2021 Productions
MERCURY by Steve Yockey
Directed by Frances Rippy ’22
October 28, 29, & 30th, 2021
8:00 p.m.
Powerhouse Theater
Faculty Advisor: Peter Gil-Sheridan
Senior Project Members: Frances Rippy, Jasper Beckmen, Eli Wassertzug
Limited seating, Campus guests only
Presented through special arrangements with APA Agency
In Steve Yockey’s Mercury, three stories cross in a pitch black comedy with an illicit affair, a couple hanging on by a thread, bears at the window, the worst curiosity shop on the west coast, and a missing dog. No one's happy, people stop being nice, and blood spills. It’s a complex tapestry of queer love, lust, revenge, humor—and a very special planet in retrograde.
Scenes from METAMORPHOSES by Mary Zimmerman
Directed by Avi Klipfel ’22
November 11, 12, 2021
8:00 p.m.
November 13, 2021
5:00 p.m.
Heinlein Stage (inside the Martel Theater)
Faculty Advisor: Kenisha Kelly
Senior Project Members: Harmony Lindstrom, Isabella Granlund, Chelsea Sheldon, Noah Hornick, Merrick Rubinstein, Avi Klipfel, Doruk Evcim, Ben Gillard, Sloane Burling, Elliott Hoke, Sarah Walker
Limited seating, Campus guests only
Presented through special arrangements with Bret Adams Limited Artist Agency
Sponsored in part by The E.J. Safirstein ‘83 Memorial Fund
Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman is a play in vignettes adapted from the works of the Roman poet, Ovid. It is a play about love and compassion that examines how we relate to each other as human beings, and how we struggle to see and accept each other in the face of the world around us. As we watch these age-old stories play out in front of us–King Midas and the Gold-Touch, The Three Fates, Orpheus and Euridice–we encounter them with modern language, and modern context, and can see them in a new light. This is a story about all kinds of love, between all kinds of people.
OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD by Alexis Scheer
Directed by Sarah Berry Pierce ’22
December 2, 3, & 4, 2021
8:00 p.m.
Powerhouse Theater
Faculty Advisor: Amanda Culp
Senior Project Members: Sarah Berry Pierce, Jessie Marasco
Limited seating, Campus guests only
Presented through special arrangements with ICM Partners
Four teenage girls, a Ouija board, and a Treehouse in Miami, that’s the Dead Leader’s Club. As they gather to summon the spirit of Pablo Escobar, these young apprentices in sorcery grapple with what it means to become a woman. Are they really messing with the ghost of the infamous cartel kingpin? Or just messing with each other? This new play takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the danger and damage of girlhood- the teenage wasteland meets unbridled exploration of power.
OUR DEAR DEAD DRUG LORD Program
Contact the Box Office via email: boxoffice@vassar.edu
SPRING 2022
The Steerman New Play Festival
March 24th, 25th 26th @ 8 p.m.
March 30th, 31st, April 1st 2nd 8 p.m.
The Streep Studio (inside the VCDF)
Faculty Advisor: Peter Gil-Sheridan
Senior Project Members: Gabriella Kimbrough, Hileena Channel, Eric Murphy, Charles Mangan
Limited seating, Campus guests only
WEEK ONE
Thursday, March 24 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
LEFTOVERS by Gabriella Kimbrough Directed by Ethan Balfour Clark
Friday, March 25 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
DRAGONESS by Charlie Mangan Directed by Mila Fox
Saturday, March 26 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
LEFTOVERS by Gabriella Kimbrough Directed by Ethan Balfour Clark
Sunday, March 27 at 2pm: (Powerhouse)
DRAGONESS by Charlie Mangan Directed by Mila Fox
WEEK TWO
Thursday, March 31 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
THE MOON IN OUR HOME by Eric Murphy Directed by Tom Pacio
Friday, April 1 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
UNTITLED by Hileena Channell Directed by Shona Tucker
Saturday, April 2 at 2pm: (Powerhouse)
UNTITLED by Hileena Channell Directed by Shona Tucker
Saturday, April 2 at 8pm: (Powerhouse)
THE MOON IN OUR HOME by Eric Murphy Directed by Tom Pacio
Sunday, April 3 at 4pm: (Powerhouse)
THE SHORTS: Readings of Outstanding 10-minute plays and excerpts written this year
The Marilyn Swartz Seven ‘69
Annual Playwriting Award reading
March 26th @ 2 p.m.
