(cue drum roll…)
The 2021-22 Kansas State University Theatre Season!
We are very happy to announce that (fingers crossed) we will be back to doing in-person performances for the 21-22 academic year. We’re excited to bring you the following season of theatre productions, along with dance and opera contributions from our MTD colleagues.
1st Mainstage Show
WORKING a musical
Book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso,
Music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor
Lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead.
Directed by Jerry Jay Cranford
Sept. 23 – Oct. 2; Chapman Theatre
Based on Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers, Working paints a vivid portrait of the men and women that the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason and the housewife, just to name a few. Nominated for six Tony Awards, this classic has been updated for a modern age, featuring new songs by Tony Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as favorites by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia and James Taylor. (https://www.mtishows.com)
1st Second Stage production
CROOKED
By Catherine Trieschmann
Directed by Jillian Sommerauer
Oct. 7 – 10; Purple Masque Theatre
Fourteen year old Laney arrives in Oxford, Mississippi with a twisted back, a mother in crisis and a burning desire to be writer. When she befriends Maribel Purdy, a fervent believer in the power of Jesus Christ to save her from the humiliations of high school, Laney embarks on a hilarious spiritual and sexual journey that challenges her mother’s secular worldview and threatens to tear their fragile relationship apart. (https://www.concordtheatricals.com)
2nd Mainstage show
FRANKENSTEIN
By Mary Shelly; Adapted by Austin Tichenor
Directed by Jennifer Vellenga
October 21 to October 31; Chapman Theatre
Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1816, and it caught the public imagination almost immediately. The first stage adaptation was written in 1823, and since then countless film versions, parodies, and modern interpretations have changed the associations we have with the Frankenstein name. Shelley’s novel offers many pleasures but fulfilling the horror-movie expectations of the modern reader isn’t one of them. This adaptation attempts to be faithful to Shelley’s original themes, characters, mood, and literary sensibility while at the same time giving an audience a little bit more of what it expects from something called “Frankenstein.” (https://www.broadwayplaypub.com)
2nd Second Stage Show
Two One Act Plays
ILLUSIONS OF HOPE AND DESPAIR
By Jared Adams; Directed by Conrad Schmechel
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF TOM
By Conrad Schmechel; Directed by Karly Breshears
November 4 -7, Purple Masque Theatre
“Illusions of Hope and Despair” is an autobiographical ethnodrama based on interviews the playwright, Jared Adams, held with his family. This play attempts to capture the complexity and complications of a family trying their best to support a member with acute Schizophrenia and aims to be a psychoeducational art piece showing the humanity in a disease that is so often seen one dimensionally.
Most people have stigmatized ideas about schizophrenia. This play can help address these false beliefs, which are often created through plays, movies, and other media, and lower the stigma toward people who have schizophrenia and their families.
“The Ups and Downs of Tom” is the story of an individual’s experiences living with bipolar disorder, based on interviews with real people with bipolar disorder and their significant others/close confidants. This disorder is often stigmatized and tied to misinformation, stoking fear of those living with it. Playwright Conrad Schmechel hopes that this play will shine a light on bipolar disorder while also giving a voice to those living with it and those who know someone with bipolar disorder.
WINTER DANCE CONCERT
Dates TBA, Chapman Theatre
SWEAT
by Lynn Nottage
A Co-production with Ebony Theatre
Directed by: Guest artist TBA
Feb. 3 – 13, Chapman Theatre
Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat. (https://www.dramatists.com)
STAGE READING (Title TBA)
Directed by Morgan Boyer
Feb. 18 & 19, Purple Masque Theatre
3rd Second Stage
EBONY THEATRE (Title TBA)
Feb. 24 – 27, Purple Masque Theatre
OPERA PERFORMANCE (Title TBA)
MARCH 3-6, McCain Auditorium
THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD
By Paul Rudnik
Stage reading
Directed by Jerry Jay Cranford
March 25th and 26th, Purple Masque Theatre
A stage manager, headset and prompt book at hand, brings the house lights to half, then dark, and cues the creation of the world. Throughout the play, she’s in control of everything. In other words, she’s either God, or she thinks she is. Act One recounts the major episodes of the Old Testament, only with a twist: Instead of Adam and Eve, our lead characters are Adam and Steve, and Jane and Mabel, a lesbian couple with whom they decide to start civilization. (https://www.dramatists.com)
SPRING DANCE CONCERT
APRIL 1st and 2nd, McCain Auditorium
THE IMAGINARY INVALID
By Moliere
Adapted and directed by David Mackay
April 21-May 1, Chapman Theatre
A contemporary take on Moliere’s classic about a hypochondriac and the lengths he will go to in order to minimize his minimize his doctor bills, proving that laughter is, indeed, the best medicine.
BARRIER FREE THEATRE
Original script
Directed by Sally Bailey
April 28 – May 1, Purple Masque Theatre