, no kidding—lit by none other than Josh Bradford ’93, and Lysistrata. Both projects were immensely rewarding, and yes, we did use masks for the choruses of old men and women and they were fabulous, thanks to Jule’s indefatigable research!

• Vanessa Mildenberg For the past 2 years Vanessa has been shuttling back and forth between Middlebury and London: At Middlebury she had a wonderful time teaching and choreographing Cabaret, movement directing Five(5)Hysterical Girls Theorem, Lysistrata, Jumpers and consulting on Twelfth Night. In London she directed La Ronde(Jermyn Street), Pillars of Society and Our Country’s Good (Actor’s Co), choreographed and directed I’ll Use That Tongue I Have(Chisenhale Dance Space), choreographed and movement directed: The Better Deal(Rosemary Branch), Lucifer Saved by Peter Oswald(Finborough), an all female Hamlet(White Bear), and performance art piece Das Tier, participated in the Breath-Voice-Body conference at RADA and played Gertrude (Hamlet) and Paulina(Winter’s Tale). Vanessa continues research into a pedagogy for cross-over dance and text based theatre performance at The Conservatoire of Dance and Drama, and has started certification in Fitzmaurice voice training. She is artistic director of Cassandra Theatre Co, an associate artist of VocalMotions, and a member of Young Vic Director’s Forum. This spring she directed After Mrs Rochester for Middlebury and this summer in London, she will direct/choreograph the wonderful Leyya Tawil a.o. in The Winter’s Tale Project.

• Marcia Provoncha, Costume Director: Marcia stepped up from her usual position of Assistant Costume Director to Acting Costume Director at the end of July, 2008 and subsequently Director late fall 2008. She worked with the summer Language Schools costuming 6 productions and managed to learn a few words in each of the languages along the way. This past fall and early winter she enjoyed working with Deb Sivigny, Interim Costume Designer, on the productions of Twelfth Night and Uncommon Women and Others. On the home front, Marcia was newly married this past August. She and her husband live in a beautiful spot in New Haven, VT, where they enjoy gardening, hunting and fishing and spending time with each other.

• Allison Rimmer continues her work as Technical Director for the theatre program during the academic year. Summers are busy producing shows for the Language Schools. She also works with the Vergennes Opera House as President of the Board of Directors, and does the occasional set design for The Little City Players in Vergennes.

• Richard Romagnoli The Bewitched was invited to the Kennedy Center as part of the KCACT Festival. Spring term 2006 Richard directed Lucas Kavner and Daniel Di Tomaso in their 700 project. Joining them in the cast were MacLeod Andrews, Willie Orbison, and Stephanie Strohm with set design by Christina Galvez. The following fall Richard directed his first First Year Student play, I Gotta Change My Whole Friggin’ Life, featuring the plays of John Patrick Shanley. Richard directed No End of Blame in 2007 and Scenes From An Execution in 2008 for PTP/NYC and A Hard Heart for Whistler In The Dark in Boston all by Howard Barker. Fall of 2008 he studied View Points at the SITI company in NYC and later that winter worked with Christian Parker ’93 Associate Artistic Director of the Atlantic Theatre on preparing Howard Barker’s The Europeans and Jay Parini’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s short story Mary Postgate for readings which he directed at the Atlantic. Currently he is directing The Europeans at the College and will redirect it this summer with PTP/NYC. While on leave in 2007–08, Richard Romagnoli spent time in NY, doing a five week Viewpoints training program with the SITI company, and directing several readings at the Atlantic Theatre Company, including Mary Postgate, by Jay Parini. In spring 2008, Richard directed A Hard Heart for Whistler in the Dark in Boston, with Meg Taintor and Ben Fainstein.

• Douglas Sprigg In 2005, while on leave, I directed The Price by Arthur Miller and Rounding Third by Richard Dressler for the Heritage Repertory Theatre at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. That year we built and moved into a new house on Lake Dunmore. In the spring of 2006, my Mettler Professorship allowed me to attend the Adelaide Theatre Festival in Australia. I also attended productions in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland, NZ. In the summer of 2006, “Monsignor Sprigg” (courtesy of an internet degree) performed the wedding ceremony for Dan O’Brien ’96 and Jess St. Clair ’97. That year, I directed Enchanted April by Mathew Barber at the Heritage Rep, and Everett Beekin by Richard Greenberg at Middlebury. In 2007, I continued my ministerial career by performing the wedding ceremony for my step-son. In the fall, as a commemoration of my endowed chair, I delivered the Inaugural Mettler Lecture in Twilight Auditorium: “Holding the Mirror Up to Nature: The Dialectic of a Divided Consciousness in the Performance of Shakespeare and Chekhov.” In the spring of 2008, I went on a tour of China, and witnessed several theatrical productions, including an outdoor performance staged by the man who directed the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. This summer, again at the Heritage Rep, I directed Master Class by Terrence McNally. To conclude: On June 30, 2008, Chela and I officially retired from Middlebury College after thirty-three years of teaching. The opportunity to work with each of you as you matured and flourished during your four years at Middlebury has been one of the great privileges of my life. Now, Chela and I await the arrival of our first grandchild, and, with a renewed sense of hope, we embark upon the last third of our lives. This is our time. This is our moment.

• Lin Waters has retired from the theatre department and is enjoying traveling with her husband Neil.

• Dana Yeaton’s play Redshirts was produced at Penumbra Theatre in Minneapolis and Round House Theatre in Washington D.C. where it received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best New Play. Here on campus, Dana directed readings of Tanya Barfields’ Blue Door, and Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, which featured Alex Draper and Esau Pritchett. He worked with visiting concert pianist Michael Arnowitt to produce “Reading Langston: A Jazz Poetry Experience.” In the fall of 2007, Dana’s advanced playwriting class worked with guest director Andy Mitton ’01 to write and develop the First Year Show, called Severed Headshots. His most recent project is another Yeaton-Mitton collaboration, with Andy composing the music and Dana writing book and lyrics for a new, two-person musical. The first reading (and singing) of My Ohio was presented in January of this year at FlynnSpace in Burlington, and then here in our own Chateau Grand Salon. Dana has just completed an MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College’s west coast campus in Port Townsend, Washington.

• Hallie Zieselman Since the last printing of this newsletter, Hallie was promoted to Resident Scenic & Lighting Designer for the Theatre Department. In recent years, I’ve been designing lights annually for the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Theatre Arts, as well as Potomac Theatre Project (for whom I am also now the Production Manager). She still does design work with Peter Wexler Studios in New York, and the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. Hallie received a Kennedy Center Medallion in 2007, and is still completely addicted to golf. ************************************** Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival News **************************************

*********************************** Region 1 Festival 2006 Awards

Region I Design Awards Courtney Swanda: Region I Costume Design for House of Yes Toral Patel: Region I Costume Design for Everyman Aaron Gensler: Region I Set Design for The Dining Room Katie Polebaum: Region I Technical Crafts for “the plant” in Little Shop of Horrors

The Kennedy Center National 2006 Festival Irene Ryan National Finalist Laura Harris (partner: Lauren Kiel) Regional Semi-finalist Rebecca Kanengiser (partner: Rishabh Kashyap) Design Awards Christina Galvez: Region I Barbizon Set Design national winner for House of Yes Laura Eckelman: Region I Barbizon Lighting Design national winner for The Last Night of Ballyhoo Alternate: Haylee Freeman, for House of Yes National Critics Institute Award Paul Doyle Dramaturgy Award Paul Doyle for The Bewitched

The Department presented its production of The Bewitched at the Festival to wide acclaim. Hallie Zieselman was awarded the faculty fellowship in design and attended the national festival to participate in workshops and master classes. *********************************** Region 1 Festival 2007 Awards

Region I Design Awards Tamara Todorut: Region I Set Design winner for Buried Child Danielle Nieves: Region I Costume Design winner for Alice In Wonderland

The Kennedy Center National 2007 Festival Design Awards: Christina Galvez: Region I Barbizon Set Design national winner for Cinders Catherine Vigne: Region I Barbizon Costume Design runner up for In The Blood

*********************************** Region 1 Festival 2008 Awards

Region I Design Awards Danielle Nieves: Region I Costume Design winner for Gypsy Catherine Vigne: Region I Costume Design honorable mention for Five Hysterical Girls Theorem Ross Bell: Region I Light Design winner for Severed Headshots

The Kennedy Center National 2008 Festival Irene Ryan National 1st Alternate: Lucy Faust (partner: Justine Katzenbach) Design Awards Aaron Gensler: Region I Barbizon Set Design national winner for Five Hysterical Girls Theorem

*********************************** Region 1 Festival 2009 Awards

Region I Awards Ryan Bates: Region I Set Design winner for Burn This Catherine Vigne: Region I Costume Design honorable mention for Five Hysterical Girls Theorem Ross Bell: Region I Light Design 2nd place for Dying City Lucy Faust: Voice Award from VISTA

The Kennedy Center National 2009 Festival Gillian Durkee: Best 10-minute play Design Awards Ben Schiffer: Region I Barbizon Sound Design Honorable Mention for St. Crispin’s Day

************************************** From Around the Globe

E-mail Sector: (notes from 2007 & 2008; apologies for the out-of-datedness of some of this news!)

