Published: October 11, 2007

Four times a year, the stage in Pope Auditorium becomes a showcase for Fordham’s acting talent.  The cozier and far more intimate Black and White Box Theaters, however, shine the spotlight on Fordham’s remarkable directors and playwrights.

This season five directors and three playwrights lend their theatrical talents to the studio show season.  The new plays being staged this fall are various and fascinating.  For example, playwright Samantha Schoer, FCLC ’09, said of her play “Baruch,”  “The grandfather is a Holocaust survivor who has kept his history to himself. His granddaughter is on a mission to discover who she is through his past. Their journey and the repercussions of his past open up [a] Pandora’s box for this present- day family.  “Baruch” means “blessed” in Hebrew. While it comes with many important connotations, I mostly picked it because sometimes knowing who where you came from is a blessing, but other times it is actually a distressing burden.”

The directors are also working with diverse material by writers ranging from the well-known David Mamet to the poet Anne Carson.  Chris Massulo, FCLC ’09, director of Carson’s “H and A,” explains his choice of the spoken word piece, “I felt that on the first read the text lent itself to a very lively interpretation beyond the page—something that could include modern dance elements and multimedia. I hope audience members feel challenged by the production.”

We truly will be seeing it all this season on the vibrant studio stages.  As Megan Gould, FCLC ’08, tells us of her directing project, “Kate Crackernuts,” “It has it all—demon crack babies, drag queens, unlikely heroes, raver kids, an oversexed fairy godmother, a headless sheep…you name it, and all the while it allows us to see Kate’s journey as an honest tale of what it is like to become an adult in this crazy world.”

DIRECTING PROJECTS

THE FROG PRINCE

by: David Mamet

Directed By: Sydney Painter

When: Nov. 5-7

Where: Black Box Theater

“The Frog Prince” is David Mamet’s version of the classic fairytale, and one of only two children’s plays Mamet has ever written.

THE HOUSE OF YES

by: Wendy MacLeod

Directed By: Tim Chaffee

When: Nov. 1-3

Where: White Box Theater

A rich bachelor wants to marry an incorrigible plain-Jane, and spending time with his family will anyone to his point of view in  this black comedy.

THE AMERICAN CENTURY

by: Murphy Guyer

Directed By: Rob Parry

When: Dec. 9-11

Where: White Box Theater

The American Century is about a WWII vet who is living happily with his wife, planning a new family, until a peculiar stranger enters their lives.

ATE CRACKERNUTS

by: Sheila Callaghan

Directed By: Morgan Gould

When: Dec. 9-11

Where: Black Box Theater

A wacky coming-of-age story about Kate Crackernut’s journey to adulthood

H AND A

By: Anne Carson

adapted and directed by:
Chris Masullo

When: Dec. 6-8

Where: White Box Theater

An adaptation of Anne Carson’s poem,
“H And A.”

PLAYWRITING PROJECTS

BARUCH

by: Samantha Schoer

Directed By: Michael Goldfried

When: Oct. 18-20, 8 p.m.

Where: White Box Theater

FALL UP AND FLY

by: Ciara Blount

Directed By: Jerry Ruiz

When: Oct. 18-20, 8:45 p.m.

Where: White Box Theater

Mr. Horizon

by: Michael Hilton

Directed By: Ian Crawford

When: Nov. 15-17, 8 p.m.

Where: White Box Theater