THEATRE-IN-THE-ROUND 

2004/2005 SEASON

Preliminary information sheet - updated 3/30/05

Here is some basic information about our upcoming season - our 44th!!

Oct. 15,16,17,22,23,24 //Dec. 3,4,5,10,11,12 //Feb.11,12,13,18,19,20//April 8,9,10,15,16,17

 Watch on the Rhine     by   Lillian Hellman

…"a compelling drama of a struggle between  one's principles and one’s survival”"   … [click here for Director's Notes] 

 

{ directed by Professor James P. McGlone }

        F 10/15 , Sa 1O/16 , Su 1O/17 matinee,      

        F 10/22 , Sa 1O/23, Su 1O/24 matinee

        Sorry,Wrong Chimney      by  Jack Sharkey & Leo W. Sears

…”  a  warmhearted Christmas farce”…  [click here for Director's Notes]  

          { directed by Professor Peter Reader }

      F 12/3 ,  Sa 12/4,   Su 12/5 matinee, 

         F 12/10 , Sa 12/11 ,  Su 12/12 matinee 

 

        _Macbeth    by  Shakespeare

  ... ”  the Scottish play; one of Shakespeare's most powerful tragedies ”...                               [click here for Director's Notes] 

               {directed by Professor James P. McGlone }

          F  2/11 ,  Sa 2/12 ,  Su 2/13 matinee    ◄ UPDATED

         F  2/18 ,  Sa  2/19 ,  Su  2/20 matinee ◄ UPDATED

        _Arsenic and Old Lace  by      Joseph  Kesselring.

.. " the well known comedy about some truly unusual "family dynamics"...     [click here for Director's Notes]  

        { directed by Professor Deirdre Yates }

    F  4/8  ,   Sa 4/9   ,   Su 4/10 matinee,

      F  4/15  ,    Sa 4/16  ,  Su 4/17 matinee

* All evening performances begin at 8:00 and matinees are at 2:00.

*All performances take place in the Theatre-in-the-Round in the University Center. 

* NEW Ticket Prices:  $6.00 – Regular

                        $4.00 - Senior Citizens, & Children, & SHU Alumni

                        $3.00 – SHU Students[One ticket per ID], Faculty, & Staff –

 

 

 

DIRECTOR'S NOTES -- EXCERPTS:

 Watch on the Rhine  - notes by Professor James P. McGlone 

Dear Patron:

What is it about a play or playwright that causes directors and actors to revive the work long after the historical circumstances which  informed it are out of date or fashion?  Some critics turn their back on work that is "of its time."  But, course, all art is "of its time," which lays a responsibility upon the auditor to be informed about the core cultural conflicts of his social inheritance.

Lillian Hellmann's Watch on the Rhine is "the West's" perpetual Watch , or sentry duty,  on the bastions of freedom.  The rise of Hitler in the 1930's and the War he instigated in the 1940's are old (historical) hat by now.  Hellman presents a conflict between those on the ramparts watching that gathering storm, and those who refused to heed the warnings sounded by the guard.

What makes this play contemporary is its willingness to confront the question of "pre-emptive strike".  Hellman's leading character must decide on an action that is against the law of his host's land.  This will implicate them in an act which is under ordinary circumstances uncivilized, if not immoral.  He not only must choose to take steps to protect his own liberty of action, but also must believe that his prophetic vision will ultimately protect those who have generously given him their trust and hospitality.

 The fight against the Nazi regime was the last American battle to have achieved almost complete political and moral consensus in our nation.  Many observers of the contemporary scene have compared 9/11 with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  If the President knew that such a strike was about to occur, should he have prevented it? How? When? Where?  Some historians argue that the notion of self protection has fallen into the dilemma of "closing the barn door when the horse has been stolen."

So, by creating a conflict with the immediacy of those years of World War II,  Hellman informs it with the passion of that critical moment in our lives.  The question is, can our current debate about the middle eastern war be informed by this analogous dramatic situation?  Do the intense personal emotions generated by the particular lives of these characters give us any intuitive understanding of the disagreements of our own time?  Has the playhouse anything to tell us about the current political drama?

