The Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College was inaugurated by Alice Huntington Spalding in 1929 with her production of Dear Brutus in Arter Hall. In the intervening years, the Playshop has produced over 500 plays including classic works by Shakespeare, Molière, Shaw, Williams, O’Neill, Miller, Wilder, and Coward, contemporary playwrights such as Sam Shepard, Tom Stoppard, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Wasserstein, Tina Howe, Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, and Paula Vogel, and musicals including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Pirates of Penzance, and Carousel, as well as original works by faculty, students and visiting artists. In 2009 we moved into our new home in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts. The Playshop season is now performed in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre.
Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College Presents:
“Machinal” March 30-April 2
The Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College will present the hit play “Machinal” with performances Thursday to Saturday, March 30-April 1, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 2, at 2:30 p.m. in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre on the Allegheny College campus.
Machinal is an episodic retelling that is loosely based on the murder trial and execution of Ruth Snyder. Through the character of Helen, we experience the push and pull of her world — the internal and external entrapment that she experiences.
In 1928, Machinal first made its debut at the Plymouth Theatre (now the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre), in New York City, where it ran for 91 performances. Approaching this script in 2023 offers new entry points to how individuals suffering from mental illness, postpartum depression, and trauma had to operate in a 1920s world that wasn’t equipped to support them. Sophie Treadwell herself had difficulty navigating everyday life due to her debilitating illnesses.
The aim of this production is to illuminate moments of impact that the character Helen experiences. Although beautifully crafted, the three productions I experienced, mid 2000s–mid 2010s, have been led by male directors who have hyper villainized and sexualized the characters to achieve spectacle. I wanted this particular production to key into the major and microscopic moments for Helen that lead to her execution, in a way that pays reverence to the genre Treadwell created without layering on additional trauma.
Tickets are $10 for the general public; $8 for Allegheny employees, senior citizens and non-Allegheny students; free to Allegheny students. Reservations may be made online at the Playshop box office: sites.allegheny.edu/playshop or by phoning (814) 332-3414.
Content Warning: Nuanced verbal abuse and ideas of unwanted sexual relations, as well as implied violent imagery and death.
You can view the program for this show here.
Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College Presents:
“A Doll’s House, Part 2″ November 17-20
The Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College will present the Broadway hit play “A Doll’s House, Part 2” with performances Thursday to Saturday, November 17-19, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 20, at 2:30 p.m. in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre on the Allegheny College campus.
Fifteen years after slamming the door on her husband, children, and bourgeois life, Nora returns in a whirlwind of funny, determined and righteous anger to reclaim what is hers. Lucas Hnath’s “A Doll’s House, Part 2,” presented on Broadway in 2017, is a thoughtful and beautifully rendered contemporary play which asks the difficult question, “How much has really changed?” The Allegheny production is directed by Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies Mark Cosdon.
“Lucas Hnath’s new play ingeniously addresses themes like self-reliance, the rights of women, and the long-lasting repercussions of our actions,” explains director Mark Cosdon. In 1879, Henrik Ibsen shocked audiences with his play “A Doll’s House,” which was widely viewed as a radically controversial work. However, Ibsen’s conclusion left much that was unresolved. Hnath’s “A Doll’s House, Part 2” boldly imagines the aftermath, some 15 years later. Cosdon continues, “While our production is in conversation with Ibsen’s original, there’s no need whatsoever to be familiar with Ibsen’s play. ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’ is a very smart and very funny stand-alone play.”
“A Doll’s House, Part 2” features Allegheny students Jillian Bradley ‘23, Matthew Dugan ‘23, Bella James ’24, and Vanessa Kocher ‘23. The production’s scenic designer is Michael Mehler. The lighting designer is Amanda
Fallon, a 2018 Allegheny graduate. The sound design is by Maria Cabrera ‘23, with technical direction by LeeAnn Yeckley. Costume design is by Uriel Gomez, a 2012 Allegheny graduate. The stage manager is Sydnie Patton-Neil ‘22. Tickets are $10 for the general public; $8 for Allegheny employees, senior citizens and non-Allegheny students; free to Allegheny students. Reservations may be made online at the Playshop box office: sites.allegheny.edu/playshop or by phoning (814) 332-3414.
Please note that “A Doll’s House, Part 2” includes some strong language. The running
time is 90 minutes and there is no intermission.
You can view the program for this show here.
Allegheny College Introduces Commitment to Access Program To Enhance Affordability for Pennsylvania Students and Families
Allegheny College today introduced a new Commitment to Access Program (CAP) that will cover 100 percent of tuition for Pennsylvania students from families earning an income of $50,000 or less. If you’re a student interested in studying communication, film, theatre, and/or dance within a rigorous liberal arts college, you should come visit!
Read the full story here.