This fall season, the theater department has two plays lined up: “Noises Off” and “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad,” each offering a unique and entertaining experience. The department’s new set will also make a debut and is expected to “wow” audiences.
The season started off with “Hedda Gabler” by Henrik Ibsen as the senior performance thesis of Tanya Wilkins, which was performed Sept. 4, 5 and 6 in the Dailey Theatre.
Most recently was the performance of “This Is All Fiction” by Kris Bicknell as the senior directing thesis of Michael Frederick performed on Oct. 16, 17 and 18 in the Jane Dibbell Cabaret Theatre.
The next play to hit the stage will be the department’s most anticipated performance of the season.
“Noises Off,” a play by Michael Frayn, is described as a “raucous romp of a comedy” and a “comic masterpiece.”
The play has been produced internationally for more than 20 years and circles around a collision of divas, dimwits, drunks and the deranged during a production of an English sex farce.
The most exciting part of the play “Noises Off” is a massive set that can pivot and turn on stage right before the audience’s eyes. The stage has to rotate 180 degrees and is done so by using six air casters that can lift the entire structure off the ground using compressed air. This allows the stage to only be moved by a couple of people, instead of an entire crew.
The set was envisioned and designed by David Flaten, professor of theater arts, and was built by ULV faculty and students.
“Noises Off” will be performed in the Dailey Theatre on Nov. 12, 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a matinee performance on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.
Admission is $10 for the general public, $8 for staff and seniors and $5 for ULV students.
The last play of the fall season will be “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama’s Hung You in the Closet and I’m Feeling So Sad” by Arthur Kopit.
This play is the senior performance thesis of Jessica Swapp and the senior directing thesis of Adam Evans and is a blend of comedy with dramatic elements that touches on the surface of tragedy.
The plot deals with a boy, who happens to have grown up already, and is being reared by his mother who carries around his father, who just happens to be a stuffed corpse.
The play will be staged Dec. 11, 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dailey Theatre.
Jaclyn Mittman can be reached at jaclyn.mittman@laverne.edu.
