Knox College 2009-2010 Theatre and Dance Season

Knox College's nationally ranked theatre and dance program presents Tony Kushner's epic two-part drama "Angels in America," February 25-March 6, 2010.The productions are presented as part of Knox's distinctive "total immersion" theatre program, Repertory Theatre Term.

Spring Term productions will include a dance concert May 5-8, and an experimental theatre performance, "The Serpent," May 19-22, will highlight productions for 2010 by the Knox College's nationally ranked theatre program.

Tickets for all performances are $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, and free to all students and members of the Knox College faculty and staff.

Earlier this fall, the department presentented Anton Chekhov's "Three Sisters," November 4-7, 2009.

Angels in America
February 25 - March 6, 2010
Harbach Theatre

"Angels in America: a Gay Fantasia on National Themes," by Tony Kushner, won a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, and many other honors when first produced in the 1990s. Its two parts will be performed in nightly rotation by Knox's Repertory Theatre Term. Part one, "Millennium Approaches," is directed by Kelly Lynn Hogan, visiting instructor of theatre. Part two, "Perestroika," is directed by Elizabeth Carlin-Metz, professor of theatre.

The play depicts a nation at the brink of a new millenium, corrupt and broken but with a determination to "get it right." An angry angel and an unwilling gay prophet challenge America to examine itself politically, socially, and spiritually, and to step into the new century with the courage to act with justice, compassion and freedom from prejudice.

The 2010 Repertory Theatre Term is the fifteenth time since 1970 that Knox will produce the ten-week long theatre curriculum in which students devote a whole term to the study and practice of theatre. Working with faculty directors and designers, the students handle all aspects of production that would be found in a professional repertory theatre company.

Spring Term Dance Concert
May 5-8, 2010
Harbach Theatre

Produced by Kathleen Ridlon, assistant professor of dance, the Spring Term Dance Concert will feature student and faculty performers, in works choreographed by faculty, advanced students, and guest choreographers.

The Serpent
May 19-22, 2010
Studio Theatre

"The Serpent," directed by Jeff Grace, visiting assistant professor of theatre, is a ceremony written by Jean-Claude van Itallie in collaboration with The Open Theatre. A contemporary script that experiments with theatrical techniques including ensemble characterization, physical pastiche, multimedia, and repetition, it examines the human battle between self-gratification and obedience to external authority by conjuring questions of choice, freedom, fear, love, hatred, violence, guilt, and dreams of a lost paradise.

Below: Photos from 2009 Dance Concerts - (top) Improv Concert, photo by Hannah Fidoten; and Spring Concert "Specimens," photo by Sara Koehnke. Theatre photos above by Peter Bailley.

• Knox College's program in theatre and dance is ranked 15th in the nation, based on a survey of students conducted by The Princeton Review.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and 48 countries. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Earlier this season:

Three Sisters
November 4-7, 2009
Harbach Theatre

Written in 1901 by Anton Chekhov, "Three Sisters" is one of the most moving and profound plays in the modern repertoire. In a provincial Russian town, the sisters long to return to Moscow, and while they do so their lives intersect with those of the military officers and others who frequent their home, with consequences ranging from heart-warming through disappointing to devastating. Through his understated approach to dramatic realism, Chekhov captures how ordinary men and women live, love, work, and hope. The production is directed by Neil Blackadder, associate professor of theatre.