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New Play Festival is Feb. 22-25
The Occidental College Theater Department will feature staged readings and workshop presentations of six student-written productions during its annual New Play Festival, scheduled for Feb. 22-25 at the college’s Keck Theater.
The productions are professionally directed with student casts supplemented by a small number of professional actors. Admission is free.
For a campus map and directions to Occidental, click here. For more information, call (323) 259-2771 or (323) 259-2922.
The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, Feb. 22
8:30 p.m. (The same plays will be staged at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 23)*
“The Peace and War of Thunderstorms” by Michelle DeLateur ’07 - De Lateur has stepped well outside of her comfort zone as a non-theater major by penning a play entirely in verse about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The characters, language and thematics all belie a deep understanding and sensitivity for dramatic interest.
“Life as Moths” by Chloe Jenkins-Sleczkowski ’10 - The play expresses the contradictory frustrations and possibilities faced by many college freshmen. Using humor and a realistic style, this new identity comes in to sharp focus in this simple but powerful play.
“Breathe” by Caroline Adan ’07 - This work is a brief but poignant examination of a lifetime of anger and resentment that has built up between a novelist and her dying father. The play’s uncompromising end shows Caroline’s unflinching look at the dark feelings we often have for those we love.
Each play is being directed by Lisa Tobias.
*Producer Laural Meade ’88, adjunct instructor of theater, will give a post-show talk.
Friday, Feb. 23
7 p.m. (The same workshop will be featured at 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24)
“Trial and Death of Fred” by Joel Drake ’07; directed by Jessica Hanna - This work is a scewball comedy in the Marx Brothers tradition that takes a serious look at a town that has outlawed defeatism. Full of great one-liners and terrific comedic roles, the play has a deep political point of view.
9 p.m.:
“The Peace and War of Thunderstorms”
“Life as Moths”
“Breathe”
Saturday, Feb. 24
5 p.m.
“Vodka and Eurydice” by Rachel Orlikoff ’07; directed by Jon Kellam (staged reading) - This is a full-length work about a young woman who realizes that you never really can go home. Set in a honky-tonk town, the play's heroine struggles with her father’s addictions becoming her own. Themes of love, acceptance, and missed chances for communication permeate this play with a tone of wistful sadness.
8 p.m.:
“Trial and Death of Fred”
Sunday, Feb. 25
3 p.m.
“Down, Down” by Alana Dietze ’07; directed by Darin Anthony (staged reading) - This performance explores the true story of a woman who attempted to murder her three small children, only to have two of them live to turn her in. By drawing a parallel with the mythic character Medea, the play is at times poetic, farcical, sad and harrowing.
The festival is being produced by Meade and Margaret Goddard ’08.