2008-2009 Season
Dying City
by Christopher Shinn
A young therapist, Kelly, whose husband Craig was killed while on military duty in Iraq, is confronted a year later by his identical twin Peter, who suspects that Craig’s death was not accidental. Set in a spare downtown-Manhattan apartment after dark, scenes shift from the confrontation between Peter and Kelly, to Kelly’s complicated farewell with her husband Craig. Shinn’s creepy, sophisticated drama-infused with references to 9/11 and the war in Iraq-explores how contemporary politics and recent history have transformed the lives of these three characters.
“The finest new American play I’ve seen in a long while… Dying City is a political play and also a psychodrama about what Arthur Miller called the politics of the soul. It’s about public conscience and private grief, and real and symbolic catastrophes.” – The New York Observer
This performance contains adult themes and language.
Gladys G. Davis Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
September 12 & 13 and 16-20 at 7:30pm
September 14 and 21 at 2pm
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
by Christopher Cartmill
Adapted from the story by Washington Irving and set in a settlement of Tarry Town, New York in a secluded part of town called Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod Crane, a schoolmaster, competes for the hand of eighteen year-old Katrina Van Tassel, only to find himself hunted by the Headless Horseman. In preparation for Halloween, bring your family and see if the Headless Horseman rides again in the CAC!
This performance is appropriate for young audiences.
Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
October 22 & 24-25 at 7:30pm
October 26 at 2pm
The Playboy of the Western World
by J. M. Synge
Set in Michael James Flaherty’s public house on the west coast of Ireland during the early 1900s, this Irish play tells the story of Christy Mahon, a young man running away from his farm, claiming he killed his father. The locals are more interested in vicariously enjoying his story than in condemning the morality of his murderous deed. He captures the romantic attention of the bar-maid Pegeen Mike, the daughter of Flaherty.
Gladys G. Davis Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
November 14 & 15 and 18-21 at 7:30pm
November 16 at 2pm
Artistic director: Prof. Heather Ahern
WVU Division of Theatre and Dance’s annual concert of new works featuring an eclectic evening of concert dances. Inventive choreography utilizing modern, ballet, tap, jazz and everything in between, will promise something for everyone. Choreographers will represent both the student and faculty in this fine evening of dance.
Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
February 5, 6 & 7 at 7:30pm
Hamlet
by William Shakespeare
Considered by many to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays! Set in Denmark, the play recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet’s father, the King, and then taken the throne and married Hamlet’s mother. The play vividly charts the course of real and feigned madness from overwhelming grief to seething rage and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.
Gladys G. Davis Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
February 27 & 28 and March 3-7 at 7:30pm
March 1 and 8 at 2pm
Urinetown: The Musical
music and lyrics by Mark Hollmann
book and lyrics by Greg Kotis
Winner of three Tony Awards, including Best Book, Urinetown is a tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when water is worth its weight in gold.
“Elevated silliness of the highest order that makes a gratifying case for the restorative return to knowing foolishness and the smartly absurd. The show winks at everything from Hamlet’s father’s ghost to West Side Story, from the revolutionary pretensions of Les Mis to the revivalist joy of Guys & Dolls.” — Linda Winer, Newsday
This performance contains adult themes and language.
Gladys G. Davis Theatre, WVU Creative Arts Center
April 17 & 18 and 21-25 at 7:30pm
April 19 and 26 at 2pm