(If anyone is not represented here and has e-mail access, please hook up with us at [email protected])

California

Cassidy Freeman This weekend....maybe you might drive through a pumpkin patch, maybe you’ll go see some turning leaves, maybe you’ll go surfing...I have no idea, but what I DO know, is that come Sunday night, I will be guest starring on Cold Case! It’s a wonderful episode, about a school teacher who tries to convince kids in a rough inner-city school that they are worth more than they’ve been lead to believe. But someone has it out for the teacher! Very Dangerous Minds...very Michelle Pfeiffer...except I unfortunately don’t get my own rap song and coolio is nowhere to be found. But, my scenes are set in 1991, meaning the costumes are AWESOME! So grab some popcorn and a blankie, and finish off your weekend of whatever with some good ‘ol crime and justice on CBS 9:00 p.m. E/P. and a serious sincere thank you to all of you who have been tuning into to Smallville...thank you. thank you. thank you. This Thursday, Sept. 18th, at 8/9c, is the series premiere of Season 8 of Smallville, featuring: Russian accents, blood, green leather outfits, overly attractive 20 somethings, and....yours truly! The CW never had it so good! I mean, Russian accents...impressive. I hope you tune in, and I hope you enjoy fantasy ridden comic book series, cause there’s a good chance I’ll be on there most weeks...so grab a cape of your color choosing and fall back in love with superman...

Aimee Young Hopkins ’93 lives in Glendale, California with her husband Craig and two children Maggie (age 3.5) and Charlotte (AKA Charley, age 2 months.) She runs a small arts education company called Aimee Art Productions: Building Self-Esteem and Literacy Through the Arts, which sends teaching artists into the schools to do workshops in Theatre, Music, Dance and Visual Art and offers private music lessons to families in their homes. She still writes and “performs” for her students and will be presenting at the Core Knowledge Foundation National Conference in Anaheim, California this fall, teaching educators how to use music in their classrooms. She sends a shout out to the awesome Midd theatre graduates Class of ’93.

Dan O’Brien and Jessica St.Clair: Not sure if I sent an update last spring, but we’re doing fine. Jessica continues to do VH1’s Best Week Ever, and some guest roles on TV, some smaller films too. Most recently she’s started on “In the Motherhood.” My play “The House in Hydesville” is going to be produced this winter at Geva Theater Center, and another play, “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti,” will be in the Ruth Easton New Plays Series at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Just got back from UW-Madison where I was in residence for the spring semester.

Nina Silver: ‘Mr. Punch’ was my recent show. The other project I’m working on is an independent film called Kay. It’s a love story about a family. I play Kay, the wife who has manic-depressive disorder. Hopefully, it’ll play on the film festival circuit. This is my third film with the same writer/director (Ryan Bates) and production company (Hold It Up Prods.) I’ve been very lucky to find such a great team to collaborate with! I teach acting and direct children’s productions (my latest was A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at Olivia (12) and Max’s (10) school and I also teach private acting lessons for children. Miguel is doing really well at his company, Schematic.

Megan West: Well I’m flattered to be remembered fondly at Midd! I am doing well... Zach and I have settled into Orange County and really like it here. We even (gulp) bought a house last January! I have been working with an investment management firm for almost two years now. Mostly by coincidence, it happens to be an all-female firm, which is extremely rare in this industry. And I have to admit I have had some “Marlene” flashbacks as I trot off to work in my pinstripes every now and again! I still make time to paint (and not just my house!) although I haven’t done much acting in about a year. The last few projects I worked on while transitioned from LA to OC were small, independent films. Our home is blocks away from Chapman University, which has a fairly prominent graduate film department. I’ve toyed with the idea of submitting for a role here or there, but I haven’t done it yet!

Chicago

Andy Boyer We start performances for The Terrible Head in a few days and the opening is just over a week away. As everything is coming together to get ready for the world premiere I wanted to let you know about a little bit of news... The Terrible Head has been named one of centerstagechicago.com’s editor’s picks. Here is what they wrote: Summer debutant season, that magical time when brand new theater companies step out into the programming lull of August, is about to give way to the whirlwind of fall season-openers. Say goodbye to the hot weather by checking out Mythic Proportions, a freshly minted dance-theater company, and the last of the summer debs. Its first production, The Terrible Head, will use spectacle, dance and (judging by the Web site) sweaty, half-clothed bodies to retell the myth of Perseus. We’re honored to close out the “debutant season.” Our coming out will be the highlight of the season and the beginning of an exciting new company. Reviews are starting to come in and, along with audience responses, are enthusiastic. According to Colin Douglas of centerstagechicago.com we “fashioned an original 90-minute blend of mythology, folk tale and pure imagination to tell the story of one young man’s fantastic quest.” Audience surveys have all rated the production as excellent or as 10’s.

New York

Digital Love ONE NIGHT ONLY 11/24/08 Ars Nova Theatre, 511 W 54th st. (10th Ave) Created by Thompson Davis; Directed by Aaron Gensler; Performed by Sally Swallow, Thompson Davis, Lucas Kavner, Willie Orbison. The new rock-band driven musical Digital Love follows a young temp as he doo-wops, discos, and rocks his way through the workday. Dedicated to all those creative souls tired of the digital love affair, waiting for the day when they can put a clenched fist through the monitor.

MacLeod Andrews: Aside from just joining Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), I can be seen this December in...Too Much Memory By Keith Reddin and Meg Gibson at the New York Theatre Workshop. Presented by Rising Phoenix Rep & Piece By Piece Productions. This summer I will be performing in the Off-Broadway production and New York premiere of: SLIPPING by Daniel Talbott, directed by Kirsten Kelly. Presented by Rising Phoenix Rep & Piece by Piece Productions in association with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater July 28-August 15. I recently recorded an Audiobook, Crows & Cards by Joseph Helgerson. It’s a fun, period, adventure novel for ages 9–12, but the young at heart may enjoy as well. Click here to listen to a sample! If you would like to purchase a copy, you can find this title at Amazon.com

James O. Dunn: I just got back from the Jacques Lecoq school in Paris and am working in DC for the summer. I’m taking a 5-week clown workshop in Boulder with Giovanni Fusetti in late August through October (with Sam Elmore too, actually). Then I am moving to NYC in October. There were some great shows to see this summer at the DC Fringe, not least of all being Ben Fainstein, Dan Pruksarnakul, Dan Eichner and Tara in Prototype 373-G. Carl Forsman’s KEEN COMPANY had a great spring. They had three Drama Desk nominations (Best Revival —The Dining Room, best Director—Jonathan Silverstein, The Dining Room, and Best Supporting Actor, John Cullum—The Conscientious Objector) and a Drama Desk Win for Best Ensemble for The Dining Room. They also received an Obie Award for the company’s body of work. Carl directed Keen’s first holiday play Beasley’s Christmas Party in December and in the spring, the New York premiere of Gerald Sibleyras’ Heroes translated by Tom Stoppard.

Carl and Josh Bradford were back in Vermont for their second summer running the Dorset Theatre Festival, where the board this summer retired the $800,000 bank loan that had been hanging over their heads! DTF is now poised for growth, and Carl hopes we’ll see more Panther alums joining them up north.

Andy Mitton ’01 and Jesse Holland ’02 have founded Points North Films, LLC, and are slated to co-direct their original horror screenplay, Yellowbrickroad, in the summer of 2009 on location in New England. Visit www.yellowbrickroadthemovie.com for more information and an awesome teaser trailer!

Sally Swallow It’s a beautiful sunny day here in New York, and I found myself thinking about the fall in Midd....and then all of you! You must be getting ready to jump into another fall semester. I wanted to share my excitement with you about being cast as Mable in upcoming production of The Pirates of Penzance with The Heights Players in Brooklyn! This is a role that I’ve always wanted to play and am so excited to be here in the city. www.sallyswallow.com

Washington DC area

Allison Corke: I will be at Georgia Shakespeare next year after being on the road with National Players since PTP last summer. I will be playing Helena in Midsummer, understudying Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, playing several ensemble roles and understudying Tamora in Titus, and playing some role (tbd) in Alice in Wonderland. I’m pretty thrilled about it, since GS has a very good reputation and I will be one of only four non-equity actors in their summer ensemble. During the year, I will be acting as a sort of artist-in-residence; performing Macbeth and a compilation of Shakespeare scenes for schools, doing some educational programs for schools, and working with one of the artistic directors on a new adaptation of the Odyssey that he is creating. In the spring, I will take part in their free outdoor Shakespeare performances.

