Mainstage

Mainstage

Performances and special events planned as part of our 2011-2012 mainstage season

Mainstage productions and events for the 2011-2012 season

Theater is not a one-man show. We believe in collaboration, in pairing the freshest minds and newest ideas with wisdom and experience. Students work with faculty mentors, cutting-edge artists with renowned scholars. Our productions work, because we work together. Come see for yourself!

Love the Doctor

by Tirso de Molina, in a new translation by Sarah Brew and Josephine Hardman
The Curtain Theater
Oct. 13, 14, 15 and 16 at 8 p.m., Oct. 15 and 16 at 2 p.m.

She was born in the mind of a Golden-Age Spaniard, but Jeronima is a heroine for any age. Ambitious, clever, and unwilling to be bounded by notions of what's proper for a woman, she sets out to become a learned woman and a doctor, and employs her considerable skills at subterfuge and disguise to achieve her ends. This quick-witted comedy from one of Spain's great, iconoclastic playwrights has never been performed in English; two UMass-Amherst graduate students created this translation/adaptation to show the English-speaking world what it's been missing.

Hell in High Water

by Marcus Gardley
The Rand Theater
Nov. 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 at 8 p.m., Nov. 12 and 19 at 2 p.m.

Set on a levee mound in Greenville Mississippi, Hell in High Water is a play that uproots the almost forgotten story of the Mississippi flood of 1927, the worst in U.S. history. At the heart of the story are two fathers and sons: LeRoy Percy, a white cotton farmer and his son Will who grapple with preserving their farm and labor force and Joe Goodin, an African-American bootblack and his son James. Stranded on the levee with 180,000 other black folk, Joe tries to preserve his way of life while James hopes to inspire change for his people.

Solstice

a puppetry piece devised by Miguel Romero and students, with music by Eric Sawyer
The Curtain Theater
Dec. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 at 8 p.m., Dec. 3 and 10 at 2 p.m.

Many cultures share a holiday in late December — a return to the light, whether symbolic or literal, after months of shrinking days. Puppeteer and scenic design professor Miguel Romero takes this impetus for revelry and combines the traditions into a delightful, carnival-esque atmosphere in his new puppetry piece, Solstice. Created by Romero with students from the UMass Department of Theater and with new music by Amherst College music professor Eric Sawyer, this is intended as a celebration for the whole family.

The Tailor of Inverness

created and performed by Matthew Zajac
a touring production presented by The Edinburgh Fringe Summer Program, the Dean of HFA, and 5 College Performance Studies, and hosted by the Department of Theater
The Curtain Theater
Jan. 31, Feb. 1, 2, 3 at 8 pm

The Tailor of Inverness is a story of journeys, of how a boy who grew up on a farm in Galicia (Eastern Poland, now Western Ukraine) came to be a tailor in Inverness. His life spanned most of the 20th century. His story is not straightforward. He was taken prisoner by the Soviets in 1939 and forced to work east of the Urals, then freed in an amnesty after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. He then joined the thousands of Poles who travelled to Tehran, then Egypt, to be integrated into the British Army, fighting in North Africa and Italy. He was then resettled in Britain in 1948, joining his brother in Glasgow. This is the story he told.

"...a beautifully realised tale of the reality of survival in war-torn Eastern Europe...Matthew Zajac's moving performance is a triumph of evocative staging and storytelling." The Observer

Urinetown

music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, and book by Greg Kotis
The Rand Theater
March 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 at 8 p.m., March 3 and 10 at 2 p.m.
School matinee March 7 at 10 a.m.

What if we stressed our natural resources to the point where people had to line up to pay for the privilege of using the privy? That's what happens in the world described in Urinetown the Musical, a smart Broadway hit that takes the serious environmental issues we face today and approaches them from a playfully self-aware, absurdist — not to mention very funny — perspective. Director Gina Kaufmann and Composer Mark Hollman worked together early in their careers at The Unusual Cabaret developing new musical work, and Urinetown has a cabaret influence despite its epic-sized cast. The story pits the haves of Urine Good Company, owners of the public potties, against the rebellious poor who don't want to pay any longer, but are the right and wrong sides really so clear as they seem at first?

Beyond the Horizon Festival

Addressing the Dean's Theme of "The Gulf Oil Spill Crisis: Lessons for the Future" with original theater pieces to be created and performed by members of the Department of Theater and special guests.
The Curtain Theater
April 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 at 8 p.m., April 7 and 14 at 2 p.m.

In the wake of the devastating 2010 PB oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, officials at UMass Amherst issued a challenge to all departments to respond to the issues raised by the crisis. The Department of Theater's response is a festival of devised theater, organized under the artistic direction of dramaturgy MFA student Megan McClain. She will guide several groups of artists, both students and professionals, as they create a handful of new pieces that offer different perspectives on the theme and the questions it raises about how we relate to the physical world, what our responsibility is to repair what we harm, and our place in the community and this ecosystem.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

by William Shakespeare
The Rand Theater
April 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 8 p.m., April 21 and 28 at 2 p.m.
School matinee April 26 at 10 a.m.

In 1978, Tony Simotes, Artistic Director of the Berkshire's world-renowned Shakespeare & Co., played the part of Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was his inaugural role with the company, and so the play holds a special place in his heart. The UMass Department of Theater is thrilled to have Simotes aboard as he returns to his theatrical roots with a new production of this play. Follow Simotes and his cast on a journey to a Greece where magic still happens and love is in the air.

Tickets, subscriptions and group rates

Tickets are $16 general admission, $8 for students and seniors

Order all 7 shows at a discount of 20 percent per single subscription, or 25 percent for a couple's subscription:

$89.60 General admission single
$168 General admission couple
$44.8 Student or senior single subscription
$84 Student or senior couple subscription.

Or order 3 or more at a reduced price: $12.80 per ticket general admission, $6.40 per ticket student or senior admission.

To order any of our subscription packages, download our subscription form (PDF) here and bring or mail it to the Fine ArtsCenter Box Office, Fine Arts Center, UMass AMherst, AMherst, MA 01003.

20 for 20: Buy 20 or more tickets, and get 20 percent off. Call the box office at 1-800-999-UMAS or 545-2511.

School groups: Whether attending a special school matinee or an evening show, school groups are entitled to special rates: $8 per student, only $6 per student for groups of 20 or more. Chaperones are always FREE. To reserveschool group tickets or for more information email the public relations director or call 545-6808.

 

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