The Streep Studio (inside the VCDF)
Faculty Advisor: Peter Gil-Sheridan
Recipient to be announced
Very Limited seating
SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Christopher Grabowski and Drew Minter
May 6, at 7:00pm and May 7, at 2:00pm
Skinner Concert Hall
Faculty Advisor: Shona Tucker
Senior Project Members: Amanda Montgomery, Angelique Rodriguez, Gregory Calidonna
Open to the public
Presented through special arrangements with MTI, Music Theater International
Sponsored in part by the Joan Kostick Andrews ’52 Memorial Fund for Musical Theater
Contact the Box Office via email: boxoffice@vassar.edu
Spring 2021
JASON: Bryan Smith's Senior Thesis in Drama
April 29, April 30 and May 1, 2021 at 8:00pm
Senior Project in Drama members: Bryan Smith ’21
Guest Director: Logan Pitts ’17
Faculty Advisor: Shona Tucker
A private Zoom webinar, recorded in the Streep Studio of the Vogelstein Center for Drama and Film
There will be no live public audience in attendance for this presentation based on the guidelines from Vassar College on gatherings due to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
For more information contact: boxoffice@vassar.edu
AS YOU LIKE IT
May 15 and 16, 2021 at 2pm
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Professor Christopher Grabowski
Senior Project Members in Drama 390: Naomi Honig ’21 and Jess Mitchell ’21
A recorded performance from Graduation Hill
Webinar: Sunday, May 23, 2021 6:30 pm
Online Program: https://indd.adobe.com/view/ed91ed60-b243-4d7a-812b-af5aea746997
About the play: As You Like It subverts the traditional rules of romance. Gender roles, nature and politics are confused in a play that reflects on how bewildering yet utterly pleasurable life can be.
There will be no live public audience in attendance for this presentation based on the guidelines from Vassar College on gatherings due to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
For more information contact: boxoffice@vassar.edu
The First Annual STEERMAN NEW PLAY FESTIVAL
May 21, 2021
Festival Advisor: Professor Peter Gil-Sheridan
Festival Dramaturg: Gabriella Kimbrough ’22
Festival Coordinator: Emma Skinner ’23
Assistant Stage Manager: Sophie Meierovich ’24
Presentations will be on Youtube: Friday, May 21, 2021
Channel Name: Vassar Drama Box Office
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbVanRTSuFx5TBOmPzTVkdA
Online program: https://indd.adobe.com/view/29566375-0b6b-4f71-a63d-eb4e2d885763
The 1st Annual Steerman Festival is a showcase of new playwriting by Vassar students. Works include ten- minute plays and excerpts from longer plays. We will also hear from playwrights on what they’ve learned about the process of writing new work as well as their thoughts on new work that’s being professionally written and produced in the professional theatre today.
ABOUT EMERITUS JIM STEERMAN: James B. Steerman joined the Vassar College drama faculty in the fall of 1967. He had completed an MFA in playwriting and dramatic literature at the Yale School of Drama in 1962 and was finishing coursework for a DFÅ at Yale in the same fields when he arrived at Vassar. During the first decade of the 21st century, James continued to write plays and offer courses in both drama and film. He served as chair of the two departments and oversaw their continuing development. He also helped create an annual playwriting competition for students. James retired from Vassar as Professor Emeritus of Drama and Film in early 2011.
There will be no live public audience in attendance for this presentation based on the guidelines from Vassar College on gatherings due to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
For more information contact: boxoffice@vassar.edu