Hidden Histories
A Festival Season of New and Unseen Works
2007-08
The 2007 - 2008 Theatrical Season at the Davis Performing Arts Center
The 2007-2008 Theatrical Season:
The 2007-2008 Season, Hidden Histories: a Festival Season of New and Unseen Works, embraces the Theater and Performance Studies Program’s commitment to the development of new work. Each of the four works chosen deals explicitly with the relationship between history "writ large" and its more microcosmic, personal, and psychic reverberations.
Fabulation, or the
Re-Education of Undine
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Isaiah Wooden
DC PREMIERE!
Nov. 1-2 at 8 pm; Nov. 3 at 2 pm and 8 pm; Nov. 4 at 2 ..pm
Presented in Collaboration with Black Theatre Ensemble
A sharp and riotously comic satire, this urban parable is about the dangers of disingenuous self-creation. Undine Barnes Calles is living her version of the American Dream until her husband disappears with her fortune. Bankrupt and pregnant, she is forced to confront the past she tried desperately to kill. Fashioned with dynamic theatricality and surprising warmth, this contemporary tale of comeuppance promises to transport audiences with humor and humanity.
Trees and Ghosts
Adapted and Directed by Natsu Onoda, from the Graphic Novels of Tezuka Osamu
WORLD PREMIERE!
Nov. 8 - 10, 14 - 17 at 8 pm; Nov. 11 at 2pm
A new multimedia production adapted from three short graphic novels by a Japanese cartoonist Tezuka Osamu, who is considered the inventor of manga (contemporary Japanese comics). Spirits, elements of nature and memories of World War II haunt each of the stories that make up this highly visual production which employs interactive video, live on-stage drawing, and live taiko drums.
Wisconsin Death Trip
Directed by Tim Raphael
Adapted by Jeffrey Berkson and Tim Raphael from the book by Michael Lesy
Lyrics by Jeffrey Berkson and Tim Raphael, Music by Jeffrey Berkson
WORLD PREMIERE!
Jan 31- Feb. 2, Feb. 6-9 at 8 pm; Feb. 3 at 2 pm
A new chamber opera adaptation of cultural historian Michael Lesy’s genre-defying classic. Composed from local history and gossip, newspaper accounts and photographs, asylum records and contemporary fiction, Lesy’s hallucinogenic text chronicles the decline of a rural Wisconsin county during the Great Depression of the 1890s. Employing American roots music to shift back and forth in time between the 1890 and the 1980s, the piece tells the story of a trailer park denizen living in the margins of Reagan’s America, haunted by the nineteenth century ghosts of Black River Falls.
Stuff Happens
By David Hare
Directed by Derek Goldman
DC PREMIERE
April 10-12, 16-19 at 8 pm; April 13 at 2 pm
A dynamic history play that takes as its subject the diplomatic and political build-up to the Iraqi War, with familiar characters such as Colin, Condi, Cheney, Rummy, and Dubya himself. Combining documentary-style transcripts with Hare's imaginings of conversations that took place behind closed doors, Stuff Happens examines the dynamic between private, hidden histories and the grand and more visible currents of our own contemporary history.
Summer 2008
Next year's season will also include the return of the Gritti Politti Summer Performance Festiva, and numerous interdisciplinary collaborations, music and dance events, residencies and performances as part of our partnerships with Arena Stage, American Opera Theater, and more.
JUST ANNOUNCED!
.Anansi the Story King
. Adapted and directed by Nadine George-Graves
..WORLD PREMIERE!
This new production will be an indoor/outdoor spectacle that re-imagines the legend of Anansi the spider, the classical African Diaspora trickster, using puppetry, new media, music and dance. A mash-up of the traditional African legend with the Arabian classic, Shahrazad, it is a performance for the whole family, a magical tale recounting Anansi's attempts to prove he is king of all stories, while Sheri the firefly tries to outspin Anansi's yarns and escape his powerful web.
* Note all titles are subject to change and contingent upon final licensing of performance rights.
Theater Community Season Subscription at the Davis Center
A great new adventure in subscriptions: You'll see one show from the Mask & Bauble Season, one show from the Nomadic Theatre Season, A collaboration with Black Theatre Ensemble and the entire Theater & Performance Studies Season--all will take place in the Davis Arts Center; a total of 6 GREAT shows all at 25% off the single ticket price! This subscription package includes:
Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (DC Premiere)
Theater Program & Black Theatre Ensemble Collaboration
Trees & Ghosts (World Premiere)
Theater Program
The House of Blue Leaves (by GU Alum, John Guare)
Nomadic Theatre
Wisconsin Death Trip (World Premiere)
Theater Program
Black Comedy
Mask & Bauble Dramatic Society
Stuff Happens (DC Premiere)
Theater Program
Not sure which evenings to attend? Subscribers get free exchanges! Don't miss this amazing season and a chance to save and guarantee your seats!!
Theater and Performance Studies Program Subscription
Subscribe to our Hidden Histories series, and you receive seats to all four of our exciting premiere productions at 25% off the regular ticket price. It's like getting one show free!
Plus, as a subscriber you enjoy complete flexibility, with unlimited exchange privileges at no cost. In addition, as a subscriber, you will receive special privileges throughout the year at the Davis Center, including priority invitations to a wide range of events, including special receptions, workshops, readings, residencies, lectures and master classes with many of the nation's leading artists, and performances as part of our partnership with Arena Stage, our Festival of Interfaith Arts, and much more. Subscribe now!
