Programs from UMN Morris Theatre Discipline and Meiningens productions.
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Spring Awakening, November 1-4, 2017
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Spring Awakening, book and lyrics by Steven Sater and music by Duncan Sheik, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: Set in late 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.
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Bent, February 6-8, 2014
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Bent by Martin Sherman and directed by Deon Haider.
Synopsis: Bent is a story of living versus survival. It concerns Max, a gay "wheeler-dealer" who leads a dissolute life of drink, drugs, and sporadic sex in prewar Berlin. One night he and his lover Rudy pick up the wrong man--someone who's on the Nazi's wanted list. Max and Rudy are forced to flee Berlin and live underground. Ultimately they are arrested, and sent to Dachau. En route, Rudy is murdered, but Max survives with the help of a "pink triangle" prisoner, Horst.
Once in Dachau, Max makes a deal to wear a Jewish star, therefore avoiding the pink triangle, the badge of the "lowest," the homosexual. He arranges for Horst to be on his work detail, doing pointless and exhausting--but not dangerous--labor. As time goes by, they fall in love. They become lovers through their imagination, and through their words. When Horst is threatened, Max understands, at last, that life is more than mere survival.
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An Evening of One Acts, April 25-27, 2013
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Legend by Floyd Dell and directed by Ian Donahue; Time Flies by David Ives and directed by Will Hanson; The Visitor by Dean Laccohee and directed by Dean Haider.
Synopsis: Legend- Luciano has a present for Donna Violante. The gift is actually from her husband - a mirror he found in the catacombs. Luciano keeps her from seeing it because he wants to talk his love for her. He begs her to leave her husband. Faced with rejection, Luciano leaves. When Donna finally looks at the mirror, her life changes.
Time Flies- Two lonely but sweet young mayflies meet at a pond and really hit it off. Unfortunately, Horace and May watch a nature program on this first night out and discover they have a lifespan of only one day—and their lives are half over.
The Visitor- A patient gives his psychiatrist a few problems by claiming to come from a distant planet. His belief can't be shaken, and worse, he says the world is going to end very soon. Will Dr Collinghurst accept his offer of a ride on his spaceship, or at least ask Nurse Elizabeth out before Doomsday?
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God of Carnage, February 7-9, 2013
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis: Winner of the 2009 Tony Award for Best Play, God of Carnage relates an evening in the lives of two couples, residents of a tony Brooklyn neighborhood, who meet to discuss a playground incident. Alan and Annette’s son hit Michael and Veronica’s son in the face with a stick, resulting in two broken teeth. The four of them agree to discuss the incident civilly, but, as the night wears on and drinks are imbibed, the polite veneer breaks down. The couples initially spar against each other, but the men gang up on the women and the spouses switch sides as the fighting continues. Reza’s play suggests that our civilized trappings do a poor job of hiding our venality and bile.
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The King Stag, April 12-13, 2013
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The King Stag by Carlo Gozzi adapted by Sylvia Ashby and directed by Kathy Ray.
Synopsis King Stag takes place in a theatre where we see the kingdom of Serendippo appear before our eyes with the help of the great and magnificent wizard, Durandarte. At issue is the wish of King Deramo to find an honest woman to be his queen. He does so with the help of the wizard's invention, a statue whose smiles can alert the king to lies and dishonesty. Unfortunately, his prime minister, Tartaglia, wickedly undermines his trust, his government and his marriage. Arlecchino, the zany clown, conducts us through Serendippo, where we are treated to surprising transformations. Deramo can be the king one moment and the stag the next; Tartaglia, the evil counselor, can turn himself into the king; and magical sprites turn into animals in the enchanted forest of Roncislappe. Paranoia threatens to unravel the whole kingdom, especially through the inept maneuvering of Capitano Spavento (head of the secret service) and his two henchmen, Cric and Crac. In the midst of this, romantic love blossoms between King Deramo and Angela, comic love between Leandro and Clarice, and farcical love between Arlecchino and Smeraldina. And it is love that emerges triumphant in this riveting and hilarious comic fantasy.
