Northwestern Theatre and Dance in May

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Expect to laugh and cry on seeing “Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” this spring by the Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) at Northwestern University. The popular comedy will be directed by theatre faculty member Mary Poole and staged on the Evanston campus from May 11 through 20, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater.

In continued partnership with the National Theatre in London, TIC’s National Theatre Live (NT Live) season will include a May 20 re-broadcast of the London hit “One Man, Two Guvnors.”

Performances of the 2012 Waa-Mu production, “Off The Map,” will take place April 27 through May 6, at Cahn Auditorium.

The department of performance studies will present three programs in May that are open to the public.

Dance-related events include the exhibition “Step by Step: The History of Dance at Northwestern that runs through May 11, and two dance concerts -- “The Jenkins Farm Project,” May 4 and May 5, a multi-media dance theatre work conceived and choreographed by Northwestern dance faculty member Annie Beserra -- and “The Golden Year,” May 17 through May 19, the 2012 Senior Dance Majors Concert.

To purchase single and group tickets to Mainstage events call the TIC Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or www.tic.northwestern.edu.

All May events are open to the public and take place on Northwestern’s Evanston campus, as noted.

MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION

“Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare, directed by Mary Poole, 8 p.m. Friday, May 11; 8 p.m. Saturday, May 12; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 13; 8 p.m. Thursday, May 17; 10 a.m. (student matinee) and 8 p.m. Friday, May 18; 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. Shipwrecked on the shores of Illyria, aristocratic-born Viola assumes her twin brother is dead and takes on the identity of a young male page to gain work in an unfamiliar land. Her compromised identity puts her at the center of a complicated love triangle that is hilarious, melancholy and always entertaining. Under the direction of award-winning Northwestern faculty member Mary Poole, this classic comedy is about mistaken identity and misguided hearts. Post-show discussions will follow the May 11, May 13 and May 19 performances. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Single tickets are $10 to $25; groups of 8 or more are $8 to $22.

WAA-MU 2012

Waa-Mu 2012, ”Off The Map,” directed by David H. Bell, 8 p.m. Friday April 27; 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 29; 8 p.m. Thursday, May 3; 8 p.m. Friday, May 4; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 5; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 6, at Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson St., Evanston campus. This year Waa-Mu explores the Northwestern student experience through the student-written music and performances that have earned Waa-Mu recognition as “the greatest college show in America.” Take a journey with the Waa-Mu cast as they venture beyond the Evanston campus to discover America. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Single tickets for the general public are $30 (tier 1) or $25 (tier 2); $20 for seniors over 65 and Northwestern faculty, staff and area educators (tier 2); and $10 for full-time students (tier 2). Single and group tickets are on sale through the TIC Box Office. For tickets, call (847) 491-7282 or visit www.waamu.northwestern.edu.

NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE

National Theatre Live Rebroadcast/“One Man, Two Guvnors,” 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 20, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. Directed by National Theatre Artistic Director Nicholas Hytner and starring James Corden (“The History Boys”), this comedy is set in 1963 England and based on “The Servant of Two Masters.” This production was hailed by the Daily Telegraph as “one of the funniest productions in the National's history” and "the feel good hit of the summer." Presented with By Experience and co-sponsored by Arts Council England and Aviva, TIC’s National Theatre Live broadcasts are sponsored by a generous grant from the Alumnae of Northwestern. The program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Single tickets are $20; groups of eight or more are $18. 

PERFORMANCE STUDIES

“Labor Rites,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 11; 8 p.m. Saturday, May 12; 2 p.m. Sunday, May 13; 8 p.m. Friday, May 18; 8p.m. Saturday, May 19; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 20, at the Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater, Theatre and Interpretation Center at Northwestern University, 1949 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. Adapted and directed by Northwestern’s Soyini Madison, chair of the School of Communication’s department of performance studies, with choreography by Joel Valentin-Martinez, senior lecturer in the School’s dance program, “Labor Rites” explores the history of the U.S. labor movement. This multimedia performance is a montage of digital imagery, comic satire, dramatic monologue, song, stylized movement and dance. Admission is free.

