University of Evansville Theatre

By Michael Frayn Directed by Amelia McClain ’03 Easily considered the funniest farce ever written, this classic comedy follows a troupe of assiduous actors as they blunder from a disastrous dress rehearsal to complete pandemonium when they embark upon an ill-fated tour. Hilarity ensues! With screwball shenanigans, mounting mayhem, slamming doors, and even flying sardines, this rip-roaring romp is the perfect outing for anyone ready to leave reality behind and indulge in the life-affirming and mood-altering benefits of good, old-fashioned belly laughs. This multiple Tony Award-nominated gem of a play will leave audiences in stitches.

Based on the book by George Orwell and adapted by Ian Wooldridge Directed by Rebecca Conaway, a senior theatre studies major from Wellsburg, West Virginia George Orwell's satire on the perils of Stalinism has proved a magnificently long-lived parable about totalitarianism and has given the world at least one immortal phrase: "Some are more equal than others."

By Jen Silverman Directed by Hannah Tarr, a senior from Floyds Knobbs, Indiana A beautiful meshing of the contemporary and the classic, using whimsical satire and gothic romance, the rules of both genre and the world defy tradition and expectation. You will feel dared to continue watching as this play embraces the musings of the Brontë sisters.

By Annie Baker Directed by Jimmy Guest, a senior from Bettendorf, Iowa Set in the local community center in small town Vermont, five strangers engage in goofy acting exercises. Come for the budding relationships yet leave with a sense of why the arts are so important in our lives, as this Pulitzer Prize winning playwright proves that theory one transformation at a time with this witty and insightful work.

Book by Joe Masteroff Based on play by John Van Druten Stories by Christopher Isherwood Music by John Kander and Lyrics by Fred Ebb Directed by Wes Grantom ’03 Music Direction by Tyler Simpson and Choreographed by Chad Goodridge Set against the tumult and sheer chaos of Germany’s 1929 Berlin, the alluring emcee invites all to engage in willful ignorance and revel in the lustful delights inside the legendary Kit Kat Club. “Here…life is beautiful.” With hedonistic abandon, these riveting characters live life as a carnival of debauchery and despair. Winning Tony Awards for Best Musical for the 1966 Broadway premiere and for Best Revival of a Musical in 1998, this provocative and challenging style of storytelling packs a potent punch on the dangers of mass indifference in the face of injustice and atrocities and asks audiences to either act now or say “so what?”

By William Shakespeare A modern verse translation by Aditi Brennan Kapil Directed by Stacey Yen In an ongoing collaboration with Play On! Shakespeare and with an exciting and insightful modern verse translation by Aditi Brennan Kapil, this Shakespearean play is being presented in Shanklin Theatre for the first time ever. The 400-year-old tale could be “ripped from the headlines” of today’s world, as it examines themes central to human nature and our paradoxical relationship to justice and mercy. With all its high-spirited bawdiness, this tragicomedy reveals what can happen when sex, religion, and politics collide.