Programs from UMN Morris Theatre Discipline and Meiningens productions.
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Medea, October 25-27, 2001
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Medea by Euripides, adapted by Robinson Jeffers and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis: In a continuation of the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, foreign princess and sorceress Medea has murdered her own father to help Jason win the Golden Fleece and the kingdom of Thessaly. They have married and have two sons. Now in ancient Corinth, Medea is told that Jason will be marrying the Corinthian princess. The King of Corinth, anticipating her wrath, sends her into exile. She plans revenge against Jason and negotiates safe haven with the naïve King of Athens. Through her magic, she kills the Corinthian king and princess, Jason’s intended, and, in a final act of vengeance, kills her two sons by Jason. She escapes justice, taken to the sky on the back of a chariot, with the bodies of her children. One of ancient Greek drama’s most famous plays, The Medea resonates with audiences through emotionally charged characters placed in impossible circumstances, constrained by their social, political, gender, and familial roles.
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, April 20-21, 2001
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis adapted by Joseph Robinette and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.
Synopsis: This new dramatization of C.S. Lewis' classic, set in the land of Narnia, faithfully recreates the magic and mystery of Aslan, the great lion, his struggle with the White Witch, and the adventures of four children who inadvertently wander from an old wardrobe into the exciting, never-to-be-forgotten Narnia. The intense action features chases, duels and escapes as the witch is determined to keep Narnia in her possession and to end the reign of Aslan. All the memorable episodes from the story are represented in this exciting dramatization: the temptation of Edmund by the witch, the slaying of the evil wolf by Peter, the witnessing of Aslan's resurrection by Susan and Lucy, the crowing of the four new rulers of Narnia, and more. The supporting characters are also here: the unicorn, the centaur and other forest animals, along with Father Christmas, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Tumnus the Faun. This story of love, faith, courage and giving, with its triumph of good over evil, is a true celebration of life. Easily staged, the play may be presented without intermission or in two short acts if desired..
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Prelude to a Kiss, February 15-17, 2001
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Prelude to a Kiss by Craig Lucas and directed by Gretchen Weinrich.
Synopsis: Peter and Rita are two young, happy lovers who are getting married. On their wedding day, after their nuptial kiss, an old man comes up to kiss the bride. During this kiss, their souls exchange, and the young, beautiful woman Peter just married now houses the soul of a dying, old man. On their honeymoon, Peter starts to notice that something's not quite right. When he discovers the truth, he confronts the old man, who now holds Rita's soul. Peter struggles with the notion that this is his young bride, and he works feverishly to put the souls back in their original bodies. At the same time, he realizes that he loves who Rita is, no matter how she is packaged. Craig Lucas' play, first performed in 1990, was considered a metaphor for the AIDS epidemic, in which a man could find himself in a relationship with someone who was suddenly old and sick before his time.
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Twelfth Night, November 2-4, 2000
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: Twelfth Night—an allusion to the night of festivity preceding the Christian celebration of the Epiphany—combines love, confusion, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery.After the twins Sebastian and Viola survive a shipwreck, neither knows that the other is alive. Viola goes into service with Count Orsino of Illyria, disguised as a young man, "Cesario." Orsino sends Cesario to woo the Lady Olivia on his behalf, but Olivia falls in love with Cesario. Viola, in the meantime, has fallen in love with Orsino.At the estate of Lady Olivia, Sir Toby Belch, Olivia’s kinsman, has brought in Sir Andrew Aguecheek to be her suitor. A confrontation between Olivia's steward, Malvolio, and the partying Toby and his cohort leads to a revenge plot against Malvolio. Malvolio is tricked into making a fool of himself, and he is locked in a dungeon as a lunatic. In the meantime, Sebastian has been rescued by a sea captain, Antonio. When Viola, as Cesario, is challenged to a duel, Antonio mistakes her for Sebastian, comes to her aid, and is arrested. Olivia, meanwhile, mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and declares her love. When, finally, Sebastian and Viola appear together, the puzzles around the mistaken identities are solved: Cesario is revealed as Viola, Orsino asks for Viola’s hand, Sebastian will wed Olivia, and Viola will marry Count Orsino. Malvolio, blaming Olivia and others for his humiliation, vows revenge.
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Viva La Revolucion, November 12-14, 2000
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Viva La Revolucion—three one acts directed by Chris Batteen, Alan Pagel and Jon Dent.
