\nplays by Lonergan, Rivera, and experimental<\/span>
\ntheater group The Neo-Futurists<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/i><\/span>Allentown, PA (Nov. 8, 2019) \u2014 Six talented Muhlenberg College senior directing students will present their work as part of Muhlenberg\u2019s \u201cNew Voices | New Visions\u201d Festival, an annual showcase for directors and playwrights, featuring groundbreaking and innovative short plays.<\/span>
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\nThe fifth show will be offered in a new late-night slot, and will feature selections from The Neo-Futurists\u2019 avant-garde audience participation show \u201cToo Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.\u201d Tickets for this performance are sold separately.<\/span>
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\u201cThe festival is an opportunity for our upperclass directors to work in a fully produced environment,\u201d says Charles Richter<\/b>, the festival\u2019s artistic director. \u201cAll directors have a strong sense of concept. They have very specific creative visions for their plays and know how to present them to contemporary audiences.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u> Playwright Patrick Daly<\/b> says he initially wrote the play as a passion project to explore the American sitcom. He says he was fascinated to find clips on YouTube of beloved sitcoms like \u201cFriends\u201d or \u201cFull House\u201d \u2014 but without the laugh track.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t understand why people liked sitcoms so much,\u201d Daly says. \u201cWithout the laugh track, everything just sounds really sad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Daly says he has enjoyed the process of collaborating with director Nora Germani<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe has a wonderful grasp of little details I would have never considered while writing the script,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Germani has a long history of directing student-written work, including her own. Through her non-profit, student-run theatre company, Black Tie Productions, she has been involved in writing and directing two full-length musicals, \u201cReprise\u201d and \u201cEmerald City.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Germani says \u201cFamily Values\u201d is the first live theater productions she\u2019s aware of that features a pre-recorded laugh-track. She says she\u2019s looking forward to seeing how it affects the reactions of a live audience.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe play is about trying to understand your family when you just can\u2019t,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s much darker than a typical sitcom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u> \u201cDo you like \u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019?\u201d Goldberg says. \u201cBecause it\u2019s nothing like that.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u> Information Provided By: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\n\u201cFamily Values\u201d<\/span><\/b> looks inside a mid-\u201990s sitcom, where raw emotions fight for attention beneath laugh-track superficiality.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\u201cBeauty Runs on Light Feet\u201d<\/span><\/b> offers a compelling snapshot of family life, in which a husband and wife struggle painfully to express what matters most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nPlaywright Kenneth Lonergan won an Academy Award in 2017 for his screenplay for \u00a0\u201cManchester by the Sea.\u201d The revival of his play \u201cThe Waverly Gallery\u201d was nominated for a Tony Award in 2018.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cLonergan is able to capture human complexity in such a compelling way,\u201d says director Jacob Wahba<\/b>. \u201cHe\u2019s a naturalistic writer. I\u2019m drawn to plays that depict realistic behavior.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWahba says that Lonergan\u2019s hyper-realistic writing style demands spontaneity from the actors. <\/span>
\n\u201cThey continue to surprise me at every rehearsal,\u201d he says. \u201cThey aren\u2019t afraid to challenge each other and take risks.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nWahba has worked with Axelrod Performing Arts Center, a regional theatre in New Jersey, for the past three summers. He also served as assistant director of \u201cUbu Roi\u201d at Muhlenberg in the spring of 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cI am inviting the audience into a bedroom as a private moment is shared between two people,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are embracing the discomfort of this private conversation, to demonstrate the unsettling side to love.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u>
\n\u201cHoly Sh*t\u201d<\/span><\/b> pits a single mother against her old nemesis, the nun in charge of her daughter’s school, and asks whatever happened to good old Catholic forgiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\u201cIt comes down to a sort of verbal tennis match between the characters,\u201d says playwright Caroline Dunn<\/b>.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAfter growing up in the Catholic school system, Dunn says she was interested in exposing the hypocrisy she observed in some leaders of the Catholic church.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cThis was my way of retorting back to them to practice what you preach,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nDunn is involved in standup comedy, improv and sketch groups on campus. She wrote \u201cHoly Sh*t\u201d in an Intro to Playwriting course; it is the first play she ever wrote.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nDunn and director Heather Nielsen<\/b> were brought together by their passion for producing work that highlights the female experience.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an entirely female-identifying team: the playwright, director and actors,\u201d Nielsen says. \u201cWomen\u2019s voices need to be heard more, and I\u2019m excited to be contributing to that.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nLast spring, Nielsen directed the play \u201cMy California,\u201d which also featured an all-female cast.<\/span>
