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Written by Chiara Atik
Directed by Culley Guest Artist Alana Dietze
Scenic and Lighting Design by Xinyuan Li
Costume Design by Aed McMillian
Sound Design by Jeff Gardner

 

November 7-9 at 7:30pm and November 10 at 2:00pm in Keck Theater

 

Clare is just a regular noblewoman living in Assisi, Italy in 1211, gossiping with her ladies’ maids, dreaming up new dresses with her sister, and contemplating her future marriage. When she encounters the eccentric Francis, her worldview is shaken by his unusual views on poverty and privilege. As Clare and Francis’ friendship grows, they wrestle with questions of what it means to be a good person in a devastating world. How can we truly live in service to others? Can we ever do enough? Is there a middle ground? How can we accept the suffering of humanity and, if we cannot, how do we face that suffering head on? Inspired by the true stories of Chiara and Francis di Assisi, Poor Clare introduces us to two radical spiritual leaders who made choices in their time that most of us would find unthinkable today. Simultaneously, it is the story of every person who has wrestled with the Sisyphean problems of our world and tried, despite their unfixable nature, to help.

 

 

Thursday-Saturday, November 21-23 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 24 at 2pm in Keck Theater

Set in a modern-day, war-torn country, the story of Antigone wrestles with the themes of power/higher power, faith, family, and the tortuous continuation of familial trauma. All set against one brave character (Antigone) who is determined to end the cycle and find resolve, though the stakes could not be higher.

 

Spring 2025

Scapin

Written by Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell
Adapted from Molière
Directed by Wanlass Visiting Artist Daniel Passer

Thursday-Saturday, April 17-19 at 7:30pm and Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 at 7:30pm in Keck Theater

Scapin is a wild rollercoaster ride of a comedy engineered by the title character – a schemer and chaos-maker.  The style that inspired Moliere was Commedia dell’Arte, a hugely popular theatrical form that originated in Northern Italy in the 16^th Century where stock characters (archetypes) improvised around a loose scenario.  Eventually, playwrights scripted the scenarios while leaving space for the actors to improvise bits or Lazzi. This adaptation by Bill Irwin and Mark O’Donnell follows this comedy lineage from Commedia to Vaudeville, Music Hall and even cartoon. Bill Irwin is one of our great contemporary clowns and clearly draws these skills to the page as the anti-hero, Scapin, goes on diversion after diversion on his way toward his goal of deceit and revenge. This is not to say that there aren’t deeper themes at play here. Particularly resonant is the divisiveness of the characters with parents preventing their children from marrying the ones they love in favor of wealth and social status. Much of this division is the result of information that is taken at face value which, when uncovered, proves false. But all of this is secondary to the escapade the characters and audience are taken on in this joyous farce.