Caitlin Dennis and Meghan Nesmith: After a minor amount of nail biting we’ve been given a Capital Fringe Festival slot! We’re really excited and as we assemble cast and crew we will definitely keep you updated. The play of Jake Jeppson’s that we’re doing is really exciting, and (if you didn’t hear) he just got accepted into the Yale School of Drama’s Playwriting program!

Laura Harris did The Winter’s Tale at the Folger Theatre in DC through March 8th.

Kate Mielke (2001, design) I’m an Equity stage manager living in the Washington DC area. Sometimes I run away with the circus (Cirque Voila! and Tomfoolery Productions). Fall of 2007 brought a six-week stint in Shanghai producing/stage managing an international clown festival. So, I was able to use my Middlebury education to swear in a number of different languages. I’ve added some really inappropriate Slovenian to my vocabulary. I worked the Kander and Ebb festival at Signature Theatre for the first half of 2008 and am gearing up for a tour of Indiana/Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas with Cirque Voila! I would have loved to see PTP this summer but I was afraid that I would get Under the Bamboo Tree stuck in my head and it’s taken since the Olney production to shake it out. All my best! Dania Palanker …I thought I would send you an update as I’ve had a bunch of changes recently. I graduated Georgetown Law School in May and have just moved across the country to the Bay Area to be with my fiance (marriage is May of 2009). Now that I’m done with school, I was going at night and working part-time, I have these dreams of getting back to theatre. But right now work is taking me to Los Angeles which means I’m not home during the week. So I’ll have to wait a few more months before I look to delve back in. Before I went back to school I was putting together plans to start a theatre group in DC, but I became sick and had to put that off. I’ve been dealing with chronic Lyme disease. So the theatre group got put aside, and somehow in that time I decided that I really wanted to go to law school. The illness made me realize that I would really like to work on health care advocacy with my degree. I’ve been working for a labor union for a number of years, and I’m continuing to work for them in California, helping to manage a health care trust and hoping to get more into the health care policy area.

Julia Proctor ’06.5: moved to Washington DC in the fall of 2007 to pursue her professional acting career. Her first job in the area was understudying at Arena Stage in a new adaptation of a Christmas Carol, thanks to fellow Midd alum and Arena casting director, Dan Pruksarnukul. In the spring she played a Fury in The Oresteia with Constellation Theatre. During the summer she helped create and performed in an original dance-theatre piece for the Capitol Fringe Festival called The Fiddler Ghost, which was voted by audiences as the best dance show of the fringe. She is currently performing with Synetic Theatre in their fall show, Host and Guest, which is being remounted in response to the Russian invasion of Georgia, the home country of several company members. This holiday season she will be playing Belle in Ford’s Christmas Carol at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre. During the rest of winter and spring she will be commuting up to Baltimore to perform with Everyman Theatre in The Cherry Orchard as Anya. She lives a block away from Meghan Nesmith ’06 and Caitlin Dennis ’06.5 and spends good times with lots of other great Middkids. There is still a strong Midd family down in DC—come and visit!

Laura Rocklyn is still living and working in DC. She had a wonderful time this past year doing all kinds of theater from a production of The Pirates of Penzance with The Washington Savoyards to a production of The Bacchae for The Capitol Fringe Festival. Fall 2008 she performed in the children’s show A Classical Fool with Classika-Synetic Theatre and in the original dance piece Aspiro with a new DC-based movement/theater company called The Deviated Theatre. She is also continuing her work in the education field as a theatrical interpreter, portraying Dolly Madison and Louisa Catherine Adams in short theater pieces for school groups as well as at other functions in and around DC! This fall she will be starting at the Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theatre.

Deb Sivigny ’99.5 In the fall of 2008, I had the opportunity to be Jule’s leave replacement, and designed the costumes for Twelfth Night and Uncommon Women. I also got to put my nose in a few 700 project designs, whenever anybody would let me—which was lots of fun. I especially enjoyed sitting in on rehearsals—a luxury not afforded in the “real world.” Since 2006, I have designed over 25 productions in the Washington DC area, including three Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences shows (and one national tour), three shows for my home company Rorschach Theatre, and my own wedding (which was a production in itself!) I have also been working on a regular basis at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Catalyst Theater, Imagination Stage and Journeymen Theater Ensemble. I have also been causing trouble with Jessi Burgess ’00 and her now less-newly- minted company the Inkwell. When I’m not freelancing, mainly the hours of 9–5:00, I work at Georgetown University as the Costume Director where I also teach costume history, design and construction.

Stephanie Strohm ’08: Right now I’m on tour with Chamber Theatre Productions. The show is five short story literary classics performed by five actors for audiences of about 1500–2000 middleschoolers all over the midwest. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun—I’m particularly enjoying playing Katrina Von Tassel in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Laura Yee: The update on me is that as of today I finished my second master’s degree, this time in special education. I’m still working as a fourth grade teacher at Bullis in Maryland with the added responsibility of Lower School Curriculum Coordinator this coming year. I’m also applying to Ph.D. programs for next fall in special ed. The closest I get to theater these days is my stint in the Bullis video (www.bullis.org) and our annual fourth grade production which I write, produce and direct. Fun, fun! Other than that, I am training for Marine Corps and Disney marathons this year, I just got a second dog a couple of weeks ago, and I’m celebrating my one year anniversary of home ownership! This fall I’m also becoming a volunteer firefighter since my life isn’t exciting enough!! I am missing theater desperately, however. Perhaps after my Ph.D. I can return to Middlebury and do some college teaching while enjoying all the wonderful theater productions there!

Elsewhere

Annette Toutonghi: I won the 2007 CityArtist Award from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs— I used the grant money to launch my new piece (called Pants) for On the Boards New Works Festival. It went well. This Fall working on You Can’t Take It With You at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Graduate Study Info Bill Army, NYU Tisch, MFA Acting Andrew Boyce, Yale, MFA scenic design Kristen Connolly, Yale, MFA Acting Jennifer Driscoll, Columbia, MFA Dramaturgy Jay Dunn, Ecole LeCoq Laura Eckelman, Yale, MFA lighting design Erin Kunkel, Brown Medical School Jake Jeppson, Yale, MFA Playwriting Retta Leaphart, Sarah Lawrence, MFA Acting Becky Martin, National Theatre Conservatory, Denver, MFA Acting Julia Millstein, NYU, J.D. Maria Ostrovsky, University of Pennsylvania, J.D. Kate Pines-Schwartz, Carnegie Mellon, MFA directing Seda Savas, Monterey Institute for International Studies – Masters Joya Scott, University of Arizona, MFA directing Marla Simpson, Antioch University New England, Graduate degree Expressive Arts-Therapy Emily Wasserman, Duke, J.D. Elena Zucker, MFA in Dramatic Writing, NYU Tisch

National Players Touring Company 07/08 Bill Army 08/09 Allison Corke, Rishabh Kashyap

Support the “MIDDLEBURY THEATRE COMPANIES!” Keen Company (www.keencompany.org) Project Y (www.projectytheatre.org) Whistler in the Dark (www.whistlerinthedark.com) Middlebury College’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents 2005 FALL THEATRE CALENDAR

