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- Theatre at Willamette
- Current Season
Current Season
The Conference of the Birds
September 26 – October 12, 2013
- Stage version by Jean-Claude Carrière and Peter Brook
- Based on the poem by Farid ud-din Attar
- Guest Director: Shana Cooper
Dates
- Preview: September 26, 7:30 p.m.
- Runs: September 27 – October 12
- Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
- Matinees: September 29, October 5 and 12, 2:00 p.m.
Description
A theatrical adventure soars in this poignant 12th-century Persian fable about the search for the divine. "The New York Times" says, "The play is a flying carpet gliding us aloft into a land of mystery, splendor, and ritual." "Newsweek" says the play is a "Brilliant work that challenges most of our ideas of what theatre is, ought to be, and can do. This exquisite piece represents the perfection of Brook's work."
Hold These Truths featuring Joel de la Fuente
October 25, 2013
(Formerly “Dawn’s Light: The Journey of Gordon Hirabayashi”)
- By: Jeanne Sakata
- Directed by: Lisa Rothe
- One Performance Only: Friday, October 25, 7:30 p.m.
Description
“From a theatrical point of view, the astounding performance that Joel de la Fuente delivers as Gordon Hirabayashi is reason enough to recommend Hold These Truths… de la Fuente presents, in addition to Hirabayashi, a plethora of personages that people Gordy’s story – different ages, different sexes, different nationalities – all without benefit of makeup or costume change….This is simply remarkable work – a master class in acting, if you will….In the hands of a lesser playwright this could easily have come off as a didactic lesson in social justice, but with Jeanne Sakata at the helm, we are treated to a dazzling, literary script that’s full of humor.
New York Times Readers’ Review
Beginnings: A Dance Concert
November 17 – 23, 2013
- Artistic Director: Jessi Fouts
- Preview: November 14, 7:30 p.m.
- Runs: November 15-23
- Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
- Matinees: November 16 and 23, 2:00 p.m.
Description
Willamette University Theatre will present an evening of dance. The program will incorporate a wide spectrum of movement styles featuring original choreography by the faculty, guest choreographers and students.
Proof
February 13 – March 1, 2014
- By: David Auburn
- Director: Susan Coromel
- Preview: February 13, 7:30 p.m.
- Runs: February 14-March 1
- Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
- Matinees: February 16 and 22, and March 1, 2:00 p.m.
Description
On the eve of her 25th birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions, the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire, and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her fathers’ who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks her father left behind. During the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father’s madness – or genius – did she inherit?
The Marriage of Figaro
March 6 – 9, 2014
- An opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Director: Allison Swensen-Mitchell
- Co-produced with the Willamette University Department of Music
- Runs: March 6-9
- Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:00 p.m.
- Matinee: March 9, 2:00 p.m.
Description
Get caught up in this highly energetic tale of deceptions and counter-deceptions. The skirt chasing and bullying run rampant in the palace of Count Almaviva. Set in Spain, this continuation of the plot of “The Barber of Seville” focuses on the debauchery that unfolds during a single “day of madness” in this grand folly of aristocratic courtship.
The Trojan Women
April 10 – 26, 2014
- By: Euripides, adapted by Jonathan Cole
- Director: Jonathan Cole
- Preview: April 10, 7:30 p.m.
- Runs: April 11-26
- Evening Performances: Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
- Matinees: April 13, 20 and 26, 2:00 p.m.
Description
In the aftermath of the Trojan War, the women of the ruined nation of Troy, gathered by their conquerors, await their fate even as they mourn their dead. This play, written in 415 BCE as Euripides’ public protest against the Peloponnesian War, forces us to look beyond social justice, beyond nationalism and patriotism to consider at core what we believe to be right, and what we know is wrong. This aggressive, hard-hitting, movement-based production will force us to scrape away the grit, to wipe the dirt from our eyes as we look beyond despair to find our humanity.