Synopsis: The Root of Chaos by Douglas Soderberg - he place is the home of the Cernikowski family in Centralia, Pennsylvania, where a subterranean fire in the abandoned coal mines has been burning out of control for years and moving steadily closer to the houses of the few remaining residents. The Cernikowskis, father Joe, mother Wilma, teenage daughter Doublemint (named after her grandmother) and nine-year-old son, Skeeter, seem to be oddly unconcerned about their own peril, although Wilma does make daily measurements of the ever-widening crack in their cellar wall. But the grotesque unreality of their threatened existence is reflected in the matter-of-fact way in which they discuss events which, to "normal" people would seem something more than casual—such as Doublemint's off-hand announcement that she decided to take off her clothes in the school principal's office; or Skeeter's deadpan mention of having been sexually molested by a group of neighborhood bullies; or, worst of all, their ho-hum reaction when Wilma is incinerated in the cellar by escaping coal gas, ignited when Joe strikes a match to light Doublemint's cigarette. Eventually, after Doublemint is killed by lightening, Skeeter begins to show the first hints of honest fear and concern. But this is short-lived when he is felled by a fatal stroke, leaving Joe gamely trying to convince himself that he is not afraid, despite the collapse and destruction all around him, and notwithstanding the arrival of a foul-mouthed Officer of Surface Mining, who helps himself to the Cernikowskis' leftover casserole before sending Joe off to join the others by means of a well-placed bullet.
The Man Who Turned Into a Stick by Kobo Abe - This play opens with a stick, played by a man, hurtling down from the sky and landing next to Hippie Boy and Hippie Girl. As Hippie Boy and Girl look casually for the stick's point of origin, they spot a young boy on the roof of a building, and suspect that the boy must have thrown the stick. In the meantime, a Woman and Man from Hell enter the scene and, in an aside, they remark mysteriously "once again, a man turned into a stick and vanished".
Woman and Man from Hell appear to realize that they are searching for this particular stick, and so they approach the two youth. Vaguely introducing themselves but not revealing their identities, they request that Hippie Boy hand them the stick...
Life Under Water by Richard Greenberg - The setting is the present-day Hamptons, that sun drenched stretch of expensive ocean frontage where the rich and privileged while away their summers. Two attractive college girls, Amy-Joy and Amy-Beth, are looking for a good time, and think they have found it in the person of Kip, a handsome preppie who is in flight from the lavish home he shares with his divorced, domineering and bitingly sophisticated mother and her narcissistic married lover. And romance does develop, if not quite in the manner anticipated, as the triangular affair of the young people is deftly counterpointed against the vapid relationship of the older couple. But while high comedy and sharp observation prevail, the play yields a lacerating portrait of a contemporary upper-middle-class that is, sadly and humorously, bored, self-indulgent and emotionally reckless.
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And Baby Makes Seven, April 13-15, 2000
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of And Baby Makes Seven by Paula Vogel and directed by Janelle Alvstad.
Synopsis: Anna, Ruth and Peter await the arrival of their newborn child, but first they must rid the crowded apartment of their three imaginary children.
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Wiley and the Hairy Man, Spring 2000
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Wiley and the Hairy Moon by Suzan Zeder and directed by Oscar Prill.
Synopsis: This drama is a spine-tingling tale of a boy and his worst fears in the swamp—eventually overcome by Wiley himself. Set deep within the mysterious Tombigbee Swamp, Wiley and the Hairy Man centers around a young fatherless boy, his conjure-woman mother, his faithful dog, and the Hairy Man who haunts Wiley's days and dreams. Through rhythm and rhyme, a chorus creates the mystery of the swamp. The magic of this play is not fairy dust, it is soil—the magic of survival, the magic of the earth and the mud of the swamp. In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear.
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Cabaret, November 3-6, 1999
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Cabaret by Joe Masteroff and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.
