Ursinus College Theater & Dance Announces 2022-23 Season
Communities are comprised of an intricate web of relationships, identities, and values. This year, many of those elements will be explored on stage during the 2022-23 season for Ursinus College Theater and Dance, which begins Friday, September 16, with its 23rd annual Fringe Festival and continues all year with three plays staged on the Ursinus campus, as well as two original dance concerts.
“The theme of our 2022-2023 season of productions and concerts is community. Pandemic isolation and a divisive political climate have fractured a sense of shared community; our season is a response to such fracture and a celebration of the value of community to help us cultivate empathy. We are inviting audience members to join the conversation that we hope each live production and concert sparks; indeed, it is the liveness of staged theater and dance that fosters community,” Associate Professor and Chair of Theater and Dance Meghan Brodie said.
The Ursinus Fringe Festival—an annual three-day event that brings cutting-edge, experimental performances and visual arts to campus—will kick off the season September 16-18. It will feature professional, student, faculty, and staff artists sharing their latest theater, dance, music, film, and visual art works. This year, Ursinus is thrilled to welcome guest improv artist and teacher Bobbi Block as well as the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (IRC), Philadelphia’s critically acclaimed theater company known for intelligent and accessible interpretations of classic absurdist works, to its Fringe Festival. Bobbi Block will host an evening of improv and IRC will perform Tennessee Williams’ The Two-Character Play.
Brodie, who is also an Ursinus graduate, is directing two plays this season. Emily Mann’s docudrama Execution of Justice (November 3-6) examines the LGBTQ+ community in the wake of a tragedy. It draws upon court transcripts and public records to investigate the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk—the first openly-gay elected public official in the United States—and the 1979 trial of accused killer and former City Supervisor Dan White. Bess Wohl’s irreverent comedy Small Mouth Sounds (February 23-26) considers how communities, however unexpected, satisfy our need to connect with others.
Additionally, Ursinus College Theater will stage Working adapted by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz, directed by Professor of Theater Domenick Scudera (March 23-26). It celebrates the work and workers that are the lifeblood of our community. Originally staged in the 1970s, the musical is based on oral historian Studs Terkel’s influential book, Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. An updated version, created a few years ago, features songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, James Taylor, Micki Grant, and more. The Ursinus College Theater production will update the musical further by employing documentary theater techniques to interview local workers and to use their words in our script. This unique production creates a fresh, personalized show honoring the workforce within our own community.
The fall and spring Ursinus College Dance Company concerts (December 1-3 and April 27-29) celebrate artistic communities and the new beginnings they forge and will be produced by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Jeannine Osayande and Clemente, respectively.
Fringe Festival is free and open to the public. Tickets for Execution of Justice, Small Mouth Sounds, and UCDC concerts are $8 general admission and $5 for students, seniors, and Ursinus faculty and staff. Tickets for Working are $10 general admission and $7 for students, seniors, and Ursinus faculty and staff. Visit ursinus.edu/tickets. For information, visit ursinus.edu/liveonmain.
Performances are as follows:
23rd Annual Fringe Festival
September 16, 8 p.m. & 9:15 p.m.: Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema Screening
Berman Museum of Art, Pfeiffer Wing (Classroom 016)
September 17, 7 p.m.: Evening of Improv with Ursinus Students and Guest Artist Bobbi Block
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
September 17, 9 p.m.: Cabaret
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
September 18, 2:30 p.m.: Tennessee Williams’ The Two Character Play
Produced by Guest Artist Company The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium and featuring guests artists Tina Brock and John Zak
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
Execution of Justice by Emily Mann
Directed by Associate Professor of Theater Meghan Brodie
November 3, 4, and 5, 7:30 p.m.; November 6, 2 p.m.
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
Ursinus College Dance Company Fall Dance Concert
Produced by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Jeannine Osayande
December 1, 2, and 3, 7:30 p.m.
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl
Directed by Associate Professor of Theater Meghan Brodie
February 23, 24, and 25, 7:30 p.m.; February 26, 2 p.m.
Blackbox Studio Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
Working adapted by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz
Directed by Professor of Theater Domenick Scudera
Music Direction by Professor of Music Holly Hubbs
Choreography by Professor of Dance Karen Clemente
March 23, 24, and 25, 7:30 p.m.; March 26, 2 p.m.
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center
Ursinus College Dance Company Spring Dance Concert
Professor of Dance Karen Clemente
April 27, 28, and 29, 7:30 p.m.
Lenfest Theater, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center