London Theatre Exchange was formed SLIGHTEST FOLLY: THE BEWITCHED by Peter Barnes in 1991 by a group of senior actors, directors 10th Annual First Years production Directed by Richard Romagnoli and teachers from The Royal Shakespeare Directed by Mike Doyle ’98 Premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), The Royal National Theatre Company in 1974, The Bewitched is a (RNT), The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art If thou remember’st not the slightest folly hilarious satire about those people who, (RADA) and LAMDA. Their goal is to That ever love did make thee run into, based on wealth or religious belief, occupy provide audiences and students of theatre Thou hast not loved.”As You Like It, positions of privilege.The play explores with a multi-cultural theatrical experience, — Shakespeare blind obedience in 16th-century Spain, while encouraging a rich collaborative during the reign of Carlos the Second. environment for the artists. Where there is love there is sure to be folly. An evening of scenes reflecting our pursuit The production features more than 30 actors Underlying the work are three principal of love in its many varieties, and our objectives: playing over 50 roles.An unforgettable inevitable knack for screwing it up. • to re-vitalize the presentation of classical theatrical experience. For mature audiences. October 27 at 8 P.M. texts by integrating the strengths of November 17, 18, 19 at 8 P.M. 28 at 8 P.M. & 10 P.M. different theatrical traditions 20 at 2 P.M. • to facilitate the inter-change of 29 at 8 P.M. Wright Theatre practitioners between countries Hepburn Zoo Theatre • to research and develop new training THE HOUSE OF YES methods for today’s modern actor Behind the Scenes Lunch and by Wendy MacLeod Discussion: The Bewitched The LTE residency at Middlebury College Director Richard Romagnoli introduces Rebecca Kanengiser (senior work: directing), (September 18 through October 8) will the play and leads a discussion about the Eliza Hulme & Rachel Dunlap (senior focus on the performance of Shakespearean production along with members of the work: acting), Haylee Freeman (inter- and Jacobean text with extensive work in design staff and the cast to share insights mediate work: design) voice and movement.The company will also on their work. Lunch is provided. Free work with Middlebury’s Teacher Education November 15 12:30 P.M. We watch a twisted family demonstrate how program, Creative Writing Program and Wright Theatre the wealthy often live by their own rules. In students and faculty from the local Bridge the midst of a hurricane, Marty comes home School. for Thanksgiving and sees his family for the A free showing of the working progress will be Rebecca Kanengiser ’05.5 and Lucas Kavner ’06.5 first time since his twin sister, Jackie-O shot Saturday October 8 at 2 P.M. from THE MELTING POT by Israel Zangwill, him and went insane. He does not come Seeler Studio Theatre directed by Richard Romagnoli, fall 2005. alone—with him, he brings his new fiancee and thus upsets his entire family, especially Jackie-O who sees him as the John Kennedy to her “Jackie-O.” December 1–3 at 8 P.M. 2 at 7:30 P.M. & 10 P.M., 3 at 8 P.M. Hepburn Zoo Theatre

AFTER THE SPACE AGE by Sheila Seles (senior work: playwriting) What would happen if we had to live with- out all of the technology we’ve become so dependent on? A tech-savvy young couple volunteers to live without the internet, television, computers, cell phones and all the technology that facilitates modern life in this new play.When Olive and Tucker give up their connections to the outside world their relationship crumbles under the weight of isolation, exploitation, and secrecy. December 12 Center for the Arts 232

All tickets for sale at the Middlebury College Box Office. All tickets go on sale 10 business days prior to production opening. Hours Monday through Friday, 12 noon–5 P.M. or call 443-6433. Box office opens one hour prior to curtain at the respective theatre. Middlebury College’s MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE AT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE THEATRE Department of Theatre and Dance presents FESTIVAL: The 2006 New England Regional Festival 2006 SPRING THEATRE CALENDAR Student actors, designers and dramaturgs will present work January 31–February 4 ONCE UPON A TIME Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, MA Directed by Retta Leaphart THE WEDDING DRESS (Intermediate Independent Project) Director Claudio Medeiros introduces the play and THE BEWITCHED by Peter Barnes, Celebrate the art of storytelling with this series of tales leads a discussion about the production along with Directed by Richard Romagnoli from Germany, Turkey and Poland. Children from the members of the design staff and the cast to share Thursday, February 2 at 8 P.M. Middlebury area will do a showing of the pieces they insights on their work. Lunch is provided. Free Dukakis Theatre at Monty Tech are currently adapting for the stage. May 2 12:30 P.M. January 28 at 5:30 P.M. Wright Theatre McCullough Social Space 2006 NATIONAL FESTIVAL: THE WEDDING DRESS • Laura Harris ’07 and Lauren Kiel ’07 Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: by Nelson Rodrigues (Irene Ryan Acting finalist and partner); IN THE BLOOD Directed by Claudio Medeiros • Paul Doyle ’07 (National Critics Director Jaye Austin Williams introduces the play and The Wedding Dress roams the shadowy unconscious Institute New England regional winner); leads a discussion about the production along with mind of a middle-class young wife who has just been • Laura Eckelman ’05 (Barbizon finalist members of the design staff and the cast to share mortally injured in an auto accident. As she hovers at for lighting design); and insights on their work. the brink of life, her delusional faculties snatch at Alex Draper '88 (AEA guest artist) and Alex Strum '08 • Christina Galvez ’06 (Barbizon finalist Lunch is provided. Free memories both real and imagined. Dominating her from the fall 2005 production of THE BEWITCHED by Peter Barnes, directed by Richard Romagnoli for set design) April 4 12:30 P.M. subconscious are two recurring themes: the bitter April 17–21 Seeler Studio Theatre wedding-day argument with her vengeful sister The John F. Kennedy Center for the over the affections of her husband-to-be, and the Performing Arts IN THE BLOOD flamboyant life and murder of an infamous turn-of- by Suzan-Lori Parks, Directed by Jaye Austin Williams the-century courtesan. Influenced by Freud as well as TRACKING THE BEWITCHED by Peter Barnes, Charzetta Nixon (senior work: acting), Expressionism and Surrealism, Rodrigues’s text moves Written & Performed by Jake Jeppson Directed by Richard Romagnoli Haylee Freeman (senior work: lighting design), along toward its dénouement with the hallucinatory (Senior Independent Project) Tuesday & Wednesday, April 18 & 19 Courtney Swanda (senior work: costume design) discombobulation of a nightmarish thriller. What is it like to grow up with a disorder nobody’s In the Blood is Suzan-Lori Parks’ rumination upon the May 4 & 5 at 8 P.M., 6 at 2 P.M. & 8 P.M. at 7 P.M., Terrace Theatre ever heard of? What does the world look like if you central theme of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Wright Theatre The John F. Kennedy Center for the can’t see straight? What does Bob Dole have to do Letter. In Ms. Parks’ rendering for the stage, the Performing Arts with anything? In this personal performance, one scorned and outcast Hester is an African American All tickets for sale at the Middlebury College Box Office. student explores what it means to grow up “special” mother of five, bearing the surname ‘La Negrita.’ The All tickets go on sale 10 business days For information & tickets to the and asks the question: do our disabilities define us? play confronts our notions about history, morality, prior to production opening. May 5 & 7 Kennedy Center events, Hours Monday through Friday, privilege, race, gender and commerce, along with the Times and Location TBD visit their Web site: economic and familial constructs—both intact and 12 noon–5 P.M. or call 443-6433. http://www.kennedy-center.org/ fractured—that those notions have bred. Box office opens one hour education/actf/ April 6 & 7 at 8 P.M., 8 at 2 P.M. & 8 P.M. prior to curtain at the respective theatre. Seeler Studio Theatre Tickets are valid until curtain time only.

