Actor, director, and educator Kevin R. Free carried a binder with the script for The Gravediggers Union around the Gannett Theater stage, reading alongside 乐播传媒 students as he filled in for an absent cast member in a dress rehearsal. 

Like the pro he is, the visiting director skipped nimbly around the cemetery set while reading his lines. He leapt up on a hillside beside makeshift gravestones, bounded across the faux cemetery grass, and, in one scene, hopped into a remarkably realistic grave to lie down. And then, just as he nearly disappeared from view, Free giggled. 

The burst of mirth illustrated what Kevin R. Free is seeking in his artistic work at the moment. 鈥淛oy is my activism,鈥� he said.

While his early career as a director and actor mostly focused on social justice, Free now wants to take a different tack in highlighting the cultural, political, and legislated wrongs he sees in society today. He wants to amplify the joy found in life, however small, however he can.

In directing The Gravediggers Union, is the first visiting director at 乐播传媒 who is sponsored by a college grant aimed at positioning the Department of Theater and Dance as a leader in issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion in their artistic endeavors.

As one who brings the perspective and pedagogy of an acclaimed director who is also gay and Black, Free has done this tenfold. But 乐播传媒 faculty members and students say Free brings even more: a windfall of enthusiasm, a frank honesty, and a gregarious energy as he spreads the joy he seeks.

鈥淜evin is fantastic. The best guest director ever,鈥� said Kati Vecsey, who is chair of the Department of Theater and Dance, a senior lecturer in theater, and vocal director for theatrical productions who invited Free to serve as a guest director. 鈥淲e are networking to find and bring a more diverse faculty to campus to direct shows because I think it鈥檚 good for the program and it鈥檚 good for the students to see other ways of directing and pedagogical approaches.鈥�

The play is about six gravediggers who work at a cemetery in rural New Hampshire when their jobs are suddenly threatened by the cemetery version of a big-box store soon to purchase the smaller cemetery and replace the golf course across the street. The blue-collar workers 鈥� who uniformly seem to enjoy a slower-paced work life 鈥� band together to hatch a plan to raise money to buy their cemetery. They decide staging a play will help. 

Two of the student actors in The Gravedigger Union are theater majors: David Allen 鈥�24 of Dorchester, Mass., and Caroline Cassell 鈥�24 of Woodstock, Vt., both of whom are acting in the production as part of their senior thesis work in theater.

In his senior thesis, Allen looked specifically at the difference in casting white students and a Black student 鈥� himself 鈥� in the role of the cemetery owner. When asked about the experience of working with Free, Allen put his head back, closed his eyes, and quietly laughed. He said having Free as a mentor was transformative because he said a Black director brings a different layer of understanding of a Black actor, because they share similar lived experiences.

鈥淲hen it comes to acting, he understands how to attack it from a Black actor鈥檚 perspective, which I really didn鈥檛 get in 乐播传媒,鈥� Allen said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 really interesting to see how he wants me to push certain acting choices and movement choices because he understands what I would have to go through mentally.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e talking about Black theater or having Black theater classes, it’s different when a Black theater director is talking to you about these things because they can relate to it themselves and explain it from their perspective. If you have a white person teaching Black theater, it’s like they’re giving you the information, but they can’t personally relate to it.鈥�

Free was drawn to 鈥檚 script for The Gravediggers Union because it鈥檚 a study in life and death, and in finding joy in life, even in the face of death. He also knows the playwright and is interested in producing contemporary plays.

Another reason Free wanted to produce this play: Its characters are not gender- or race-specific. In casting characters and directing actors, Free said: “Humanity should come first.鈥�

鈥淚 think young people in general need experiences that are specific to them,鈥� Free added. 鈥淎nd so I was hoping to choose a play from a playwright who said that the roles can be played by the genders that the actors express and by the races that the actors identify with.

“I think before 2020, we weren’t taking people’s humanity into account in the theater. I feel like I’m on the vanguard of those people who say we can’t separate what’s happening outside in the world from what’s happening in the theater on the stage.鈥�

Caroline Cassell 鈥�24 of Woodstock, Vt., plays the role of Mike, a drummer in a local band who lives at home with their mother. A triple major, Cassell’s senior theater thesis explores process, comedy, and gender fluidity within The Gravediggers Union.

鈥淚 really love how all the characters in this play don’t have a designated gender,鈥� Cassell said. 鈥淭here’s also so much possibility to explore humor and clowning, not only with the silliness written into the script, but within my own journey in learning how to drum!鈥�

In this exploratory learning process, Cassell said, Free was an apt guide. They called him an inspiration, open, and naturally collaborative.

