University Theatre 2004-2005 Production Photo Gallery

STUD DUCKS AND HORNY TOADS, Brad Dell, director
Written by third year graduate student H. Russ Brown, Stud Ducks... is a rip-roaring Texas family comedy. Set in the home of the loveable, ornery, boisterous Milton Day, the play begins on Christmas Eve as Milton and his wife Hazel await the homecoming of their daughter Sharon and her 10-year old son Rusty – the apple of his granddaddy’s eye. From their first meeting, the two “stud ducks” (Milton and Rusty) are up to no good, pulling shenanigans right under high-strung Sharon’s nose. Milton is thrilled because Rusty can help him build the new courthouse display case for “Ol’ Rip” – a legendary Texas Horned Toad. The petrified reptile is a source of great family pride for Milton, and he considers it his civic duty that he builds the new case. When the bid is given to someone else, Milton goes to extreme and hysterical lengths to rescue his family pride. This hilarious, endearing portrait of the rural American family will quack its way right into your heart.
SHADOWLANDS, Gene Kozlowski, director
This unusual love story, based on the true story of British writer C. S. Lewis and the American divorcée Joy Gresham, "speaks of this world as being a prelude for what will follow, and how pain is the inverse of joy." (Jeff Lyons, CBS Radio) Lewis, a confirmed bachelor, a devout Roman Catholic, and reserved Oxford don, and Gresham, an American fan, who is Jewish, a lapsed poet, the mother of a young son, and about to be divorced, have been communicating by mail. Gresham shows up in England to the dismay of Lewis' friends. A sudden decision to marry Joy, so that she may stay in England, is only the first in a series of uncharacteristic acts for Lewis. What happens between Christianity's great apologist and the outspoken American will challenge your thoughts of love, death, and the meaning of life.
ANGELS IN AMERICA, PART 1, egla Hassan, director
Having won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, this play explores "the state of the nation" - the sexual, racial, religious, political and social issues confronting the country during the Reagan years, as the AIDS epidemic spreads. Discussing his work, playwright Tony Kushner has said: "The question I am trying to ask is how broad is a community's embrace. How wide does it reach?" How engaged in civic responsibility must citizens become? Communities form around identity groups. In Angels, all the characters are marked by identity: WASP, Jewish, Mormon, African-American, gay: even AIDS infection serves as an identity type. Brutal and miraculous, tragic and comedic, mean and compassionate, Angels will challenge your thoughts on identity and community.
HENRY IV, PART 1, Bill Kincaid, director
Set against the background of political instability and violent rebellion, in 1 Henry IV, Shakespeare ponders the concept of rulership. He questions what makes a ruler legitimate, which qualities are desirable in a ruler, when is it acceptable to usurp a ruler's authority, and what are the consequences of rebellion. The play details the struggle of King Henry IV to maintain his control of the English throne that he usurped from Richard II. Several memorable Shakespearian characters appear in 1 Henry IV: Hall, (Prince Harry), the prodigal and madcap son of Henry; Sir John Falstaff, overweight, boisterous nobleman; and Hotspur (Lord Henry Percy), a young rebel and valiant soldier. Together with 2 Henry IV, Shakespeare created two soaring tragedies, ripe with rebellion and struggles for the crown, but also about the relationships between parents and their children … about a young man's coming of age.
LUCKY STIFF, Marcus Olson, director
You've heard of "who-dun-its", right? Have we got one for you! Based on the novel The Man Who Broke The Bank at Monte Carlo, LUCKY STIFF is a musical murder mystery farce in the best sense of the word. The complicated and hysterically funny plot involves one dead body, a nerdy English shoe salesman, six million bucks in diamonds, and a lot of dogs! Harry, our hero, is forced to take the corpse of his recently murdered Atlantic City croupier uncle on a weeklong vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed, Harry will inherit six million bucks. If he is not successful, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. The proceedings are pure lunacy as Harry comes up against his uncle's insanely jealous and legally blind mistress, her much put-upon optometrist brother and Annabel Glick, a zealous representative of the Universal Dog House determined to see the inheritance "go to the dogs."
THE SEAGULL, Brad Dell, director (MFA Final Directing Project)
Passion, lust, fury, and love, The Seagull is one of the most intensely fierce and dynamic plays of our modern age. Set in rural Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, the story follows the turbulent lives a family of artists and country dwellers, trying to balance what they owe to themselves, what they owe to the world, and what they owe to love. There’s the young, avant-garde playwright who’s in love with the beautiful naive country girl; his elegant and arrogant actress mother who’s in love with a charming novelist, who seduces the young girl. There’s a crass, self-destructive young woman who’s in love with the young playwright; and her married mother who’s in love with the local doctor. These and other pining souls of this multi-triangle love story bound their way toward a riveting climax as the young playwright is forced to make the ultimate personal sacrifice when his eyes are opened to his blindness of the living, breathing world beyond his work. This contemporary translation is sure to speak strongly to anyone who has ever been faced with what it means to love.

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