Synopsis: Cabaret takes place from 1929-1930, a time when Berlin, in the midst of a post-World War I economic depression, is transitioning from a center of underground, avant-garde cultural epicenter to the beginnings of Hitler’s totalitarian regime and the rise of the Nazi Party. Into this world enters Clifford Bradshaw, a struggling American writer looking for inspiration for his next novel. On his first night in Berlin, Cliff wanders into the Kit Kat Klub, a seedy nightclub overseen by the strange, omniscient and gender-bending Master of Ceremonies, “the Emcee.” Here, Cliff meets Sally Bowles, a vivacious, talented cabaret performer, and an utterly lost soul. Sally and Cliff begin a relationship, which blossoms unexpectedly into a dream-like romance. As time passes, however, the situation in Berlin changes from exciting and vital to ominous and violent; Ernst, Cliff’s first German friend, turns out to be an up-and-coming member of the Nazi Party, and Herr Schultz, a fellow boarder at Fraulein Schneider’s guest house (and Schneider’s fiancee), is the victim of an Anti-Semitic hate crime. When he finds out that Sally is pregnant, Cliff decides that they must leave for America at once, before things get any worse. Sally, afraid, confused, and unsure that she’ll ever really be able to trade the sexy, illicit cabaret lifestyle for motherhood, gets an abortion, and tells Cliff that he must leave without her. With a distinctly Brechtian dose of provocation and a score featuring songs that have become classics of the American Musical Theater, Cabaret is a fierce, meaty musical that pushes the boundaries of the form and literally holds “the mirror up to nature.”
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The Trojan Women, November 14-16, 1999
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Trojan Women by Euripides and Brendan Kenelley, directed by Brenna Jones.
Synopsis: This play follows the fates of Hecuba, Andromache, Cassandra and the other women of Troy after their city has been sacked, their husbands killed, and their remaining families about to be taken away as slaves.
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Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place, May 27-29, 1999
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place by Megan Terry directed by James Allen Gappa.
Synopsis: Three men share a cell-- for life. They play games and fantasize about the event that brought them together: the hired murder of one prisoner's wife that was botched. This event is recreated with Sir Walter Raleigh and red men and Custer, and in recollections of rapes previously achieved.
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The Wishing Stone, May 6-8 & 12-14, 1999
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Wishing Stone based on a story by Wolfram Eberhard adapted by Alexander Barrett and directed by Amanda Petefish.
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No Exit, February 11-13, 1999
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre and directed by Kelly L. Classen.
Synopsis: Sarte’s famous existentialist play follows three people to a room in hell, where their torture is revealed to be each other’s company. Three damned souls, Garcin, Inez, and Estelle, are brought to a lavish room to await their punishment. While they expected some sort of torture chamber to punish them in the afterlife, they instead begin to realize where the true torment really lies. Their constant arguing finally has Garcin state the famous line: “Hell is other people”. An exploration of human nature and relationships, No Exit is a play brimming with sardonic wit. You’ll laugh. You’ll ponder life’s meaning. You’ll have a devilishly good time.
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Marvin's Room, Nov. 19-21, 1998
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Marvin’s Room by Scott McPherson and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.
Synopsis: First produced in 1990, Marvin’s Room tells the story of two sisters, Bessie and Lee. They have not seen each other for many years but when Bessie is diagnosed with leukemia, Lee travels to Florida to be tested as a bone marrow donor for her sister. Bessie has cared single-handedly for their father, Marvin, who suffered a severe stroke and is now bed-bound. She also looks after their eccentric Aunt Ruth, who has electrodes (her “cure”) wired up to her brain to help ease the pain of three collapsed vertebrae. Bessie cares for her father and aunt without question, despite the leukemia becoming increasingly aggressive. Lee has been estranged from the family for years and does not understand Bessie’s selfless service to the family. However, when Lee arrives with her two troubled sons, Hank (who is in a mental institution after burning down their house) and Charlie (who permanently has his head in a book, yet is struggling badly at school), the trio find themselves gradually transformed for the better by the guileless Bessie. Lee is, at last, able to show some affection and care for her dying sister when she offers to style Bessie’s wig. Despite its potentially sombre plot, Marvin’s Room is both funny and touching in equal measure.
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Many Moons, May 8-9, 1998
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Many Moons by James Thurber, adapted by Charlotte B. Chorpenning and directed by Sarah Nylander.
Synopsis: Princess Lenore falls ill of a surfeit of raspberry tarts and cries for the moon. The king tells her she can have it today—tomorrow at the latest—and summons his wise men. First comes the Lord High Chamberlain, who wears thick glasses that make him look twice as wise as he really is. Then comes the Royal Wizard, who wears a high-peaked cap with silver stars on it. Finally, the Royal Mathematician, who can walk in squares, appears. But none of them can help the king get the moon. In fact, they can't even agree on how big it is or how far away. In despair, the king rings for the Court Jester. The way in which he obtains the moon and the lovely philosophy that goes with it make this one of the finest plays available to children.
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Personality, May 21-22, 1998
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production Personality by Gina Wendkos & Ellen Ratner and directed by Mark Halvorson.
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Fool for Love, May 22-23,29-31, 1997
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Fool for Love by Sam Shepard and directed by Nathan Carlblom.
