In celebration of the arts at Wabash, admission to all theater events is FREE. However, you must obtain your FREE tickets at the Fine Arts Box Office before attending Wabash College Theater productions.
Tickets are available from the Fine Arts Box Office Monday through Friday—8:30 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Box Office will open ninety minutes before curtain time for Theater and VAS events. For phone reservations, call 765-361-6411. Tickets may be obtained from the Fine Arts Center Box Office by E-mail: boxoffice@wabash.edu; Phone: 765-361-6411; or by mail: Fine Arts Center Box Office, Wabash College, PO Box 352, Crawfordsville IN 47933-0352.
The Man Who Came to Dinner by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart will start off the season at Wabash. Auditions will be held September 1-2 at 7 p.m. each evening in Ball Theater in the Fine Arts Center on the Wabash campus. Performances will be October 8-11 at 8 p.m. each evening in Ball Theater. In this hilarious comedy classic, Kaufman and Hart focus on America’s national obsession with celebrity. Thanks to Sheridan Whiteside, famous critic, celebrity lecturer, radio personality,’“intimate friend of the great and near great, and by many accounts, the world’s rudest man,” the holiday season at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley of Mesalia, Ohio promises to be anything but an old-fashioned Christmas. A nasty spill on an icy porch during a winter lecture tour forces the formidable Mr. Whiteside to convalesce for the holidays in Middle America. His extended family of luminaries, mad visionaries, and assorted oddballs threatens the narrow provincial values and rectitude of the Stanley home. He physically overtakes the house, insinuates himself in family affairs, and becomes the occasion for a nightmarish Twelve Days of Christmas featuring 10,000 cockroaches, a clutch of choir boys, four penguins, three celebrities, two convicts, an octopus, and an Egyptian mummy!
The second production of the season will be the Studio One Acts. Performances will be presented November 19-20 at 8 p.m. in the Experimental Theater in the Fine Arts Center. The Studio One-Acts provides an opportunity for theater students to showcase their skills. These projects emphasize the importance of the collaborative creative process and demonstrate the Wabash College Theater Department’s belief that powerful and imaginative theater can thrive in productions of limited scale.
The third production of the season will be The Illusion by Pierre Corneille and freely adapted by Tony Kushner. Auditions for the play are scheduled for January 14-15 at 7 p.m. each evening in Ball Theater and performances will take place February 18-21 at 8 p.m. each evening. This modern rendering of L’Illusion Comique by Pierre Corneille (1606-1684) tells the story of a contrite father, Pridamant, who seeks news of the prodigal son he ordered from his house years before. Pridamant goes to a magician, Alcandre, who conjures three episodes from the young man’s life. Inexplicably, each scene finds the boy in a slightly different world: names change, allegiances shift and fairy-tale simplicity evolves into elegant tragedy. Pridamant watches, enthralled by his son’s struggles, but only as the strange tale reaches its conclusion does he confront the ultimate and truth about his son. An enchanting argument for the triumph of theatrical imagination over reality, The Illusion weaves obsession and caprice, romance and murder, fact and fiction, into an enticing exploration of the greatest illusion of all love. Corneille’s original play has been freely adapted by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America.
The fourth and final production of the season will be The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which will be presented April 14-17 with performances starting at 8 p.m. each evening in the Experimental Theater. Auditions are set for March 1-2 at 7 p.m. each evening in the Experimental Theater. William Golding’s classic novel asks provocative questions about civilization and human nature. When a group of youngsters become stranded on a deserted island, strange things occur. The charismatic Ralph quickly establishes himself as group leader, aided by the learned Piggy. But the militant Jack Merridew challenges this order: power hungry and eager to exploit the boys‚ baser, more savage instincts. The action builds to a dramatic life or death chase. Golding’s enthralling story, full of misadventure and intrigue, is brought to life in paced and gripping adaptation by Nigel Williams. “And in the middle of them, with filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.” From the book, Lord of the Flies.