The School of Education’s Department of Theatre and Drama has announced its 2023-24 schedule. Below are the performances and details.
“Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson — Apt 2B”
By Kate Hamill
July 27 to Aug. 6, 2023 and Sept. 14 to 24, 2023
An irreverent, darkly comic, modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth and sidekick, this fast-paced romp re-examines the world’s most famous detective with a bold new feminist lens. In this highly theatrical, small-cast escapade, oddball female roommates Sherlock (yes, it’s also a girl’s name — wait, is it a girl’s name? Is it even a name?) Holmes & Joan Watson join forces to emerge from pandemic fog as a deeply codependent, quasi-dysfunctional Odd Couple adventure duo — solving mysteries and kicking butts, until they come face to face with a villain who seems to have all of the answers.
“Twelfth Night”
Conceived by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub
Music and Lyrics by Shaina Taub
Nov. 9 to 19, 2023
“Twelfth Night” is a rousing contemporary musical inspired by Shakespeare’s classic comedy about girl power, mistaken identity, and self-discovery. Viola washes up on the shores of Illyria, disguises herself as a man, is sent to court a Countess and falls hard for a Duke. As she navigates this strange and wonderful new land, she finds her true self and true love in the process. Featuring an original jazz-funk score by Shaina Taub, this contemporary 90-minute musical is full of pure joy, lots of laughs, and a deeper message of empathy and compassion.
“Wine in the Wilderness”
By Alice Childress
March 7 to 17, 2024
It’s 1964. As race riots blaze on the streets outside his Harlem home, painter Bill Jameson works feverishly to complete a triptych depicting his vision of Black womanhood. While he struggles to find his final muse — the “messed up chick” — his friends discover the perfect model in Tommy, a woman they meet at a bar after she’s been burned out of her home in the riots. However, Tommy is more than she seems, and her presence changes everything. Celebrated writer Alice Childress offers an intimate and raw study of race, gender, and class that explores how the Black community perceives, defines, and affirms itself from within.
“Orlando”
by Virginia Woolf, adapted by Sarah Ruhl
April 18 to 28, 2024
Based on the celebrated gender-bending novel by Virginia Woolf, “Orlando” is a poetic romance upending gender roles and expectations. Spanning over 300 years from Elizabethan England to the 20th century, “Orlando” navigates the shifting tides of love, desire, and identity in a lyrical and humorous tale. Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation deftly captures the luscious lyricism and playfulness in a classic story described as the most charming love letter in literature.