Bravery on Stage

This year's Theatre Program season opens on Oct. 18 with Almost, Maine.

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 5, 2017) — When planning a collegiate theatrical season, faculty look to plays with quality, current relevance and variety — and, whenever possible, a driving theme. So it is with this year’s UAlbany Theater Program, whose season opens Wednesday, Oct. 18.

“Our current season is titled, ‘Brave New Worlds,’ and we sought scripts that explored characters who were exploring new terrain,” said Chad Larabee, a lecturer and head of performance for the Theatre Program. “I think the first three productions of our season meet that challenge in very different ways.”

The schedule is:

• Almost, Maine — John Cariani’s 2004 compendium of nine short plays exploring love and loss in a remote, mythical town. Wednesday through Sunday, Oct. 18-22. PAC Arena Theatre.
• A Doll’s House — the Henrik Ibsen classic (1879) of a married middle-class woman caught in a web of deceit and a society stifling female self-fulfillment. Nov. 15–19. Studio Theatre.
• Hair — the famed rock musical from 1967 that celebrates the ‘60s counterculture and examines what it means to be a young person in a changing world. March 22 -25.
• Fresh Acts: A Festival of New Plays — staged readings of works by emerging playwrights, followed by audience talkback with playwright/librettist Kathryn West, an assistant professor and resident playwright. April 19-22.

“We try to select plays whose themes are relevant to our audiences and to the times that we live,” said Larabee. “I think the [first] three productions cover a great deal of dramatic terrain and will be exciting for actors and audiences.

“The characters of Almost, Maine experience a mystical night under the Northern Lights, Nora in A Doll’s House shatters the perception of women in this classic drama, and the 60’s rock musical Hair explores the explosive birth of the civil rights movement, coupled with the anti-Vietnam War protest movement that changed America forever.

“Our fourth production, the ‘Fresh Acts’ new play festival, is comprised of student written works and concludes our season of ‘Brave New Worlds’ by reflecting the future of the American theatre.”

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