This year, students will see Shakespeare, sharks and a pool on the stages of the Baker and Forum theaters.
The season begins with an ad aptation of an Ovid poem, Meta morphoses, directed by Rebecca VerNooy. Dealing with transfor mation and change, the play follows six myths tackling epic themes such as love, loss, desire and greed. And it’s all set in a pool.
“Most of the action takes place in or above the water,” said VerNooy, assistant professor of theater. “In the Forum Theater, the floor of the stage comes out. … The infrastructure is already in place to make the pool.”
That pool could come in han dy for a character featured in the next play directed by David Hau gen—Swimming in the Shal lows. The play focuses on three relationships: an opposite-sex married couple that is having difficulties; a same-sex couple of women who are struggling to ac cept their own happiness; and a single gay male character who is longing for a lasting relationship and finds it with a shark.
“The play seems to suggest that to have a deeper, more fulfill ing life we must risk everything,” said Haugen, associate professor of performance. “The other op tion is to live a shallow, less sat isfying existence. And if you are willing to take the necessary risks you had better keep your sense of humor close at hand.”
Dennis Delaney, head of the professional director training program, said the off-beat style of Swimming in the Shallows shares the dark comic vision of Mr. Marmalade, a play featured during the 2012-13 season.
Many laughs are expected during the show next on the list. Delaney directs The 39 Steps, a satire of spy thrillers and an hom age to the Alfred Hitchcock 1935 classic of a man on the run from police because they believe he killed someone. There are dozens of roles in The 39 Steps but only a four-person cast, as each actor will play 20 to 30 characters each.
“You hear the saying of ‘Ac tors wear a lot of hats,’ ” Del aney said. “Well this is literally seeing people wear a lot of hats. … (They) play a lot of different parts, some simultaneously in the same scene.”
The season closes with As You Like It. Shelley Delany directs the Shakespearian comedy about the journey of Rosalind and Or lando after both were robbed of their money and positions and find themselves in the Forest of Arden. Rosalind falls in love with Orlando but she is disguised as a man, so Rosalind coaches Orlan do on how to court her once they are out of the forest.
Though some students might be apprehensive about seeing Shakespeare, Delaney said not to worry, for As You Like It is one of the most accessible of his comedies.
“It’s the circumstances of the plot,” she said. “Brothers at war with each other out of jeal ousy… the desire to be able to know what our lover is thinking without them knowing who you are. It’s a great fantasy to be the fly on the wall.”
