KSU Theatre Program Announces 2012-13 Season

The Kennesaw State University Department of Theatre and Performance Studies announced this week the schedule for its upcoming 2012-13 season. The season includes plays, student improv, storytelling and more.

“This season we feature new works in varying stages of development and re-imagined classics,” said Dean Adams, associate professor and artistic director of the department. “Our work is very student-centric; we will have more than 100 students involved in every aspect of production, from creator to designer to performer.”

“Every performance this season investigates human relationships in one form or another,” Adams said. “I hope that our audiences will challenge themselves by attending productions that will not only entertain, but also illuminate the obstacles of living in the 21st century.”

Here's what the department has in store for the 2012-13 season:

• Aug. 24: Shut Up & Drive, directed by Associate Professor Jamie Bullins. This Theatre and Performance Studies faculty benefit reading will take place in the Stillwell Theater. All proceeds will support theatre student travel for study abroad programs.

• Sept. 7-8: 24 Hour Play Festival. Coordinated by Assistant Professor Charles Parrott, the 24-hour event will be held in the Onyx Theater.

• Sept. 21-22: Run Away with Me: Kerrigan & Lowdermilk in Concert. The musical theatre duo of Kait Kerrigan (lyrics) and Brian Lowdermilk (music) have received wide acclaim for their original musicals and adaptations since making their off-Broadway debut in 2006. Their first album, Our First Mistake, was released in 2011 and features the hit “Run Away with Me.” The KSU production will be coordinated by Dean Adams and will take place in the Stillwell Theater.

• Oct. 1-6: Sound + Silence will be held in the Onyx Theater. This event will feature About Silence, coordinated by Assistant Professor Rebecca Makus, and The Ubu Project, directed by Michael Haverty. About Silence, written by Peter S. Petralia, explores the topics of paranoia, beauty and the pain of intimate human relationships in a unique type of performance. The Ubu Project will investigate Alfred Jarry’s infamous play Ubu Roi, exploring the play for themes and developing and devising those themes into elements of movement, sound, tableaux, design and performance.

• Oct. 16-21: Cabaret will show in the Stillwell Theater. Based on the book by Joe Masteroff, the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, Cabaret was written by John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics). Set in 1931 Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, Cabaret focuses on English cabaret performer Sally Bowles and her relationship with young American writer Cliff Bradshaw. The KSU production of will be directed by Dean Adams, with music direction by Associate Professor Russell Young and choreography by Instructor of Dance Jen MacQueen. The performance will be co-produced with the School of Music.

• Nov. 27-28: The KSU Tellers Showcase will be held in the Onyx Theater. Directed by Charles Parrott, this student storytelling concert will feature the KSU Tellers, an undergraduate storytelling troupe.

• Nov. 30-Dec. 1: K.I.S.S. Yule-Tyde Brigade will be held in the Onyx Theater. Coordinated by Jamie Bullins, this performance will feature K.I.S.S., the Kennesaw Improv Society (Stupid!).

•  Dec. 10: Labyrinth Night: Walking Meditation will take place in the Stillwell Theater. A video on the event, Rediscovering the Labyrinth: A Walking Meditation, will be shown at 4 p.m. with meditation following from 4:30-9 p.m.

• Jan. 24-26: KSU Storyfest will be held in the Stillwell Theater. Coordinated by Charles Parrott, this event will feature professional storyteller Regi Carpenter. Since 1993 Carpenter has been motivating and inspiring audiences with her diverse repertoire of world stories, folktales, myths, music and personal stories.

• Feb. 19-24: Red Hanrahan by W.B. Yeats will be held in the Onyx Theater. Adapted by Professor John Gentile and directed by Gentile and Instructor Henry Scott, Red Hanrahan is based on the Yeats character Owen Red Hanrahan who appears in several of his short stories collectively titled Stories of Red Hanrahan. Hanrahan’s character is heavily folkloric and representative of the Irish bardic tradition.

• March 19-24: In the Twilight: The Chekhov Stories Project, directed by Associate Professor Karen Robinson, will be performed in the Onyx Theater. This production will feature several Anton Chekhov short works re-visited. Chekhov was a late 19th century Russian physician, dramatist and author, and he is often considered among the greatest short story writers in history.

• April 2-7: Bus Stop, a play written in 1955 by William Inge, will show in the Stillwell Theater. The KSU production will be directed by Associate Professor Harrison Long. Bus Stop takes place in March 1955 during a snowstorm that strands eight characters in a Kansas diner in the middle of the night.

• April 16-17: The KSU Tellers return to the Onyx Theater for the KSU Tellers Showcase. Once again directed by Charles Parrott, the storytelling troupe will offer their second performance of the season.

• April 19-20: K.I.S.S., the Kennesaw Improv Society (Stupid!), will return to the stage next, performing in the Onyx Theater. Coordinated by Jamie Bullins, the K.I.S.S. Spring Hoopla-Palooza will feature the improv company in their second major performance of the season.

• May 6: The 2012-2013 season comes to a close in the Stillwell Theater with the season’s second Labyrinth Night: Walking Meditation event. A video, Rediscovering the Labyrinth: A Walking Meditation, will be shown at 4 p.m. with meditation following from 4:30-9 p.m.

The following productions may not be suitable for audiences under the age of 16: Shut Up & Drive, 24 Hour Play Fesitval, Sound + Silence, Cabaret, KSU Tellers Showcase, K.I.S.S. Yule-Tyde Brigade & Spring Hoopla-Palooza and In the Twilight: The Chekhov Stories Project.

For ticketing information, visit the box office online or call 770-423-6650.