\n\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I started working with all-female casts and playwrights that I found my niche,\u201d she says.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u>
\n\u201cLessons for an Unaccustomed Bride\u201d<\/span><\/b> follows a naive young bride-to-be as she seeks help from the town witch, who knows more than the girl expected.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPlaywright Jos\u00e9 Rivera incorporates his experience as a Puerto Rican artist into his work. His plays often emphasize family, sexuality and spirituality.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nDirector Frederick Marte has been working with the actors to highlight the play\u2019s elements of magical realism. Although the play is written for just two characters, Marte cast an ensemble of actors who help create the play\u2019s spiritual and supernatural world through movement and music.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cThe actors embody spirituality in themselves,\u201d Marte says. \u201cI have the ensemble embodying two clashing belief systems.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nMarte says the language within the play itself has a musicality to it. The actors have been working with dialect coach Roger Ainslie to help them with their accents and with the rhythms of the play.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cBoth of the actors already speak Spanish so they understand the cultural aspects of what they are saying,\u201d Marte says.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nMarte studied abroad for the past year in the Dominican Republic, which has a strong tradition of devised theatre. From this immersive experience, he has crafted a prologue for the production \u2014 an independent piece of performance art that responds to Rivera\u2019s published work.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cWe\u2019re talking about something that is so relevant, despite the fact that it is taking place in a different location and time,\u201d he says. \u201cMany people have a hard time having discussions with those with different views or values; this play navigates through that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/u>
\n\u201cToo Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,\u201d<\/span><\/b> by the Neo-Futurists, a Chicago-based experimental theater group, will be presented as a separate \u201cAfter Hours\u201d event \u2014 an avant-garde theatrical performance, in which the action on stage is determined by the luck of the draw.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAudience members select short plays at random, to be performed from a repertoire of 30 possibilities. The plays range from existential slapstick to soul-baring monologue.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cIt\u2019s an hour-long theatrical marathon,\u201d says co-director Ben Goldberg<\/b>. \u201cWe\u2019re going to see how many of them we can get through. Each night the order of performance will depend on what the audience picks.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cToo Much Light\u201d will be presented Thursday through Saturday at 11 p.m. Shows at 5 and 8 p.m. will be offered on Sunday, Nov. 24, for those who want to see the late-night show without the late night.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nCo-director Matt Beaune<\/b> says the plays vary wildly.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cThere\u2019s one called \u2018Blind Date,\u2019 where the premise is that a performer is blindfolded and goes on a date with an audience member,\u201d Beaune says. \u201cBut there\u2019s also one called \u2018The Pitter Patter of Tiny Feet,\u2019 where a man mourns the death of his hypothetical child after his wife fails a pregnancy test.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBeaune says that Muhlenberg has a culture of late-night performances, owing to many a cappella and improv groups performing in the wee hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n\u201cThis connects us to the work,\u201d Beaune says. \u201cThe creators of the plays, the Neo-Futurists, often perform their work at late-night shows, so this worked out perfectly.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\nGoldberg and Beaune are working separately with casts of eight performers, who will eventually unite when the show opens.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\nPerformances of \u201cNew Voices | New Visions\u201d are Nov. 20-24: Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Regular admission tickets are $15. Tickets for youth and LVAIC students and staff are $8.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nPerformances of \u201cNew Visions After Hours\u201d are Wednesday through Saturday at 11 p.m., Sunday at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. All tickets are $5.<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nTickets can be purchased online at muhlenberg.edu\/theatre<\/a> or by phone at 484-664-3333. Performances are in the Studio Theatre in Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 West Chew St., Allentown.<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/b>Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is a highly selective, private, four-year residential college located in Allentown, PA., approximately 90 miles west of New York City. With an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, sciences, business, education and public health. A member of the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg competes in 22 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/span>Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg\u2019s theater program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theater and dance. The department was founded in 1983; the theater major was established in 1978, and the dance major was established in 1993.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n
\nScott Snyder
\nMarketing & Development Manager
\nMuhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance<\/p>\n
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