*********************************** EVERETT BEEKIN by Richard Greenberg THE BALTIMORE WALTZ by Paula Vogel Middlebury College’s Directed by Douglas Sprigg Senior Work of Caitlin Dennis (directing) Department of Theatre and Dance Behind-the-Scenes Lunch and Discussion: With characteristic intelligence and wit, and Julia Proctor (acting) presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream Greenberg contrasts Manhattan in the 1940s Anna is diagnosed with a mysterious terminal SITI Company members and Director Anne with Orange County in the 1990s as disease: Acquired Toilet Disorder, the fourth Bogart introduce the play and lead a discussion experienced by two generations of a comically leading cause of death in single elementary about the upcoming production. Lunch is dysfunctional Jewish family. school teachers. She and her brother, Carl, pack 2006 FALL THEATRE provided. Free “… a blisteringly funny stew of sibling rivalry their bags for a filmic journey through Europe CALENDAR Monday, September 25 12:30pm and assimilation angst.” --Variety in search of a cure. Through Anna's sexcapades Wright Theatre October 26 & 27 at 8pm, 28 at 2pm & and Carl's encounters with the Third Man, they 8pm Seeler Studio Theatre encounter lust, love, friendship and death in a SITI Company: A Midsummer Night’s fantastical world. The text was originally Dream 11th Annual First Years production: dedicated to the playwright's brother, who died Award-winning director Anne Bogart and her I’VE GOT TO CHANGE MY WHOLE of AIDS in 1988. This event is part of World critically acclaimed SITI Company adventure FRIGGIN’ LIFE AIDS Day on December 1st. into Shakespeare’s world for the first time with Directed by Richard Romagnoli November 30-December 2 A Midsummer Night’s Dream. With design Characters confronting the comical realities of Hepburn Zoo Theatre inspiration from the Dust Bowl of John their dead end lives. Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, this November 2 at 8pm, 3 at 8pm & 10:00pm, 4 TALKING WITH... (women's voices surreal, production is set in a landscape of migration at 8pm Hepburn Zoo Theatre funny, eccentric and apocalyptic) by Jane and poverty, a stark yet beautiful America full Martin Directed by Cheryl Faraone of yearning. Funded in part by the Expeditions Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: A collection of monologues revealing the freak program of the New England Foundation for Cinders side of the American Dream. "With Jane the Arts, which receives major support from Director Alex Draper introduces the play and Martin, the monologue has taken on the aspect the National Endowment for the Arts. leads a discussion about the production along of a new poetic form, intensive in its method...a Additional support from the state arts agencies with members of the design staff and the cast to generosity of spirit and originality of of New England, Middlebury College’s share insights on their work. Lunch is provided. imagination." The Washington Post Performing Arts Series, and the Department of Free December 8 & 9 at 7:00pm & 9:30pm Theatre and Dance. November 14 12:30pm Wright Theatre Seeler Studio Theatre (limited seating) Monday, September 25 7:30pm Wright Theatre CINDERS by Janusz Glowacki Ticket Information: Central Campus Box Office Hours: Directed by Alex Draper Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm & 7pm-10pm *********************************** A movie director arrives in a girls' reform Friday 10am-4pm school near Warsaw to film a documentary Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: about the inmates as they perform a Center for the Arts Box Office Hours: Everett Beekin dramatization of Cinderella. When the girl Monday through Friday, 10am – 4pm Director Douglas Sprigg introduces the play and playing Cinderella refuses to participate, both leads a discussion about the production along the director and the school authorities 802-443-MIDD (6433) with members of the design staff and the cast to collaborate in her punishment. "One can only http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets share insights on their work. Lunch is provided. admire the author's will to make elegant Box office opens one hour prior to curtain at the Free Kafkaesque comedy out of his nation's respective theatre. October 24 12:30pm Seeler Studio Theatre nightmare of repression.” N.Y. Times. Tickets are valid until curtain time only. November 16-18 at 8pm Wright Theatre WHEN I WAS A CHILD Middlebury College’s Ted Perry, Middlebury professor of film and media culture, and artist Hans Breder evoke the lives of Department of Theatre and Dance presents children during wartime in this “intermedia” event. They use digital technologies to combine sound and video with music, movement, and live performance. 2007 SPRING THEATRE CALENDAR The work is based on their experiences as children during World War II—Perry in the U.S. and Breder shows how chemistry can exist even between the a continuum of time, space, history, geography, in Germany. Previously performed in Barcelona and most bizarre of individuals. feminism, fashion, and men with remarkable Dallas, the presentation at Middlebury has been Thursday, March 8 at 8:00 P.M., Friday, March 9 intelligence, wit, abandon, and grace. revised to include Middlebury College students. Also at 8:00 P.M. & 10:00 P.M., Saturday, March 10 at Thursday, April 12 at 8:00 P.M., Friday, April 13 sponsored by the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs. 8:00 P.M. Hepburn Zoo Theatre at 8:00 P.M. & 11:00 P.M., Saturday, April 14 at Friday, January 19 at 8:00 P.M., Saturday, January 8:00 P.M. Hepburn Zoo Theatre 20 at 2:00 P.M. & 8:00 P.M. Hepburn Zoo Theatre Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: THE FIVE HYSTERICAL GIRLS THEOREM Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: CABARET ON THE OPEN ROAD by Steve Tesich The company will present scenes; Middlebury faculty Director Claudio Medeiros introduces the play and Senior work of Evan Dumouchel (directing) will discuss math and its pleasures. Lunch is provided. leads a discussion about the production along with “What, in fact, is the point of progress if, in fact, Free members of the design staff and the cast to share we’re all going to die?” On the Open Road asks this Tuesday, April 3 at 12:30 P.M. Wright Theatre Stage insights on their work. Lunch is provided. Free and many other existential questions in a dark comedy Tuesday, May 1 at 12:30 P.M. Seeler Studio Theatre following two men on their journey to the Land of THE FIVE HYSTERICAL GIRLS THEOREM the Free. Join Angel and Al in Steve Tesich’s Beckett- by Rinne Groff CABARET by Joe Masteroff like approach to a post-civil war environment spurred Directed by Cheryl Faraone Directed by Claudio Medeiros on by the second coming of Christ. Tesich’s insightful Movement by Vanessa Mildenberg Musical Direction by Carol Christensen work touches upon questions of politics, scruples, reli- Senior work of Jackie Hurwitz (acting), Choreography by Vanessa Mildenberg Bill Army ’07 from the spring 2006 production of The Wedding Dress, directed by Claudio Medeiros gion, and power through that intangible thing called Catherine Vigne (costume design) Senior work of Bill Army (acting) & the human condition. Independent work of Aaron Gensler (set design) Sally Swallow (acting) Thursday & Friday, January 25 & 26 at 8:00 P.M., “Numbers don’t love you back.” —Rinne Groff The Department of Theatre & Dance and the Music and an American writer. Through the songs of the Saturday, January 27 at 2:00 P.M. & 8:00 P.M. Romance, intrigue, deceit and death are on display in Department join forces to present Cabaret, the 1966 sexy Emcee, the audience witnesses the tragic changes Wright Theatre Stage The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem, Rinne Groff’s Broadway musical, based on John Van Druten’s play taking place in Germany. In the deliciously seedy Kit comeuppance for the fifth grade teacher who threat- I Am a Camera, which in turn is based on the novel Kat Club, however, “even the orchestra is beautiful!” ened to flunk her in math. Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood. Set in Friday–Sunday, May 4–6 & Thursday–Saturday, ********************************* Thursday & Friday, April 5 & 6 at 8:00 P.M., Berlin at the beginning of the Third Reich, the story May 10–12 at 8:00 P.M. Seeler Studio Theatre Saturday, April 7 at 2:00 P.M. & 8:00 P.M. follows the romance of an English cabaret performer SEX LIVES OF SUPERHEROES by Stephen Gregg Wright Theatre Stage ELEEMOSYNARY by Lee Blessing Senior Work of Joe Barsalona (acting) Central Campus Box Office Hours: Senior Work of Myra Palmero (directing) Michael is so obsessed with his old girlfriend, Lisa, ON THE VERGE by Eric Overmyer Senior Work Mon–Thurs 10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. & Gliding from one memory to the next, Eleemosynary that he allows her weekly visits to his apartment then of Laura Harris (acting) & Lauren Kiel (acting) 7:00 P.M.–10:00 P.M.; Friday 10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. displays three generations of women’s ambition to she strips, piece by piece, of his possessions. Eleanor, Three Victorian women adventurers, “sister sojourners,” Center for the Arts Box Office Hours: succeed that is so driven it is desperate. And after all his date for the evening, is appalled to find that he treacherously maneuver their way from their home Mon–Thurs 10:00 A.M.–4:00 P.M. their sacrifices, their stories leave you to wonder: for copes with his frustration by giving fantasy lectures base through Terra Incognita, the dark depths of 802-443-MIDD (6433) • http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets what? As heartfelt as it is funny, Eleemosynary reveals about the sexual habits of comic book heroes. A stand- Africa, up steep mountains, down magnificent Box office opens one hour the pain and success of ambition, love, and forgive- out at the Manhattan Punchline Comedy Festival in glaciers, and on into the future, finally resting in the prior to curtain at the respective theatre. ness. 1992. Sex Lives of Superheroes is a one-act comedy that 1950’s. Throughout their quest, the women navigate Tickets are valid until curtain time only. April 19–21 Hepburn Zoo Theatre

Middlebury College’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents 2007 Fall THEaTRE CalENDaR

Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: Horizon THE HEidi cHroniclEs Creator/Writer/Composer Rinde Eckert introduces Horizon Director Cheryl Faraone and The Heidi Chronicles and leads a discussion about the evening production, along company will discuss the building of the work. They with members of the cast, including David Barlow ’95, who will be joined by Art History Prof. Katie Smith-Abbott. share insights on their work. Lunch is provided. Free Lunch is provided. Free october 8 at 12:15 p.m. november 13 at 12:30 p.m. Wright Theatre Wright Theatre

