KEENE – The Department of Theatre and Dance presents their Student final directing projects on two separate weekends- April 16 and 17, and May 21 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. In the first round of plays student directors will present two plays: Tuesdays and Sundays by Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn, directed by Veronica Pamphile, and The Chairs by Eugène Ionesco, directed by Amanda Smith. In the second-round of plays student directors Caroline Hentz, Jaden Rogers and Jean-Michael Pion will present Love and Information by Caryl Churchill, The Zoo Story by Edward Albee, and 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane respectively. The one-act plays highlight the scholarship of Directing II students while offering meaningful connections for various audiences. In all the plays, actors never touch or come closer than six feet of each other due to Covid restrictions, and all parties are tested weekly and fully masked through the entire productions.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. each evening in the Redfern Arts Center’s Wright Theatre. Tickets are free and in-person seats are offered only to the Keene State College Community. The general public can access the performances as a free Livestream performance. Call the Redfern Box Office, 603-358-2168 or learn more at keene.edu/arts/redfern.

During the April performances, the first play (Tuesdays and Sundays) is livestreamed, while the second play (The Chairs) will house an extremely small live campus audience. The Chairs casts student actors Patrick Mullen, Maddy Alter, and Sean Gregoire and tells the story of an Old Man and Woman. The couple create a world in which they recall feelings, locations, stories, and specifically people from their past creating images of love, sadness, and everything in between. Director Amanda Smith chose the play for its underlying themes of grief but most importantly remembrance. The Chairs will run around an hour with a small in person audience with no streaming available. Tuesdays and Sundays is a tragic story of a teenage couple and was inspired by a true love story that took place in 1887 in the farming community of Margate on Prince Edward Island.

During the May round of performances, the first play on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon (The Zoo Story) will house a small live audience, while the other two plays (Love and Information and 4.48 Psychosis) will be live streamed during their respective performance times.

Written in 1958, Edward Albee writes his first play The Zoo Story in just three weeks. He tells the story of two men having a conversation about life and the importance of relationships. They go from strangers to bewildered acquaintances throughout their journey in this conversation. The play explores themes of isolation, human nature, and miscommunication using the symbolism of the bars that cage us in in society like animals in a zoo. Student director Jaden Rogers chose the play with Covid in mind, offering an opportunity for audiences to reflect on the isolation experienced due to Covid. Performed by students Samuel Kingsberry and Steven Cere. Expected to run approximately 1 hour.

For 4.48 Psychosis director Jean-Michael Pion chose a play in which there are no characters and no plot… merely text on a page. The play is an honest look into mental illness in our modern world. The director’s primary hope for this piece is to spark needed discussion and honor all those we have lost to suicide. Presented with two actors Cassidy Doherty and Laughlin Hentz, the play is expected to run between 45 minutes and 1 hour.

Love and Information is a compilation of seven sections each with a number of scenes that range from less than a minute in length to a few minutes long. The sections are performed in order, however the scenes/vignettes within each section can be done in whatever order the director wishes. The play invites multiple constructions and participation in meaning making.

Students involved in each production include:

Tuesdays and Sundays: Veronica Pamphile ’22, Director (Manchester, NH); Tyler Nash ’24, Cast (Swanzey, NH); Mary Graham ’23, Cast (Red Hook, NY).

The Chairs: Amanda Smith ’22, Director (Colchester, CT); Patrick Mullen ’21, Cast (Cedar Grove, NJ); Madelyn Alter ’22, Cast (North Reading, MA); Sean Gregoire ’22, Cast (Derry, NH).

The Zoo Story: Jaden Rogers ’21, Director (Williston, VT); Samuel Kingsberry ’21, Cast (Fitzwilliam, NH); Steven Cere ’23, Cast (Manchester, NH).

Love and Information: Caroline Hentz ’21, Director (Harvard, MA); Elyssa Eldridge ’21, Cast (Bowdoin, ME); Michael Costa ’22, Cast (Manchester, NH); Grace Kennett ’22, Cast (Claremont, NH).

4.48 Psychosis: Jean-Michael Pion ’21, Director (Lincoln, RI); Cassidy Doherty ’21, Cast (Marshfield, MA); Laughlin Hentz ’21, Cast (Harvard, MA).

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