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Twelfth Night, November 7-9, 2013
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
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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Blance and Beyond: Letters of Tennessee Williams, March 1-2, 2012
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Blanche and Beyond: Letters of Tennessee Williams adapted by Steve Lawson and performed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: Blanche and Beyond is the stage sequel to A Distant Country Called Youth. While the first play traced the evolution of a young man finding his artistic voice, Blanche and Beyond spans the peak of Williams' career - the period of Streetcar, Rose Tattoo, Summer and Smoke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - and explores a no-longer obscure playwright facing the seismic shock of international fame.
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Medea, April 26-28, 2012
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Medea by Euripides, translated by Frederic Raphael & Kenneth McLeish and directed by Lynn Bixler.
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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No Placed Called Home, February 24, 2012
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of No Place Called Home by Kim Schultz and directed by Sarah Cameron Sunde.
Synopsis: No Place Called Home is an unexpected story—a story about an American woman and an Iraqi man, a story about one refugee out of millions, a story that isn’t supposed to be a love story.
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The Emperor's New Clothes, March 30-31, 2012
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Emperor’s New Clothes by Blanche Marvin and directed by Shaune Wunder.
Synopsis: A parody of medieval morality plays, this delightful version of the classic tale incorporates comedy traditions from Moliere to Giraudoux.
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The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, November 1-3, 2012
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by Moisés Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, Stephen Belber and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: On October 7, 1998, a young gay man was discovered bound to a fence outside Laramie, Wyoming, savagely beaten and left to die in an act of brutality and hate that shocked the nation. Matthew Shepard’s death became a national symbol of intolerance, but for the people of the town, the event was deeply personal. In the aftermath, Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie and conducted more than 200 interviews with its citizens. From the transcripts, the playwrights constructed an extraordinary chronicle of life in the town after the murder.
In The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, the troupe revisits the town a decade after the tragedy, finding a community grappling with its legacy and its place in history. The two plays together comprise an epic and deeply moving theatrical cycle that explores the life of an American town over the course a decade.
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Anything Goes, November 16-19, 2011
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Anything Goes by Cole Porter and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis: The S. S. American is sailing between New York and England with a comically colorful assemblage of passengers: Reno Sweeney, a popular nightclub singer and former evangelist, her pal Billy Crocker, a lovelorn Wall Street broker who has come aboard to try to win the favor of his beloved Hope Harcourt (who is engaged to another passenger, Sir Evelyn Oakleigh), and a second-rate conman named Moonface Martin, aka “Public Enemy #13.” Song, dance, and farcical antics ensue as Reno and Moonface try to help Billy win the love of his life.
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Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, December 9-10, 2011
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moisés Kaufman and directed by Jessie Sherman.
Synopsis: In early 1895, the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Wilde's young lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, left a card at Wilde's club bearing the phrase "posing somdomite." Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel. The defense denounced Wilde's art and literature as immoral, leading the prosecuting attorney to declare, "It would appear that what is on trial is not Lord Queensberry but Mr. Wilde's art!" In the end Queensberry was acquitted, and evidence that had been gathered against Wilde compelled the Crown to prosecute him for "gross indecency with male persons." With Wilde's arrest, his hit plays running in London's West End were forced to close, and Wilde was reduced to penury. A second trial ended in a hung jury with Wilde's impassioned defense of "the love that dare not speak its name," prompting a third trial. In the third and decisive trial, Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment at hard labor. He was separated forever from his wife and children, and wrote very little for the rest of his life. In addition to Wilde, Douglas and Queensberry, characters ranging from Queen Victoria to London's rent boys, to a present-day academic are assembled to explore how history is made and how it can be so timely revisited in the theatre.
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Recent Tragic Events, February 10-12, 2011
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Recent Tragic Eventsf by Craig Wright and directed by Alex McGreavey.
