Department of Performing Arts

In this 2009-10 season, we are "Going Mad: Shattering and Re-Imagining the Real." The arts in general and theater in particular have, of course, a deep and intricate relationship to questions of madness, to the dramatic exploration of the fine line between reality and illusion. Our work as performers, writers, directors, and designers at its core traffics in the exploration of multiple personas, a proliferation of selves. We engage in a kind of madness as we craft fictions designed to illuminate the “truth” of our real lives and worlds -- socially, psychologically, and politically.

So this season we are thrilled to be “Going Mad,” as we present a diverse season of new and classic works that engage madness, reality, and illusion through a vast array of theatrical forms and genres. As always, you can also expect the season to feature numerous additional performances, special events, interdisciplinary collaborations, panels, master classes, and student-centered professional partnership events with leading companies, all substantively integrated with our nationally distinctive theater and performance studies curriculum.

The 2009-10 GOING MAD season is generously supported by the Kenyon Family.

Purchase a Flex Pass, good for four tickets to any combination of the shows below, for only $50 for the general public (up to 30% savings), $40 for faculty/staff/alumni/senior (up to 33% savings) and $20 for Georgetown University students (up to 50% savings). Read more in our box office or join the ranks of Flex Pass holders now: 

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World Premiere Adaptation
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Written by Luigi Pirandello
Adapted and Directed by Professor Derek Goldman

October 15-17 at 8 p.m.
October 18 at 2 p.m.
October 21-24 at 8 p.m.
Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre

In Pirandello's masterpiece, newly re-imagined for the Georgetown stage, six mysterious strangers appear unannounced at a rehearsal of Hamlet, declaring themselves fictional characters on a quest to find an author for their experiences. As their narrative unfolds, reality and fiction become increasingly blurred, as a shattering family history of violence, sexual horror, and madness comes to the surface. One of the richest explorations ever conceived of the limits and possibilities of theatrical art, this new version will leave audiences dizzied and moved as they try to untangle the invented from the real.

Due to the nature of this performance, there will be absolutely NO LATE SEATING for Six Characters in Search of an Author, and no re-entry if you need to leave the theater.

The running time is approximately one hour and 45 minutes. There is no intermission.

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Caroline, or Change
a co-production with Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society, Black Theatre Ensemble, the Music Program, and the Theater and Performance Studies Program

Book and Lyrics by Tony Kushner
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Directed by Kari Fox, COL ‘10
Musical Direction by Professor C. Paul Heins

November 12-14 at 8 p.m.
November 15 at 2 p.m.
November 18-21 at 8 p.m.
Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre

Set against the backdrop of the Kennedy assassination and the Civil Rights Movement during the final tumultuous months of 1963, this Tony-nominated, semi-autobiographical musical by Tony Kushner (Angels in America) explores the clash between two families’ American experiences. Caroline Thibodeaux, an African-American maid in a Jewish family’s wealthy Louisiana household, discovers money in the laundry of eight-year old Noah, forcing her into an ethical dilemma that ultimately leads to a new appreciation for the power of change. Composer Jeanine Tesori’s (Thoroughly Modern Millie) exhilarating score weaves gospel, pop, blues, jazz, and traditional Jewish melodies together to support this powerful show the New York Times called “extraordinary.”

 

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World premiere adaptation
Madness and Civilization
Inspired by the Book by Michel Foucault
Created for the stage by Professor Natsu Onoda Power and the Ensemble

February 11-13 at 8 p.m.
February 14 at 2 p.m.
February 17-20 at 8 p.m.
Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre

Do you hear voices? Do your hands sweat? Is it a sign of genius, or a symptom of illness? Is it eccentricity or disorder? Inspired by Michel Foucault's 1961 classic and deeply influential non-fiction work examining the archaeology of madness in the West from the Middle Ages forward, this mind-altering, multimedia, ensemble-based production explores madness through ideas, visual images, literature, and art.

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DC premiere
The Grace of Mary Traverse
By Timberlake Wertenbaker
Directed by Professor Maya Roth

April 8-10 at 8 p.m.
April 11 at 2 p.m.
April 14-17 at 8 p.m.
Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre

A boldly inventive historical drama which resonates powerfully with contemporary life, The Grace of Mary Traverse chronicles a young woman’s Faustian quest for identity, power, and grace. With dizzying wit, intellect and speed, the play follows Mary’s brutal and often darkly comic spiral within male-dominated realms of sex, gambling, politics, and religion in 18th-century London. Internationally acclaimed British playwright and recent GU Visiting Faculty member Timberlake Wertenbaker (Our Country's Good, Love of the Nightingale) returns to Georgetown's campus for the area premiere of this award-winning work, celebrating its 25th anniversary.