Postings

We are fortunate to have a unique opportunity to present a staged reading of John Cariani’s new play, Dark Night Bright Stars. It is a sequel to Almost, Maine. The World Premiere of the play will happen at Portland Stage Company this year or next. We are the fortunate ones to get to be the first group to do a public staged reading of the play. Here are the details: Title (Work-in-progress): DARK NIGHT BRIGHT STARS or DARK NIGHT BRIGHT STARS SMALL TOWN or DARKER THE NIGHT, BRGHTER THE STARS or IT GETS DARK HERE by John Cariani Notes for Readers from Cariani: Dark Night Bright Stars is an autobiographical and biographical collection of related short plays that will hopefully shine some light on what it’s like to grow up in rural northern Maine. Rural Americans are largely absent from contemporary American theatre, TV, and film. And when they do appear on our stages and screens, they’re not portrayed with much complexity, compassion, or dimension. I hope Dark Night Bright Stars gives some dimension the complex, compassionate people who made me who I am. Characters*/**: TEDDYSHAYCARLYJAREDSCOTTMARTYSAMCASEYMARCTIFFANYDEREKLILYYOLANDGWEN *These characters are 20+ somethings and include queer representation.**There is the possibility of actors Read More

Last call for students who are interested in running a workshop for high school students What you need to do: Meet with Jessie before February 5 to write your workshop(s) description and commit to Teaching one-three workshops. If you’d like to receive credit for your workshop(s) you will be able to enroll in a variable 1-3 credit course that will begin AFTER spring break. Your class times will be arranged with Jessie one-on-one (or by group if their is a group of students who would like to teach a workshop collectively). The only thing that needs to happen next week is description writing and scheduling–the rest of the work will happen after Spring Break. I have office hours in Silver Monday & Wednesday 1-2pm–but I can arrange another time with you if this doesn’t work with your schedule. Email jmchapman@plymouth.edu if you can’t stop by during office hours. For reference the workshops are: Thu May 1   4:30-5:15 Fri May 2 9:30-10:15 Fri May 2 6-6:45 (check to make sure they don’t conflict with your classes)

Happy start to the semester! As some of you may know, we (ETC) opened The Show Must Go On this week. Max Shanteler and Samm Johnson are heading up our stage and deck management. Meredith Hoole, Michael Aviles Bramer, Jeremy Maddocks, and Coco Brochu are in the cast alongside 50 other PSU and community members. It is a really fun show! It runs through Sunday at The Flying Monkey. We are happy to offer discounted seats to all PSU students using the promo code: SPOTLIGHT (all caps). You can go to www.flyingmonkeynh.com to get your discounted tickets. We hope to see you there!

Many thanks to all who auditioned for Twelfth Night and Just So! It was a pleasure seeing your work and to have so many fabulous choices to cast these roles. This play is one of my favorites and I am ecstatic to get started on it with all of you! IMPORTANT: We need to meet before departing for winter break! We’ll be having essential conversation about how to approach Shakespearean text so that you can begin your text work over the break and come back fully prepared (and as close to memorized as possible) to begin rehearsal. This will be vital to our ability to put this production on its feet in a relatively short amount of time. If possible, we’ll also do a read-through I realize it’s short notice during a busy time, but PLEASE make every attempt to be there, even if it’s inconvenient. Our meetings will be Tuesday, December 3rd 6:00 – 9:00 and Thursday, December 5th 6:00 – 9:00. Please email Stage Manager Leigh Rohe (leah.rohe@plymouth.edu) by the end of the day on Novemeber 27th and either confirm that you can be there or let them know if you have absolutely unbreakable conflicts. If you’re not Read More

Hi Beth & Matt, So great to see you both the other day online. Attached please find a very draft schedule for both Performance & Design for January – please note Design is on the second tab (performance on the first). Fee as discussed is €2150 for the 3 weeks (accommodation, tutelage and all cultural & theatre visits). Caveat: all modules are draft at present, we would need to know what exact design (set/ costume/ lighting) attending students were and we would tailor it accordingly. (the Excel sheet schedules are available here)I know a couple of tech students have reached out to Evanna directly, are you happy for us to share this with them?A few videos here. Here is one of our adverts, and here is another short promo. Here is a lovely video of testimonials. I hope this helps the students see what a special experience this could be. All the best,  Maeve

You are invited!!! On November 22nd our Dance Project class will be hosting a performance opportunity.  What we are looking for is student choreographed pieces to add to our performance.  This performance will be located in the Cheney Studio Theatre.  Our theme is A Century of Women Dancing. Please submit an audition video to rag1017@plymouth.edu by October 5th.  When you submit your audition piece be sure to include your name, the choreographer, names of the dancers, style of dance, and the song with the artist you are using. If you are in need of dance studio practice time email me (Becky) at rag1017@plymouth.edu and Tracy Dickson Tracey.Dickson@plymouth.edu

In connection with Advice To The Players’ production of The Tempest that is touring to PSU on Wednesday, September 25–the company will be offering a Shakespeare and movement workshop led by Charls Sedgwick Hall*. The workshop will be in the Smith Recital Hall Wednesday 9/25 from 4:30-5:30/5:45 (dependent on number of participants). Shakespeare On The Move is a workshop of embodying Shakespeare’s text through a series of movement exercise. Active participation in this workshop is limited to 15 students. Please RSVP to Jessie at jmchapman@plymouth.edu to get on the list. An unlimited number of observers are welcome at the workshop (no rsvp required). To participate fully in the workshop please come in with a monologue/piece of memorized Shakespeare text. If you need help selecting a Shakespeare monologue, you can contact Jessie. (If you have already taken Voice & Diction 1, you can use your monologue from that class). After the workshop you can see Charls perform as Prospero in The Tempest. The performance starts at 7pm in the Cheney Studio Theater and attendance is free for PSU community. The performance runs under 90 minutes with no intermission. Charls Sedwick Hall Bio: Charls is an actor, teaching artist, movement teacher, director Read More

Wednesday Sept 11th 2:30p to 3:45 Cheney Studio Theatre You might need to ask your parents, but believe me, John Davidson is a very well-known celebrity from 60s into the early 90s. He has been a talk-show host, pop-music singer, gameshow host, and actor for television, film, and Broadway. He currently lives here in New Hampshire. He is absolutely charming and pleasant to talk with. This Wednesday afternoon he will be joining us to talk in the Silver Center. I have asked him to talk with our students about what it is to work in entertainment. He was a little hesistant because his career arc was most powerful in earlier decades, but there is a ton of wisdom and good will he has to share. Please join us and make him welcome. This is a VERY rare opportunity for all of you to talk personally with someone who’s career developed alongside color television, when variety shows were the norm, and gameshows were at their very peak of popularity. If you are available during this slot, please come. This will be an informal discussion in the Cheney Studio Theatre. Take a moment and explore his background. Here are links to IMDB, Read More