This play confronts a dilemma about which the solution is based, not on conjecture, but instead is informed by available factual evidence.  That, after all, is what makes it dramatic.

All the best,

Jim McGlone
 


 

 

     Sorry, Wrong Chimney     - notes & synopsis by Professor Peter Reader

Director's Notes:

What better way to prepare for Christmas than a Christmas-time comedy that has all the weight of a snowflake. Tradition dictates the retelling of moralistic tales about spiritual redemption at the hands of the Christmas spirit.  No worry here. Our play is set in modern times with trivial worries and conflicts. The best of Christmas intentions are foiled by misunderstandings. One misunderstanding compounds another which results in a frenetic race to mass confusion.  How like Christmas shopping?  In the end, it is the laughter and joy that we have shared that makes Christmas worthwhile.


 Synopsis:
 "Sorry, Wrong Chimney" is a yuletide farce. In a holiday mix-up akin to O'Henry's "Gift of the Magi", David gets a night job as a department store santa in order to surprise his wife, Samantha, with a sable coat on Christmas. His wife suspects that his late hours at the office are an excuse to sneak out to have an affair. The neighbors get involved in trying to sort out the newly weds marital problems which get further compounded by the appearance of the Santa Burglar. It is a fast paced comedy of misunderstandings and mistaken identity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Macbeth     - notes by Professor James P. McGlone 

The theatre is the venue of the spoken word. Motion Pictures can take you there, more places, in exotic climes, at sunset or sunrise, but, when it talks, it can't hear its audience's reaction. It is only in the theatre that actors can listen to their audiences reactions. It is generally agreed across the English speaking world that no one speaks the English language more eloquently, expresses profound thoughts more powerfully, makes words sing so beautifully than William Shakespeare. And Macbeth is one of his most poetic works.

The play's dialogue is almost seventy percent blank verse. This heightened poetic technique uses its compelling address to reflect on questions of Kingly virtue and the horror of murderous ambition. Here are meditations on the times for action, the loss of sleep, the love of country, and the question of trust. The playwright ties all of this together with such skill that critics for four centuries have stood enthralled as the mysterious witches slyly entice Macbeth into destroying his own and his nation's peace.

Those of us who teach speech deal daily with the mystery of the signs we call words. It our charge to call attention to the unique human gift of the power of speech, the moment when the sign takes on human life. Have we lost the awesomeness of those moments because of the familiarity of the daily usage? Do we fail to revel in the gift of talking and listening, taking our human powers for granted? Is the music of the spoken work lost upon our worldly, utilitarian lives?

Come to the theatre in the round and experience, as our student actors are experiencing in rehearsal and performance, the pleasure of human communication at the top of its form. Join us for an evening in the company of the most eloquent voice ever to speak the English language. Come to watch and listen to the powerful story of the Scottish king, Macbeth.
 

 

All the best,

Jim McGlone

 

 

_Arsenic and Old Lace_   =  notes by Professor Deirdre Yates }



Synopsis:

The last play of our main-stage season is a macabre comedy and one of the finest plays of the twentieth century. Joseph Kesselring tells the story of Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic struggling to maintain his sanity amongst a family of lunatics. With a younger brother who thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt, two sweet elderly aunts who invite lonely old men to dinner and kill them out of mercy, and an older brother who kills for somewhat less charitable reasons, it's anyone's guess whether Mortimer will make it through the night!

Director's Notes:


This play is one of the most popular comedies produced in theatres across the country. It is also famous for the movie of the same name starring Cary Grant. The original production was presented at the Fulton Theatre in New York on August 18, 1941. The film version had to wait for the Broadway production to end before its release on September 23, 1944.
Even with its popularity, it has never been done here at Seton Hall which is one of the reasons I chose it. It is so famous and so much wacky fun that I felt the students would enjoy working on it as much as seeing it. I also felt that the university community would recognize this famous play and welcome the comedic entertainment in the spring.
The production does present some challenges to us in that it is traditionally done in a proscenium theatre requiring two stories and several exits including a basement exit to "Panama" where the aunts bury their victims. The setting is 1941 Brooklyn, NY.