Horizon THE HEidi cHroniclEs a cElEbraTion of THEaTrical dEsign by rinde Eckert by Wendy Wasserstein, directed by cheryl faraone dEaTH and THE king’s HorsEMan The 2nd Theatre Design Symposium includes exhibits, A tale of one theologian’s crisis of faith. Loosely based on In this smart and rueful comedy, Heidi Holland, feminist Esau Pritchett, François Clemmons, Alexander Draper ’88, workshops, and discussions about costume, scenic, and the teachings of scholar Reinhold Niebuhr, Eckert’s character art historian and observer of the passing cultural scene, and others from the college community will perform a lighting design, featuring the work of visiting artists, is Reinhart Poole, an unconventional teacher of ethics at a remembers significant milestones in her life from the dramatic staged reading of a work by 1986 Nobel Prize- students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the field. seminary. This work for three actors (Eckert, Howard Swain, 60’s through the 90’s, from activism to consumerism to winning Nigerian playwright, poet, and novelist Wole and David Barlow ’95) creates a visually brilliant landscape choice. The Heidi Chronicles brings Wendy Wasserstein’s Soyinka. Directed by playwright in residence Dana Yeaton dEsign ExHibiTion in story, song, and movement. Sponsored by the Performing grace, humor and gently lacerating wit to the dilemmas and produced in coordination with the Middlebury College ongoing in seeler studio Theatre Arts Series and the Department of Theatre and Dance of modern womanhood. Museum of Art’s fall exhibit Resonance from the Past: African beginning at 2:00 p.m. october 8 at 8 p.m. november 15 & 16 at 8 p.m., 17 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Sculpture from the New Orleans Museum of Art. Co-sponsored Wright Theatre Wright Theatre by the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Office for 1:00–6:30 p.m.: Design Workshops Institutional Diversity, Ross Commons, and the Middlebury 6:30 p.m.: Dinner*, CFA Rehearsals Café Holding THE Mirror Up To naTUrE: THE HEIDI CHRONICLES is the culminating event College Museum of Art. Free 8:00 p.m.: Panel Discussion, CFA Concert Hall THE dialEcTic of a dividEd in a “Wasserstein fortnight;” two weeks of films, talks and play december 2 at 2 p.m. 9:30 p.m.: Reception, CFA Lobby conscioUsnEss in THE pErforMancE readings celebrating the life and career of Wendy Wasserstein. Mahaney center for the arts, dance Theatre of sHakEspEarE and cHEkHov Details will be available in the fall; all events, with the exception saturday, september 29 The very nature of theatre encourages a divided conscious- of THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, are free and open to the public. Mahaney center for the arts lion in THE sTrEETs ness in both actor and spectator, which, in turn, helps to by Judith Thompson communicate multiple, and often conflicting, facets of a char- afTEr asHlEY * Reservations and Tickets can be obtained senior work of leah day (directing) and acter’s personality. Himali Soin ’08 and Justine Katzenbach by gina gionfriddo by calling the box office 443-6433 aaron gensler (set design) ’08 will perform a scene from Chekhov to illustrate some of senior work of Himali soin (directing), Disturbing, dreadfully amusing, inspiring and provocative, the issues involved in an audience’s perception of character. Macleod andrews (acting) and 500 work of this mosaic-like play follows the ghost of a murdered girl Lecture by Douglas Sprigg, Isabel Riexinger Mettler ’39 amanda Mitchell (costume design) Ticket information: as she returns to the community where she once lived in Professor of Theatre. Free In this shrewd and biting dark comedy, teenager Justin Central Campus Box Office Hours: hopes of discovering her killer. Gazing into the lives of october 18 at 4:30 p.m. Hammond squirms as all the “grownups” in his life, hungry Monday through Thursday her friends and neighbors, she uncovers the various secrets Twilight auditorium to advance their careers, exploit the tragedy that has befallen 10 a.m.-4 p.m. & 7–10 p.m. buried within their lives to find answers to the end of her his family. Amidst tawdry reenactments, distorted retellings, Friday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. own. This award winning play not only examines the sEvErEd HEadsHoTs and sound-bites sampled into rap songs, Justin is determined daily challenges and moral dilemmas we as humans face 12th annual first Years production to protect the truth. Equipped with a rapier wit, he battles Mahaney Center for the Arts Box Office Hours: in everyday life but often digs deeper into the subconscious sinister scenes and Monologues against a system that brought you such classic American Monday through Friday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. with fascinating revelation. directed by andy Mitton ’01 Dramas as The 24 hour 9/11 Show, and The JonBenét Ramsey 802-443-MIDD (6433) december 6–8 An ensemble of newcomers to the Middlebury stage will Case, and Paris Hilton, in hopes that he can be left alone to http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets Mahaney center for the arts, seeler studio Theatre star in this evening of new works by the ’07 Advanced grieve in peace and on his own terms. Box office opens one hour prior to curtain (limited seating) Playwriting class. november 29 at 8 p.m., 30 at 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., at the respective theatre. october 25 at 8 p.m., 26 at 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., december 1 at 8 p.m. 27 at 8 p.m. Hepburn zoo Theatre Tickets are valid until curtain time only. Hepburn zoo Theatre The Department of Theatre and Dance presents 2008 WINTER/SPRING THEATRE CALENDAR

Behind the Scenes Lunch THE LIFEBLOOD JUMPERS by Tom Stoppard and Discussion: by Glyn Maxwell Directed by Cheryl Faraone St. Crispin’s Day Senior work of Allison Corke and In a comedy that includes the moon Director Alex Draper introduces the Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki (acting) and landings, a team of gymnastic philosophers, play and leads a discussion about the Franny Bohar (costume design) Zeno’s paradox, a detective who might production. Members of the design staff Equal parts historical fact and fictional have stepped from the pages of Agatha and the cast will share insights on their intrigue, this work by award-winning poet Christie (not to mention a hare called work. Lunch is provided. Free Glyn Maxwell brings to life the harrowing Thumper and a tortoise called Pat), January 21 12:30 p.m. final days of Mary Stuart’s imprisonment Stoppard combines effervescent burlesque Hepburn Zoo Theatre and ultimate execution. With layers of with moral urgency. deception, admiration, respect—and “I write plays because writing dialogue is the ST. CRISPIN’S DAY by Matt Pepper even love—Maxwell illuminates a only respectable way of contradicting yourself. Directed by Alex Draper tragic connection between the Scottish I’m the kind of person who embarks on an Senior work of Alex Schoen queen and Sir Thomas Gorge, the man endless leapfrog down the great moral issues. (costume design) who represents her greatest hope and I put a position, rebut it, refute it, refute the It is the eve of the Battle of Agincourt, her cruelest betrayal. rebuttal, and rebut the refutation. Forever. the ‘Frenchies’ are sleeping, and a handful April 10–12 Hepburn Zoo Theatre Endlessly.” —Tom Stoppard from an of English soldiers, bored and somewhat interview with Mel Gussow in the New York dim, are trying to devise ways of escaping THE MAN WHO TURNED Times, 26 April 1972. Sponsored by the what they see as their inevitable doom. INTO A STICK by Kobo Abe and Department of Theatre and Dance with In a mingling of Shakespeare and Monty THE RIVERS UNDER THE support from Pathways to Flourishing: a Python, Matt Pepper has concocted an Dialogue of Science, Religion and Politics by Thornton Wilder anti-war comedy replete with whoring, EARTH May 1 & 2 at 8:00 p.m. Senior work of Teddy Crecelius looting, high jinks, low jinks, and even May 3 at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. (directing) “a little touch of Harry in the Night.” Wright Memorial Theatre “Mr. Pepper’s script is an admirably Playwrights Kobo Abe and Thornton Wilder explore the underlying causes ambitious stewpot of genres and tricks, Stay tuned for announcements of talks and behind patterns of human behavior in and through it all he allows the audience play readings connected to JUMPERS. to keep track of the play’s underlying the psychological landscapes of post- WWII Japan and America. Abe’s play sardonic message.” NY Times by Craig Lucas is a fantastical but pointed critique of an RECKLESS January 24 & 25 at 8 p.m. & 11 p.m. Senior work of Rachel Ann Cole entire society. Wilder’s explores the January 25 at 8 p.m. (acting) unique outlooks of individual minds. January 26 at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. This outlandish and poignant dark comedy April 17 & 18 at 8:00 p.m. Hepburn Zoo Theatre takes the lead character, Rachel, on an April 19 at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. unpredictable journey, when one snowy Hepburn Zoo Theatre Behind the Scenes Lunch Christmas Eve her husband takes out and Discussion: Lysistrata a contract on her life. The cast of seven Director Claudio Medeiros introduces by Bryony Lavery FROZEN actors portrays over twenty characters, all the play and leads a discussion about the Senior work of Rishabh Kashyap of whom have been a bit reckless with production. Members of the design staff and Stephanie Strohm (acting) their lives. and the cast will share insights on their Frozen is not only a psychological drama, May 8–10 Hepburn Zoo Theatre work. Lunch is provided. Free but a drama about psychology. Through April 8 12:30 p.m. the intersecting lives of three very different Mahaney Center for the Arts, people, it plumbs the depths of the human –––––– Seeler Studio Theatre mind in search of the point that separates biology from free will. For what are Ticket Information: LYSISTRATA we responsible? For what should we be Central Campus Box Office Hours: Directed by Claudio Medeiros forgiven? As science unearths new truths, Monday–Thursday 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Senior work of Amanda Mitchell are the answers becoming clearer, or have & 7:00–10:00 p.m. (costume design) we only further blurred the lines? Friday 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The war between the ancient city-states April 24–26 Hepburn Zoo Theatre Mahaney Center for the Arts Box Office of Athens and Sparta has no end in sight. Hours: Monday through Friday Lysistrata has the solution: she rallies the Behind the Scenes Lunch 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. women of Athens to a sex strike to force and Discussion: Jumpers politicians and soldiers to come to their Cast and crew of Jumpers will provide 802-443-MIDD (6433) senses. Aristophanes’ greatest antiwar insights and some gymnastic feats as http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets comedy mixes fantasy and gender politics a preview of Stoppard’s philosophical Box office opens one hour prior to curtain with plenty of bawdy jokes, double leapfrogging. Lunch is provided. Free at the respective theatre. entendres, and sexual innuendoes—all to April 29 12:30 p.m. Tickets are valid create the revolutionary idea that a small Wright Memorial Theatre until curtain time only. group of women can change the course of a war. April 9–12 at 8:00 p.m. Mahaney Center for the Arts, Seeler Studio Theatre ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: The Kite Runner American Place Theatre performer Arian Moayed introduces this stage version of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and shares insights about culture and class in 1970s Afghanistan. Lunch is provided. Free October 6 12:30 p.m. Wright Theatre