Synopsis: It is September 12th, 2001; the setting is the Minneapolis apartment of Waverly, a young advertising executive. Soon to venture on a blind date amidst the television news coverage of the September 11th attacks, Waverly becomes preoccupied when she discovers that her twin sister, Wendy, a student in New York, has not been heard from. Waverly reassures herself that Wendy had no reason to be at the World Trade Center. As the evening unfolds, Waverly and her blind date, Andrew, an airport bookstore manager, realize that they are connected by a succession of bizarre coincidences. As Waverly awaits word on Wendy, the date is complicated by visits from her crazed-musician neighbor, Ron, and his girlfriend, Nancy, and a startling visit from Waverly's great aunt, Joyce Carol Oates—played by a sock puppet.
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Sophie and the Adventures of Ice Island, April 15-16, 2011
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Sophie and the Adventures of Ice Island by Forrest Musselman and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis: Sophie always wanted to be a superhero, so when her homemade sail boat travels to Ice Island, Sophie gets a chance to save the island from melting. Can she be the hero or will the Dark Figure and his minion of penguins stop her? This play received its world premiere at the University of Minnesota-Morris and was also shown on local PBS stations: Pioneer TV and KMSQ.
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Art, November 3-7, 2010
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Art by Yasmina Reza and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: A translation of a French-language play, Art is about one man, Serge, who buys an expensive painting, a white canvas with a few white lines, and the reactions of his friends, Marc and Yvan, to his purchase. Marc responds with shock and anger; for him, Serge's purchase of the painting is a cruel joke. Yvan tries to mediate the hostility between Serge and Marc, at the cost of redirecting them to himself. As the conversations moves from the theoretical to the personal, the three friends are forced to ask questions not only about the nature of art, but about the nature of friendship.
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As You Like It, April 22-24, 2010
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: In one of Shakespeare’s most beloved romantic pastoral comedies, we follow the young heroine Rosalind from the court of her vindictive uncle, Duke Frederick, into the Eden-like Forest of Arden, where her banished father is living in exile. In order to avoid running into trouble, Rosalind disguises herself as a young man, “Ganymede,” and, accompanied by her faithful cousin Celia and the court clown, Touchstone, makes her way into the woods. She soon encounters the young, handsome Orlando, who is also fleeing from Duke Frederick’s court, and who is sick with love for Rosalind. Still disguised as Ganymede, Rosalind tests Orlando’s feelings for her and teaches him about the nature of true love; by the end of the play, four love matches have been made in the forest. As You Like It is an entertaining and touching exploration of life, death, love, family and the bonds that tie us together.
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Jack and the Beanstalk, April 24-25, 2009
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota Morris production of Jack and the Beanstalk dramatized by William Glennon and directed by Kelli Tucker.
Synopsis: There is much more to this play than Jack and a beanstalk. Of course, there's the proverbial giant, but there is also the giant's overworked, over-wrought wife, an aria-singing harp, a golden-egg-laying chicken with performance anxiety, and a blue-eyed stranger who looks surprisingly like Jack's long-lost father. Naturally, there's the village at the foot of the beanstalk and the giant's home in the sky, but there is also, 10 years earlier, a sailing ship caught in a storm off the coast of Pago Pago ("or was it Bora Bora") with its blue-eyed master pulled mysteriously from the wreckage by a giant hand. Certainly, there's Jack's distressed mother and the peddler who sells Jack the magic beans, but there is also the peddler's story of having bought the beans from a blue-eyed stranger; the Ladies Plum and Pomegranate, who provide the comic relief in Jack's village; and Jack's pals, including a rough and ready tomboy named Adelaid.
