Aug. 30, 2012. Appalachian State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance announces its 2012-13 season, featuring comedy, drama and dance.
The fall semester will feature seven productions: First Year Student Showcase, “Noises Off,” North Carolina Dance Festival, “Middletown,” Butoh Dance Theatre, Fall Appalachian Dance Ensemble and Playcrafters’ New Play Festival.
The spring semester features five productions: Momentum Dance Showcase, “The Glass Menagerie,” Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble, “Luna” presented by Appalachian Young People’s Theatre and “The Madwoman of Chaillot.”
Tickets are available at the Valborg Theater box office on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 to 5 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 5 p.m. or by phone at 828-262-3063. Prices are $6 for students and youth (ages 6-18) at all venues, $13 for faculty/staff and seniors in Valborg and $8 for I.G. Greer shows, and $15 for adults in Valborg and $10 in I.G. Greer. More information is available online at www.theatre.appstate.edu.
Fall 2012
The First Year Student Showcase focuses on new students’ talent in the intimate black-box style I.G. Greer Studio Theater Sept. 27-29. Show times are 7:30 p.m.
The British farce “Noises Off” by Michael Frayn will be presented Oct. 3-6 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 7 at 2 p.m. in Valborg Theatre. This slapstick comedy is a play within a play and follows the cast as they struggle to get ready for their upcoming performance, fumbling with entrances, exits, missed cues, malapropism and annoying arrays of props. Their progression toward the actual performance is a hilarious escalation of tension and the contrast between the actors’ real-life personalities versus their characters.
The North Carolina Dance Festival will take place in Valborg Theatre Oct. 25-27 at 7:30 p.m. This statewide dance festival features local dance groups from around North Carolina performing different pieces every night.
“Middletown” by Will Eno is a humorous look at life and death and the struggle to get through the day without killing yourself. The play runs Oct. 31 – Nov. 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 4 at 2 p.m., and again Nov. 7 – 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. in I.G. Greer Studio Theater. This surreal story fleshes out a variety of characters living in a small town as they are given the opportunity to step out of the shadows and onto the stage where they assert their individuality. It has been described as “funny but poignant” and “a post-modern ‘Our Town.’”
Butoh Dance Theatre, featuring guest performer Paul Ibey, will be presented Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Valborg Theatre. This performance involves playful and grotesque imagery, taboo topics, extreme or absurd environments, and is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion.
The always-intriguing Fall Appalachian Dance Ensemble (FADE) hits the Valborg Theatre stage Nov. 14-17 at 7:30 p.m., featuring both student= and faculty choreography and performance. In past years, performances have sold out, so the public is encouraged to purchase tickets early.
The New Play Festival will be presented Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in I.G. Greer Studio Theater. It presents an opportunity for students to shine as it features several one-act plays that are written, produced, performed and directed by Appalachian students with minimal faculty support. The festival is hosted by Appalachian’s theater club Playcrafters, an active voice in Appalachian theatre since 1933.
Spring 2013
The spring season begins with the Momentum Dance Showcase Jan. 25-26 at 7:30 p.m. in Varsity Gym room 208. This show is completely student run, featuring performances choreographed, directed and produced by Appalachian students ranging from business majors to theatre minors, as every Appalachian student is welcome to participate in this collaboration with minimal faculty assistance. Students gain real-world experience performing and producing dance productions.
Marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Tennessee Williams, his play “The Glass Menagerie” will be presented in Valborg Theatre Feb. 13-16 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. This beautiful, macabre story follows a young man and his family seeking to marry off their youngest daughter. As misunderstandings progress and dreams fade, the play evolves into a tragic piece believed to be autobiographic.
The Spring Appalachian Dance Ensemble completes the 2012-13 dance season in Valborg Theatre Feb. 27-March 7 at 7:30 p.m., with new pieces featuring student and faculty choreography and performance with something for all tastes.
The Appalachian Young People’s Theatre performs “Luna” in I.G. Greer Studio Theatre April 5-6 at 7 p.m. and April 7 at 2 p.m. The entertaining and heart-warming story by Ramon Esquivel takes audiences on a journey with Soledad, the daughter of migrant farm workers. Because Soledad is constantly changing homes and schools, she turns inward and finds comfort in books, the stars and the company of the friendly moon, Luna. She realizes that no matter where she moves with her family, Luna is always there. Soledad’s story will resonate with anyone who has wondered, “How do I make, and hold on to, a good friend?”
“The Madwoman of Chaillot” will be presented in Valborg Theatre April 24-27 at 7:30 p.m. and April 28 at 2 p.m. This work by Jean Giraudoux follows an eccentric woman in Paris who struggles with the straight-laced authority figures in her life. Written in 1943, this satire consists of businessmen corrupting the environment for their own good. Their latest exploits are to uproot the city of Paris in order to get their hands on the oil beneath it. The story’s heroine strives to save humanity and the city of Paris by foiling their scheme with the help of her fellow outcasts.
About the Venues
I.G. Greer Studio Theatre is located in the lower level of I.G. Greer Hall, facing the B.B. Dougherty Administration Building. Valborg Theatre is located on the north side of Chapell Wilson Hall on Howard Street, with the door facing the back of the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on King Street. Parking is available after 5 p.m. in campus lots and the College Street parking deck near Belk Library and Information Commons.
The Department of Theatre and Dance is housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts. Its mission is to provide liberal arts educations for the B.S. degree in teaching theatre arts and the B.A. degrees in dance studies or theatre arts. The department also values the opportunity to offer coursework for integrated learning through the arts to the general university student population. Vital to the support of this mission is a dynamic co-curricular production program that provides exemplary theatre and dance experiences to departmental students, the university community and the region. The departmental philosophy is to support the university’s liberal arts environment through a balanced and integrated emphasis on teaching, creative activity, scholarship and service.
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