THE KITE RUNNER From the first novel about contemporary Afghanistan to be written in English, this verbatim theatrical adaptation portrays the improbable friendship between two boys on opposite ends of their society. Set against the tumultuous backdrop of Afghanistan in the ’70s, the play is a profound exploration of courage, betrayal, and devotion. From the novel by Khaled Hosseini, performed by Arian Moayed of American Place Theatre, and adapted and directed by APT artistic director Wynn Handman. Sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing Arts Series and the theatre program. October 6 & 7 at 7:30 p.m. Wright Theatre

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13th Annual First Years production: DISCOVER: Scenes of Unearthing Directed by Jeanne LaSala Discover: Scenes of Unearthing is a compilation of short scenes drawn from plays written at the turn of this century. Each scene touches on the theme of discovery; the discovery of love, deception, loss, greatness, and the forces beyond our control that drive the universe. Hands will get dirty, boundaries will be crossed and cards will be thrown down. Experience the unearthing. October 16 at 8 p.m., 17 at 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., 18 at 8 p.m. Hepburn Zoo

Behind the Scenes Lunch and Discussion: Twelfth Night Director Alex Draper and members of the Twelfth Night company introduce the play and lead a discussion about the production to share insights on their work. Lunch is provided. Free November 11 at 12:30 p.m. Wright Theatre

TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare Directed by Alex Draper Viola and Sebastian, twins shipwrecked and separated at sea, each thinking the other dead, wander the coastal Dukedom of Illyria, igniting a series of attractions and distractions in everyone they encounter. What ensues is William Shakespeare’s most profound romantic comedy, in which love propels everyone and leads to utter joy, deepest sorrow, and, at times, madness. November 13 & 14 at 8 p.m., 15 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Wright Theatre

COMINGS AND GOINGS by Megan Terry Senior work of Dawn Loveland (directing) Comings and Goings is a “theatre game” by Megan Terry. Six actors constantly change roles as they find themselves in various scenes involving male and female relationships. The actors work as an ensemble and rely on improvisation, since they enter and exit the playing space at a moment’s notice. November 13 at 8 p.m., 14 at 8 p.m. & 11 p.m., 15 at 8 p.m. Hepburn Zoo Theatre Lucy Faust ’09 as Heidi, DYING CITY by Christopher Shinn Senior work of The Heidi Chronicles Maegan Mishico (directing) and Justine Katzenbach (acting) by Wendy Wasserstein, A young therapist’s husband dies while on military duty in Iraq. directed by Cheryl Faraone, A year later, she is confronted by his identical twin brother, produced fall 2007. forcing both to explore the repercussions of their loss, confront the secrets of the past, and admit the truth about the tragic legacy that connects them. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, Shinn’s play raises obvious questions about grief and violence in anything but obvious ways. November 20 & 21 at 8 p.m., 22 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Hepburn Zoo Theatre

DUSA, FISH, STAS, & VI by Pam Gems Senior work of Lucy Faust (acting) and Stephanie Spencer (acting) Four women sharing a flat in London struggle to find happiness in a world riddled with obstacles and expectations. See how their contrasting personalities help and hinder their relationships with each other and with the men in their lives. Each has her own personal battle to fight, The Middlebury College but all have a desperate need to find a place in the world Department of Theatre and Dance as women and as individuals. December 4 at 8 p.m., 5 at 8 p.m. & 10 p.m., 6 at 8 p.m. ■ ■ ■ Hepburn Zoo Theatre 2008 Fall

BURN THIS by Lanford Wilson Senior work of Lauren Fondren (directing), Theatre Calendar Veracity Butcher (acting) and Will Damron (acting) Lanford Wilson presents three Manhattanites coping Ticket Information with the death of a close friend. The sudden eruption Central Campus Box Office Hours: of a volatile stranger into their lives further upsets their Monday–Thursday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. & 7 p.m.–10 p.m. and Friday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. world, and reminds us that sexuality, sensibility, and Mahaney Center for the Arts Box Office Hours: the paths we intend for our hearts are almost never Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. within our control. 802.443.MIDD (6433) http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets December 4 & 5 at 8 p.m., 6 at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Mahaney Center for the Arts, Box office opens one hour prior to curtain at the respective theatre. Seeler Studio Theatre (limited seating) Tickets are valid until curtain time only. POTOMAC THEATRE PROJECT 2005 Somewhere in the Pacific by Neal Bell directed by Jim Petosa The American Dream by Edward Albee with Press Conference & One for the Road by Harold Pinter directed by Richard Romagnoli Lovesong of the Electric Bear by Snoo Wilson directed by Cheryl Faraone

Richard Pilcher Nigel Reed Valerie Leonard Vivienne Shub Paul Morella James Konicek Tara Giordano Aubrey Deeker James O. Dunn Tim Getman Lucas Kavner Rebecca Martin Rachel Dunlap Julia Proctor MacLeod Andrews Bill Army John Stokvis Meghan Nesmith Andrew Zox Hope Romagnoli

“One for the Road is as timely and risky as ever. It still “The perfect opening act to a day-long theatrical holds the tremendous capacity to provoke and shock. experience at the Potomac Theatre Project, The Richard Pilcher is chillingly good as Nicolas…Nigel American Dream is Edward Albee at his most pleasingly Reed is particularly affecting....the fear and tension in Martian...Valerie Leonard’s Mommy is splendidly the room are nearly unbearable” domineering.... Vivienne Shub’s Grandma is the Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times highlight of the piece” Sam Thielman, Washington Theatre Review An Electric Bear to Love “…engaging…Lovesong zings energetically around “Jim Petosa’s staging brings a few inspired touches to the Olney Theatre Center’s black-box space…director Bell’s unrelievedly bleak text...the portrayals of the Cheryl Faraone seizes on the staccato rhythms men -- young, frightened, brave and lonely -- by a cast of Wilson’s structure to create a tense, questing consisting partly of students from Middlebury atmosphere...the ending is surprising and beautiful. College in Vermont, are achingly believable...” Aubrey Deeker has a nice outsider quality as Turing, J. Wynn Rousuck, Baltimore Sun quirky and rather melancholy. Porgy is imbued with deep loyalty and childish whimsy by Tara Giordano” Nelson Pressley, The Washington Post

POTOMAC THEATRE PROJECT 2006 (the 20th season; FINAL SEASON IN WASHINGTON/MARYLAND) NO END OF BLAME by Howard Barker directed by Richard Romagnoli AN EXPERIMENT WITH AN AIR PUMP by Shelagh Stephenson directed by Cheryl Faraone

Paul Morella Richard Pilcher Nigel Reed Helen Hedman Jeanne LaSala Stephen Schmidt Connan Morrissey Clinton Brandhagen Tara Giordano Bill Army Laura C. Harris Lily Balsen Lauren Turner Kiel Rebecca Kanengiser Alec Strum Rishabh Kashyap Jonathan Ellis