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Of Mice & Men, February 26-28, 2009
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis: Based on the classic novella written by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men tells the tale of two great friends and their struggle to live the American dream. George and Lennie have been traveling together from ranch to ranch for years, working hard to make ends meet and save enough for a place of their own. The two are polar opposites: George is intelligent, quick and small, while Lennie is slow-minded, childlike, and giant. Though they are different, they care deeply about each other. They have been dreaming for years to save enough for a little land of their own, and when they are both hired to a new job they believe that they may finally achieve their goal. But trouble begins to brew when one of the bosses’ wife becomes too interested in the infatuated Lennie…Tragic yet beautiful, Of Mice and Men is an extremely popular play that has become a staple of American theatre.
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Our Town, November 6-8, 2008
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production Our Town by Thornton Wilder and directed by Ray Schultz.
Synopsis: A landmark in American drama, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town tells the story of a small town, Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in order to tell us the story of every town, the whole world over. Narrated by the “Stage Manager”, we follow the Gibbs and Webb families, residents of Grover’s Corners, through twelve years of life changes -- from the mundane in Act I, “Daily Life,” to the romantic in Act II, “Love and Marriage,” to the devastating in Act III, “Death and Eternity.” Through the young lovers Emily and George, their strong and loving parents, and the many other Grover’s Corners’ locals, Wilder delivers universal truths about what it means to be human. “Oh, earth,” Emily Webb exclaims towards the play’s end, “you’re too wonderful for anyone to realize you.” With humor, wit, and exceptionally powerful storytelling, Our Town offers a unique opportunity for audience members to make precisely that realization.
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Seussical, April 23-30, 2008
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of Seussical based on the works of Dr. Seuss. Written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and directed by Brenna Jones.
Synopsis: A musical perfect for the whole family, Seussical takes us into the world of Dr. Seuss, where we revisit beloved characters including The Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, Lazy Mayzie, and JoJo. The Cat in the Hat guides us into The Jungle of Nool where we see Horton, the kind hearted elephant who discovers a speck of dust containing Whoville. He meets JoJo, a Who child sent to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton decides he must protect the speck of dust on a nearby clover, while at the same time protecting an abandoned egg left to his care by the lazy Mayzie la Bird. Horton tries to convince the other animals in The Jungle of the existence of the Whos, but he is ridiculed and put on trial for insanity. Only his loyal neighbor, Gertrude McFuzz, never loses faith in him. Eventually, the two fall in love. Now one of the most widely produced musicals in the country, Seussical weaves a story of friendship, loyalty, and love. Despite all odds, Horton and Gertrude band together to save the Whos, free Horton, and restore peace and unity to the Jungle of Nool. Charming Seussical teaches us the power of being unique, and the importance of fighting for your beliefs.
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The Birds, February 7-9, 2008
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Birds by Aristophanes, adapted by Peter Meineck and directed by Deidre Onishi.
Synopsis: In this classical Greek drama two men are disgusted with life in Athens and seek a new homeland among the birds
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A Lie of the Mind, November 1-3. 2007
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard and directed by Siobhan Bremer.
Synopsis:Beth has been violently beaten - to the point of brain damage - by her overly jealous husband, Jake. As the play begins, she is being cared for by her family. Her brother-in-law, Frankie soon arrives, trying to figure out if Beth survived Jake’s beating. Beth’s father, mistaking Frankie for a deer, shoots him in the leg, and then brings Frankie into their home to care for his injury. Meanwhile, Jake, convinced that he has killed his wife, is slipping into a downward spiral. His possessive and overprotective mother Lorraine, and his sister, Sally, care for him until he slips away from them, determined to see Beth, alive or dead, one last time. Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind examines what it means to be a family, and whether or not the family bond truly ties individuals together.
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The Shape of Things, December 5-7, 2007
Theatre Arts Discipline
University of Minnesota, Morris production of The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute and directed by Nick Lostetter.
Synopsis: How far would you go for love? For art? What would you be willing to change? What price might you pay? Such are the painful questions explored by Neil LaBute in THE SHAPE OF THINGS. A young student drifts into an ever-changing relationship with an art major while his best friends' engagement crumbles, so unleashing a drama that peels back the skin of two modern-day relationships.