Synopsis: This play takes place in a cheap hotel room. May, Eddie and the Old Man are the main characters. The old man, however, is a figment of May and Eddie's imaginations. May can't decide if she wants Eddie to stay or go. Eddie has had affairs and she is deciding whether she should leave him. She gets dressed up to go on a date with Martin. At the end of the play, May leaves with her suitcase packed.
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Winnie the Pooh, May 9-10, 1997
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Miline, dramatized by Kristen Storgel and directed by Jason Schommer.
Synopsis: Winnie-the-Pooh is Christopher Robin's fat little "bear of very little brain" who would like to drift peacefully through life, humming tunes and stopping frequently to eat "a little something." However, he finds himself involved in all sorts of frantic adventures, assisted by such friends as the dismal Eeyore, Piglet and Rabbit, with his countless relations. Pooh's intentions are always the best, but his passion for honey and condensed milk keeps getting him into trouble. When friend Piglet gets roped into Kanga's household and Kanga starts bathing him (with soap!) and forcing down spoonfuls of Strengthening Medicine, Pooh wants to fly to the rescue, but he's had so many snacks he gets stuck in the door. A.A. Milne's wit and special understanding of young people make this one of the most successful plays available.
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All in the Timing, March 5-7, 1997
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of All in the Timing by David Ives, directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.
Synopsis: All in the Timing is a collection of one-act plays by the American playwright David Ives.
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Taruffe, November 14-16, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Taruffe by Moliere and directed by Julie Rae Patterson-Pratt.
Synopsis: The story takes place in the home of the wealthy Orgon, where Tartuffe—a fraud and a pious imposter—has insinuated himself. He succeeds magnificently in winning the respect and devotion of the head of the house, and then tries to marry his daughter and seduce his wife and scrounge the deed to the property. He nearly gets away with it, but an emissary from King Louis XIV arrives in time to recover the property, free Monsieur Orgon, and haul Tartuffe off to jail. And so his duplicity is finally exposed and punished. But not before the author has mercilessly examined the evil that men can commit in the guise of religious fervor and the dangers that imperil those who would believe only what they choose to believe despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
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Charlotte's Web, May 3-4, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Charlotte's Web by Joseph Robinette and directed by Rachel Smoka.
Synopsis: A stage musical based on the book of the same name by E.B. White about a literate spider that weaves an elaborate plan to save a young pig from the butcher's block.
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Measure for Measure, May 16-18, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota Morris production of Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare and directed by Anne M. Ellis.
Synopsis: The play's plot features its protagonist, Duke Vincentio of Vienna, stepping out from public life to observe the affairs of the city under the governance of his deputy, Angelo. Angelo's harsh and ascetic public image is compared to his abhorrent personal conduct once in office, in which he exploits his power to procure a sexual favor from Isabella, whom he considers enigmatically beautiful.
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Meiningens Menagerie, April 22-23, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota Morris production of Meiningens Menagerie, a production of three plays: The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year by John Guare, Lone Wolf by Greg Riedesel, Deceptions by Eric Michael Bauer, and True Capricorns Can't Fall in Love by Miss Evol Jennifer Sayre.
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The Pajama Game, February 29-March 3, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota Morris production of The Pajama Game written by George Abbott and Richard Bissell and words and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, directed by Eric Johnson.
Synopsis: The story deals with labor troubles in a pajama factory, where workers' demands for a seven-and-a-half cent raise are going unheeded. In the midst of this ordeal, love blossoms between Babe, the grievance committee head, and Sid, the new factory superintendent.
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Top Girls, February 27-28 & March 1, 1996
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill and directed by Beth Cherne.
Synopsis: Marlene has been promoted to managing director of a London employment agency and is celebrating. The symbolic luncheon is attended by women in legend or history who offer perspectives on maternity and ambition. In a time warp, these ladies are also her co-workers, clients, and relatives. Marlene, like her famous guests, has had to pay a price to ascend from proletarian roots to the executive suite: she has become, figuratively speaking, a male oppressor, and even coaches female clients on adopting odious male traits. Marlene has also abandoned her illegitimate and dull-witted daughter. Her emotional and sexual life has become as barren as Lady Macbeth's.
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The Rivers and Ravines, November 16-18, 1995
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Rivers and Ravines by Heather McDonald and directed by Anne M. Ellis.
Synopsis: This is an engrossing political drama about the contemporary farm crisis in America and its effect on rural communities.