“I have rarely heard dialogue with so ferocious a “Air Pump is not escapist summer fare. Its ideas could mix of poetic fury and fierce humor…NO END hold Stephen Hawking rapt, but the play also captures OF BLAME examines the insidious ways in which the less analytical parts of the mind in its depiction of governments and economic forces interfere with how passion can challenge even the most hermetic freedom of expression…Richard Romagnoli’s staging human equation…the standout performance belongs is angry, vibrant, and roughly twice as impassioned as to Tara Giordano’s Isobel…Connan Morrissey is most of what’s on local stages...the colorful rants make striking in both eras...Stephen Schmidt creates a the protagonist pretty riveting, but Romagnoli’s newly touching portrait as the suddenly unnecessary English revelatory staging is designed to keep him infuriating as professor…director Cheryl Faraone adeptly juggles well.Paul Morella plays Bela ferociously... ethical issues with matters of the heart in PTP’s Helen Hedman unveils separate sensuality for each first-rate production.” of the women who briefly become Bela’s muse.. Jayne Blanchard, The Washington Times smart ensemble work from the Middlebury College students...an evening that is not only socially conscious but also functions as a social conscience.” Bob Mondello Washington City Paper

POTOMAC THEATRE PROJECT 2007 FIRST NEW YORK SEASON No End of Blame by Howard Barker directed by Richard Romagnoli Politics of Passion: the Plays of Anthony Minghella directed by Cheryl Faraone

Alex Draper Christopher Duva Jeanne LaSala Megan Byrne Peter Schmitz Cassidy Freeman Jesse Hooker Tara Giordano James Matthew Ryan Michael Wrynn Doyle David Barlow Julia Proctor Lauren Kiel Laura C. Harris MacLeod Andrews Lucas Kavner Bill Army Caitlin Dennis Sally Swallow Alec Strum Kristen Deane Willie Orbison Franny Bohar Aaron Gensler Catherine Vigne

“It’s with a huge sigh of relief that one watches a “This year’s Tony Award award acceptance speeches Howard Barker play—not because the notoriously were peppered with pleas for a true repertory theatre prickly author coddles his audience, but because the company in New York, and while The Coast of Utopia writing is so spectacularly top-notch…director Richard certainly hinted at how such an institution might Romagnoli does much with little,,.he creates a world work on a grand scale, there’s also a smaller model to out of whiz-bang ensemble work. The cast, many of consider. After two decades of producing successfully in them recent Middlebury College graduates, impress the Washington, D.C. area, the Potomac Theatre Project consistently…along with Christopher Duva, Alex has brought its take on repertory theatre to Gotham….. Draper offers a course in boldly drawn character.” the potential benefits of this collaboration are twofold: Helen Shaw, Time Out New York It gives aspiring young theatremakers a taste of big- league legit, and it keeps professionals rooted in the “’Politics of Passion: Plays of Anthony Minghella,’ a deep thinking of a classroom environment.” production of the Potomac Theater Project, consists Mark Blankenship, Variety of two short pieces that explore the limits of ordinary communication, the inadequacy of words. ..But Mr. NO END OF BLAME was nominated for four Minghella knows exactly what he is trying to say, and NY Innovative Theatre Awards: he says it well. He writes with dexterity and humor…. Best Production David Barlow is affectingly natural…. James Matthew Best Director: Richard Romagnoli Ryan has a wonderful insouciance.” Best Leading Actor: Alex Draper Ginia Bellafante, New York Times Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Megan Byrne In a September 2008 ceremony, Megan received the award in her category POTOMAC THEATRE PROJECT 2008 Scenes from an Execution by Howard Barker directed by Richard Romagnoli Crave by Sarah Kane directed by Cheryl Faraone Somewhere in the Pacific by Neal Bell directed by Jim Petosa

Jan Maxwell Alex Draper David Barlow Timothy Deenihan Patricia Buckley Peter Schmitz Robert Zukerman Adam Ludwig Stephanie Janssen Malcolm Madera John Stokvis James Smith Michael Wrynn Doyle Alec Strum Rishabh Kashyap MacLeod Andrews Lucy Faust Justine Katzenbach Allison Corke Stephanie Strohm Will Damron Willie Orbison Rachel Ann Cole Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Franny Bohar Ben Schiffer Laura Eckelman

Crave,….allows director Cheryl Faraone to avoid.. “The Potomac Theater Project has the right actress cheap theatrics. Simple lighting establishes the tone, in the right play for the centerpiece production of its and the superb actors (especially Stephanie Strohm) summer residency at Atlantic Stage 2. The actress is fully exploit their jagged, lyrical lines. The unrelenting Jan Maxwell, and her performance in Howard Barker’s presence of poetic grief makes Crave a triumph.” “Scenes From an Execution” elevates a pretty good play Aaron Riccio, Time Out NY to something near must-see status. When the play was seen in New York in 1996, Vincent Canby, in The New “Closeted Marine Hobie (John Stokvis) and openly gay York Times, called it a postmodernist comedy. And it sailor Billy (Michael Wrynn Doyle) are so transported does have some very funny moments, courtesy of by their illicit affair that they literally fly to the moon, actors like David Barlow as Galactia’s lover and Peter hovering in front of it while they kiss. Director Jim Schmitz as a soldier with a spike embedded in his head. Petosa—one of Potomac’s three co-artistic directors— Now, though, juxtaposed against a real war and debate has the men swing at each other on knotted ropes from over whether the public has been seeing the full picture opposite sides of the stage, stopping when they collide. of it, this is no comedy. With Ms. Maxwell’s tornado of The implication is that they’re still flying forward, a performance, directed by Richard Romagnoli, it’s a delivering lines as they hungrily press against each political play, and a thought-provoking one.” other….The moment adds animal life to Bell’s script.” Neil Genzlinger, NY Times Mark Blankenship, Variety

“Crave’s figures speak in circles without moving, On April 27, 2009, Jan Maxwell was nominated for a but their dialogue is filled with action: Ravenous DD Award for Scenes From An Execution. and earnest, the script demands emotional attention.

POTOMAC THEATRE PROJECT 2009 The Europeans by Howard Barker directed by Richard Romagnoli Therese Raquin by Neal Bell directed by Jim Petosa

JOIN US for PTP’s 2009 season, June 30-July 26 at Atlantic Stage 2

Megan Byrne Aidan Sullivan Robert Emmet Lunney Robert Zukerman Susan Finch Kristen Connolly Scott Janes Helen Jean Arthur Peter Schmitz Bill Army Rishabh Kashyap Veracity Butcher Emily Kron Lauren Fondren Judith Dry Jimmy Wong Maegan Michico Samantha Collier Xian Chiang-Waren Willie Orbison Stephanie Spencer Michael Kessler Starrett Berry Sara Swartzwelder

Join PTP‘S Facebook page and check the Web site www.potomactheatreproject.org for summer updates, including After Dark announcements.

Keep in touch/check performances with our Web site: www.potomactheatreproject.org RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE MIDDLEBURY ALUMNI COMMUNITY Congratulations to the Classes of 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009!

Class of 2006 Class of 2007 Class of 2008 Class of 2009 Lily Balsen MacLeod Andrews Franny Bohar Starrett Berry Caitlin Dennis Bill Army Rachel Ann Cole Sheyenne Brown Daniel diTomasso Joseph Barsalona Allison Corke Veracity Butcher Evan DuMouchel Leah Day Teddy Crecelius Jeanine Buzali Rachel Dunlap Paul Doyle Christine Etienne Samantha Collier Haylee Freeman Laura Harris Aaron Gensler Will Damron Christina Galvez Jackie Hurwitz Claire Groby Judith Dry Jake Jeppson Lauren Kiel Rishabh Kashyap Lucy Faust Lucas Kavner Myra Palmero Justine Katzenbach Emily Feldman Retta Leaphart Lydia Popper Maegan Mishico Lauren Fondren Meghan Nesmith Salim Saglam Amanda Mitchell Claire Graves Charzetta Nixon Brian Siegele Willie Orbison Emily Kron Katie Polebaum Sally Swallow Alexandra Schoen Dawn Loveland Julia Proctor Catherine Vigne Himali Soin Stephanie Spencer Courtney Swanda Stephanie Strohm Michael Tierney Alec Strum Ilinca Todorut Kevin Tierney Jimmy Wong Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki

Current Theatre Majors Class of 2010 Class of 2011 Jacquie Antonson RJ Adler Schuyler Beeman Galen Anderson Ross Bell Ryan Bates Martina Bonolis Katherine Burdine Cassidy Boyd Xian Chiang-Waren Jihyun Chung Kristin Corbett Nerina Cocchi Carlie Crawford John Glouchevitch Kelsey Ferguson Elizabeth Goffe Jessica Halper Michaela Lieberman Corinne Hundt Oscar Loyo Michael Kessler Mathew Nakitare David Malinsky Martha Newman Melinda Marquis Danielle Nieves Noah Mease Ben Schiffer Lindsay Messmore Dustin Schwartz Willie McKay Becca Wear Heather Pynne Phil Ziff Emily Rosenkrantz Naomi Shafer Jessica Spar Reilly Steel Lillian Stein Katie Thacher Kevin Thorsen Lili Weckler