鈥淗e embodies what being a theater maker in a safe space looks like. He supports and makes room for us as whole human beings. While his direction is focused, it also allows us to explore characters on our own, which I鈥檝e really enjoyed,鈥� Cassell said. 鈥淚’ve felt incredibly comfortable and seen and heard in our space. Inviting Free as a guest director, the theater department has created an incredible opportunity to work with a groundbreaking artist in the field. I’m very grateful not only for his skilled direction but for his mentorship and care.鈥�

Most recently, Free has worked as the artistic director of Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, N.J., and as a director at Portland Stage Company in Portland, Maine, where he鈥檚 directed six plays. He also is a notable audiobook narrator.

Free said having a Black gay man serve as a leader, teacher, or role model is valuable for all students 鈥� BIPOC, white or LGBTQ 鈥� because it is a way to amplify and celebrate our shared experience as human beings.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 legislate tolerance, as much as we鈥檝e tried. You can鈥檛 make people not be prejudiced. But what we can do is create a world where a person like me can be the leader in the room and thereby create an experience for students to be led by someone like me so they can see themselves reflected through my humanity 鈥� both white and Black, whatever,鈥� Free said. 

The funding for Free鈥檚 residency comes from a $1.2 grant million grant awarded to 乐播传媒 in 2018 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support the faculty鈥檚 ongoing work to strengthen the college鈥檚 humanities and humanistic social sciences curriculum and teaching while supporting greater equity and inclusion.

Mellon funding supported other changes and new protocols in the department, Vecsey said, including new audition protocols, a more collaborative approach to selecting plays, and stronger community agreements to foster supportive, respectful, and inclusive environments in theater and dance productions. 

Equipped with letters from German soldiers in Africa, some Wikipedia research, and hearts full of good intentions, three black and three white actors attempt to devise a play about the 20th century’s first genocide.

That precarious process and its explosive outcome drive a 2012 play 鈥� a play about a play 鈥� comprehensively titled We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German S眉dwestafrika, Between the Years 1884鈥�1915.

At the end of the March 6 dress rehearsal, a physically and emotionally spent cast takes a bow in Gannett Theater. From left, Perla Figuereo '21, Jack Willis '19, MIchael Driscal '19, Oaklea Elfstrom '21, Losseni Barry '22, and Ethan Winglass '19. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Ethan Winglass '19, performing in partial fulfillment of his senior theater thesis requirements as Actor 1/White Man, terrorizes Michael Driscal '19 as Actor 2/Black Man. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Assistant Professor of Theater Tim Dugan directs Stupid F*cking Bird, an adaptation of Chekov's The Seagull, in March. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Jack Willis '19 plays the role of Actor 3/Another White Man in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a senior thesis in theater. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Losseni Barry '22 as Actor 4/Another Black Man and Michael Driscal '19 as Actor 2/Black Man confront the task of presenting an undocumented historical past. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

The critically esteemed debut of playwright Jackie Sibblies Drury, the play is a boundary-busting tour de force whose dissections of racial tension and theatrical ethics pose a formidable challenge for its actors.

And the play, nicknamed We Are Proud to Present, is also the mainstage production .

Directing We Are Proud to Present at 乐播传媒 is Assistant Professor of Theater Tim Dugan 鈥� who, when asked what drew him to the play, , who says that a playwright has 鈥渢he luxury of not having to have one thesis. Instead you can have a matrix of questions.鈥�

Perla Figuereo ’21, Jack Willis ’19, Michael Driscal ’19, and Oaklea Elfstrom ’21. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

For Dugan, 鈥渢hat has been my lead as a director 鈥� my way in 鈥� knowing that I want to build a story so that matrix of questions can proliferate in the most dynamic way for the audience.

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 okay to not have the answers to all of them.鈥� (Although, he adds, 乐播传媒 staff and faculty will join Dugan and his actors to continue the quest for answers in talkbacks after each performance.)

We talked to Dugan about acting the part of an actor, breaking the fourth wall between performers and audience, and the challenges of depicting racial conflict on stage.

What else attracted you to We Are Proud to Present?

This is very much an ensemble piece. It鈥檚 about six actors devising a play, three African American and three white. They all love what they do, they love each other, but they鈥檙e trying to tackle this topic that is incredibly challenging, the genocide of the Herero tribe in Namibia.

Assistant Professor of Theater Tim Dugan addresses actors at the end of the final dress rehearsal. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Whenever I do theater work, building ensemble is my first priority. So for that to be an integral part of this story 鈥� I was just fascinated by that process, and Drury has some fun at looking at that. There鈥檚 a lot of humor to be had about theatrical practice, about egos in the theater.

