2019-20 Purdue Theatre season to feature four mainstage productions

The 2019-20 Purdue Theatre mainstage season will explore themes of women’s rights, American politics, spirituality, sexuality, romance, addiction and more.

The season features four mainstage productions —two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, including one with a Tony Award; a new stage sequel to “Pride and Prejudice”; and a play based on the true story of the Radium Girls. Three of the productions were written by woman-identifying playwrights.

Tickets may be purchased at the campus box offices at Stewart Center or Pao Hall, by phone at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW or online. Season ticket packages offering discounted prices and group sales are available. Ticket costs are general public, $19.50; students, $12.50; seniors age 62 and up, $15.50.

This year’s lineup features the following productions:

* “These Shining Lives,” written by Melanie Marnich and guest directed by Emily A. Rollie, assistant professor of theatre arts at Central Washington University. Based on the true story of women who worked in a watch factory in Ottawa, Illinois, in the 1920s, this lyrical drama centers around Catherine Donahue and her  co-workers and friends. The women find new financial independence in a “lip, dip and paint routine”: using a glowing radium compound to make hour markings on watch faces. Their vision of freedom is shattered when the women fall ill to mysterious ailments caused by the radioactive paint. Though fatally ill, the women form a class-action lawsuit against the Radium Dial Co. Their struggle for justice in the face of personal, economic and social constraints demonstrates the women’s individual strength and their collective power. “These Shining Lives” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20, 21 and Sept. 23-28 and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 22 and Sept. 29. in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Pao Hall.

* “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” written by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon and directed by Kristine Holtvedt, associate professor of theatre and coordinator of the theatre performance area. From the most produced living playwright in the country (Gunderson) comes a witty and heartwarming stage sequel to “Pride and Prejudice.” As the Bennet sisters gather at the Darcys’ estate for the holidays, the scholarly and socially awkward middle sister, Mary, is still living with her parents and facing an uncertain future. But the appearance of an unexpected guest at Pemberley — not only “a single man in possession of a good fortune” but also one who happens to be reading the exact same scientific tome as Mary — raises her hopes for independence and of finding a true intellectual match. The production will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 9 and Nov. 11-16 and 2:30 p.m. Nov. 10 and 17 in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Pao Hall.

* “Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches,” written by Tony Kushner and directed by Richard Stockton Rand, professor of theatre and coordinator of undergraduate theatre studies. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award, this epic drama traces the intertwined lives of Prior, diagnosed with AIDS; his lover, Louis, who cannot cope with his illness; Joe, a closeted gay Mormon who works for the gay and homophobic power broker Roy Kohn; Harper, an agoraphobic addict, married to Joe; Belize, a former drag queen and Prior’s nurse; Hannah, Joe’s mother from Salt Lake City; and the Angel, who appears to Prior announcing that “The Great Work” is about to begin. Kushner weaves political, intellectual and spiritual themes to generate a powerful play that changed the world when it was first produced, with profound resonance today. This play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 22 and 24-29 and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 23 and March 1 in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Pao Hall.

* “Water by the Spoonful,” written by Quiara Alegría Hudes and directed by Ann M. Shanahan, associate professor and chairperson of the department of theatre. In a far corner of the internet, moderator “Haikumom” (aka Odessa Ortiz) leads a chat room for recovering drug addicts. From behind their screens, individuals who might never meet in real life — a student, an IRS paper-pusher and a financier — forge a bond as strong as blood. Offline, in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in North Philly, Ortiz’s real-life family is falling apart. Her nephew has returned from Iraq physically and emotionally broken. Her niece is unable to reconcile her identity as a woman from the North Philly barrio with her upper-crust, intellectual lifestyle. And her sister is dying of cancer. Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a powerful, compassionate look at the meaning of family and the burdens we must carry to protect it. “Water by the Spoonful” will be staged at 7:30 p.m. April 17, 18 and 20-25 and 2:30 p.m. on April 19 in the Nancy T. Hansen Theatre in Pao Hall. 

For more information, visit the Department of Theatre website. 

Writer: Madison Sanneman, msannema@purdue.edu
Source: Jodi Taylor, marketing and outreach specialist, Purdue University Department of Theatre, joditaylor@purdue.edu