The Department of Theatre presents Goucher Playwrights Open Studio, Volume III – a series of readings and discussions of student-written plays – on Tuesday, April 29, and Thursday, May 1, 1:15-2:50 p.m. in the Batza Room of the Athenaeum. This semester’s theme is “Historical Dramas: Social and Political.”
Goucher Playwrights Open Studio is a series of “cold readings” of new works written by students in Assistant Professor of Theatre Alvin Eng’s playwriting classes. Goucher students and faculty read the plays with little or no rehearsal to give the playwrights the chance to hear their works come off the page for this first time. Special guest faculty members are also invited to share their expertise on both plays’ themes and subject matter in post-reading discussions.
The lineup of plays and guest speakers is as follows:
Tuesday, April 29
“Keepers of the Mountain” by David J. Hills ’17
(with dramaturgy by Annabeth Lucas ’16)
Set in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, “Keepers of the Mountain” follows a humanitarian photographer struggling to come to terms with familial problems and the environmental impact of mountaintop removal on his coal mining community. “Keepers of the Mountain” asks us to consider what is home: physically and spiritually.
For the play reading, Theatre Department Chair Michael Curry will be joined by students Ally Abrams, Cydney Cohn, Brielle Cunningham, and Andrew Krupa
For the post-reading discussion, invited guests include Environmental Studies Program Chair German Mora and Gina Shamshak, assistant professor of economics.
Thursday, May 1
“Danger” by Bianca DeJesus ’16
(with dramaturgy by Annabeth Lucas ’16)
“Danger” explores the recent political and personal troubles of New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, his wife, and Hillary Clinton aide de camp Huma Abedin. There are parts of everyone that are hidden; when these public and private selves collide, it can be dangerous.
For the play reading, Theatre Department Chair Michael Curry will be joined by students Brielle Cunningham, Micah Heaney, David J. Hills, Christina Kim, Mae McColl, and Liz Ryan.
The faculty guests are still to be determined.
The readings are open to the entire Goucher community. To RSVP and for more information, contact Professor Eng at alvin.eng@goucher.edu.