The play is about an actual genocide.

These young, passionate, accomplished theater artists are trying to create an original work about the genocide of the Herero people by the Germans. They鈥檙e really well-intentioned and they鈥檙e trying to shed light on this. And this play really succeeds in that, because a lot of people haven鈥檛 heard of this genocide.

Losseni Barry ’22 and Michael Driscal ’19. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

And we see them struggle with how to tell this story, because the only materials they have are letters from German soldiers [and] some Wikipedia research 鈥� they haven鈥檛 done a real deep dive into research.

Some of the actors start arguing, 鈥淲ell, where鈥檚 the Herero side? Where do we get that story?鈥� Others argue, 鈥淲ell, if we want to tell it honestly, we should really only use what鈥檚 really there, which is the letters.鈥�

That escalates, and about midway through the play, it pivots to a point of leaving the genocide in Africa and moving towards race in America.

Jack Willis ’19 with Michael Driscal ’19 and Losseni Barry ’22. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

There鈥檚 a series of scenes where you will recognize images from current news. That鈥檚 another reason why this play is really powerful. I wanted to do it because it raises a whole bunch of questions about how we talk about race in this country.

That鈥檚 really good for our students, and the play does so in a way that鈥檚 not didactic or condescending.

Good for the students, but probably challenging too.

The plot is asking a lot of the fictional actors. And it鈥檚 asking a lot of the actors here at 乐播传媒 because they have to depict some really ugly moments of human behavior in regard to race and racist actions in this country.

What I have seen is how different moments of the play, especially in first passes through the script, have affected students 鈥� when they鈥檝e had to say that horrible thing for the first time or they had to listen to that thing for the first time. When we鈥檝e done one of those scenes and the actors have had to look at each other, you can see the racial issues around it humanized.

Losseni Barry ’22 and Oaklea Elfstrom ’21 share a painful moment. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Those were really hard but necessary moments to have in the process. This kind of work has certainly brought this group of students together, and they’re flourishing as an ensemble.

乐播传媒 strives to prepare students for success in a multicultural world. Does this play support that goal?

That鈥檚 one of the reasons I did the play: It really does. Sometimes when we talk about these issues we can get self-conscious, or we鈥檙e not sure how to talk about it. 鈥淚f I react a certain way does that mean I鈥檓 this [type of person]?鈥�

Because these students are walking in the shoes of these characters, I鈥檓 sure those skills that they鈥檙e having to negotiate and navigate through are preparing them for that.

The play breaks boundaries in a dynamic way, and one example is the boundary between developing a play behind closed doors and then performing it. How does that work here?

I love the structure of this play. It bops back and forth between scenes that Drury labels Process and Presentation. It turns on a dime. There鈥檚 10 of each. I love this idea of just watching this troupe in rehearsal 鈥� you鈥檙e like a fly on the wall 鈥� and then, boom, they鈥檙e acknowledging the audience, doing a scene that they鈥檝e created through improvisation.

Ethan Winglass ’19 as Actor 1/White Man terrorizes Michael Driscal ’19 as Actor 2/Black Man. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Another boundary that gets broken is the audience expectations from coming into a show. We鈥檙e going to mess with that in a really exciting way. Not to make anyone nervous 鈥� it鈥檚 not an interactive thing where you get pulled up on stage 鈥� but the actors are going to be quite close to the audience at times. And audience members will see each other a lot in this play.

And so your actors have to portray both sides of a persona: the actor creating a part and then performing it. How do they make that difference clear?

When they鈥檙e in Process, they can鈥檛 look like they鈥檙e acting. There are multiple conversations, there are interruptions. All of those Processes are totally scripted 鈥� that鈥檚 something brilliant about Drury鈥檚 work. It feels like it鈥檚 not, and it is.

Michael Driscal ’19 with Perla Figuereo ’21. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

It鈥檚 got to feel like we鈥檙e not acting, but at a rehearsal. It requires the actors to deeply listen to each other 鈥� they really need to know their cutoffs. Some of them just have one- or two-word intrusions like 鈥淵eah, but 鈥斺�� or 鈥淕uys!鈥� It鈥檚 like music. If you miss the beat, that鈥檚 going to throw it off. We鈥檙e really trying to delineate those two worlds.

We have to make a sense of ease around that as much as possible, and that takes a while. So it鈥檚 been a bit of dialing down some moments that get a little act-y. If people say that the play feels improvised, that to us is a success.