“One for My Baby,” 7 p.m. Thursday, May 17; 7 p.m. Friday, May 18; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 19, Alvina Krause Studio, Northwestern University’s Annie May Swift Hall, 1920 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. Written and directed by Gregory Mitchell, “One for My Baby” chronicles a young American ex-patriot living in 1950s Paris. Told in a non-linear storyline, a man’s torrid romance with a dashing but unstable immigrant begins as a forbidden encounter. When the men retreat from the world, their relationship presses both of them to the edge of reason. As rivalries and intrigue mount and secrets are revealed, one character commits a horrible crime that may doom them both. Admission is free. For information about tickets, contact Freda Love Smith at Freda-love-smith@northwestern.edu.

“The Extinction Project,” written by Derek L. Barton and directed by Anna Bahow, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24, Northwestern University’s Alvina Krause Studio, Annie May Swift Hall, 1920 Campus Drive, Evanston campus. A man returns to his native Florida seeking an aging botanist and a vanishing tree. A lonely bachelor discovers a live dodo bird in his laundry hamper. A symphony conductor and drag queen resurrect the American passenger pigeon with music. “The Extinction Project” is a multimedia work and performance project examining the disappearances of species, places, people and ways of life. A combination of original work and non-fiction, it is a story about the search for an endangered tree set against the backdrop of the 2010 Deepwater Horizons spill. The staged reading and talk-back are free and open to the public.

DANCE EXHIBITION

“Step by Step: The History of Dance at Northwestern” exhibition through May 11, at University Library, 1970 Campus Drive, on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. As early as 1866, the Northwestern Female College (eventually absorbed into Northwestern University) offered calisthenics to its students “for a small extra charge." As Northwestern grew, dance and movement had several homes across the campus. In 1979, Professor Susan A. Lee created a dance program within the theatre department. “Step by Step” traces the way dance came of age on the Evanston campus with a selection of archival material and dance-related figurines from Lee’s private collection. Exhibitions at University Library are open to the public daily from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.library.northwestern.edu or call (847) 491-7658.

DANCE PERFORMANCES

The Jenkins Farm Project,” 8 p.m. Friday, May 4 and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 5, the Ballroom Theater, Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. The School of Communication’s dance program and Striding Lion Performance Group will present “The Jenkins Farm Project,” a multi-media dance theatre work conceived and choreographed by Northwestern dance faculty member Annie Beserra. The granddaughter of Annie Lee Jenkins (whose family is explored in this project), Beserra has transformed the real stories of a North Carolina farming family into a multi-media dance theater work that questions the meaning of home, family, memory and mental illness. The work was developed in collaboration with Chicago composers Matt Reed and Colby Beserra, a scenic and projection artist and a cast of six dancer/actors. The movement, text, video and score capture the longing and conflict bound to the history of the Jenkins home and secrets that are buried there. Tickets are $12 for students and $15 general admission. Tickets are available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/230303. Tickets will also be available for purchase at the door, a half-hour prior to both performances.

“The Golden Year,” 2012 Senior Dance Majors Concert, 8 p.m. Thursday, May 17; 8 p.m. Friday, May 18; and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19, Ballroom Theatre of Northwestern University’s Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. The premiere of original works by five soon-to-graduate Northwestern University dance majors will explore their undergraduate years and the future ahead of them. The seniors will also perform a work created for them by Chicago choreographer and Artist-in-Residence Stephanie Martinez Bennitt. “The Golden Year” is the final project of Northwestern senior dance majors under the guidance of dance program faculty advisors Susan A. Lee, Annie Beserra and Billy Siegenfeld. Choreographed and produced by seniors Britt Banaszynski, Danielle Kipnis, Meg Morrissey, Aly Quigley and Christy Stallknecht, the concert is performed by 20 Northwestern undergraduate student dancers. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets, which are $5 for students and $10 for the general public, can be purchased through the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or at the door a half-hour prior to the performances.