At the end of the March 6 dress rehearsal, a physically and emotionally spent cast takes a bow in Gannett Theater. From left, Perla Figuereo ’21, Jack Willis ’19, MIchael Driscal ’19, Oaklea Elfstrom ’21, Losseni Barry ’22, and Ethan Winglass ’19. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Martin Andrucki was asked why he chose to stage his production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream 鈥� playing at 鈥� in 1930s America and to have Fairyland evoke the fantastical world of Hollywood’s golden age.

Andrucki is the college’s Dana Professor of Theater, and he said that the reason has to do with bark, and not the canine kind. Midsummer‘s famous Fairyland has, perhaps too often, been populated by “actors covered in bark or in tutus, wearing mosquito wings,” he says.

So as Andrucki thought about his first production of Midsummer since 1995, he decided to create another type of Fairyland for Shakespeare’s tale of a wedding, a love quadrangle, theater al fresco, quarreling fairies, and magical potions.

Under a spell, Lysander (Declan Chu '17) tries to woo Helena (Audrey Burns '17), who believes he is trying to mock her. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Under a spell, Titania (Tricia Crimmins '19) lounges in bed with Bottom (Dan Kuan Peeples '17), who's been made to look like a donkey by Puck. They're attended by fairies Moth (Anna Kreitzer 鈥�19), Mustardseed (Anne Trapp 鈥�20) and Peaseblossom (Rebecca Kraft 鈥�20). (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Quince (Christina Felonis '17) explains the play she's written to Nick Bottom (Dan Kuan Peeples '17). Felonis' performance is part of her senior thesis in acting. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

"Full of vexation come I, with complaint against my child," says Egeus (in hat, Theo Eagle '17) about his daughter Hermia (Azure Reid-Russell '17); at left and right are suitors Demetrius (John Dello Russo 鈥�18) and Lysander (Declan Chu '17). (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

"If we shadows have offended, / Think but this, and all is mended," says Puck, played by Sam James '18 of Bradenton, Fla., the play's final lines. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

“I thought of Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo,” Andrucki explains, “where Jeff Daniels steps out of the screen and brings Mia Farrow into a world of beauty, glamor, and romance.”

In Hollywood’s golden age of the 1930s, “escape and magic were at the movies. Hollywood musicals were fairyland. Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers: They were fairies.” It’s a bygone world that reflects Shakespeare’s own capacity for raising “his fancy to a flight above mankind,” in the words of 18th-century English writer Nicholas Rowe.

The 乐播传媒 production, , features an original score by Bill Matthews, the Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music. His compositions include a song for the fairies and one for the character Nick Bottom, as well as music for dance sequences and what director Andrucki describes as “a sonic landscape for the whole show.”

Standing at the foot of the Schaeffer Theatre stage after Wednesday’s dress rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, director and Dana Professor of Theater Martin Andrucki goes through his notes with the actors. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Directed by Martin Andrucki, Dana Professor of Theater

Scenic design by Judy Gailen

Costume design by Christine McDowell and Nora Dahlberg 鈥�18 of Arlington, Va.

Lighting design by Michael Reidy, senior lecturer and managing director of theater and dance

Original music by Bill Matthews, Alice Swanson Esty Professor of Music

Projections by Lucas Wilson-Spiro ’15

Choreography by Sam Hersh ’19 of Northborough, Mass.

Stage manager: Claire Sullivan ’19 of Montville, N.J.

Cast of Characters

Oberon/Theseus: Brian Pfohl, assistant in instruction, psychology

Titania/Hippolyta: Tricia Crimmins 鈥�19 of Lake Forest, Ill.

Philostrate: Ghasharib Shoukat 鈥�20 of Karachi, Pakistan

Egeus: Theo Eagle 鈥�17 of Brooklyn, N.Y.

Hermia: Azure Reid-Russell 鈥�17 of Northport, N.Y.

Demetrius: John Dello Russo 鈥�18 of Revere, Mass.

Lysander: Declan Chu 鈥�17 of Winthrop, Maine

Helena: Audrey Burns 鈥�17 of Topsham, Maine*

Peter Quince: Christina Felonis 鈥�17 of Athens*

Nick Bottom: Dan Kuan Peeples 鈥�17 of Piermont, N.Y.*

Francis Flute: Erik Skattum 鈥�19 of London

Robin Starveling: Lila Patinkin 鈥�20 of Chicago

Tom Snout: Christine Carroll 鈥�20 of Locust Valley, N.Y.

Snug: Madison Shmalo 鈥�19 of Kennebunk,Maine

Puck: Sam James 鈥�17 of Bradenton, Fla.

Moth: Anna Kreitzer 鈥�19 of Ellsworth, Maine

Peaseblossom: Rebecca Kraft 鈥�20 of Newton Center, Mass.

Cobweb: Amelia Green 鈥�17 of Westport, Conn.

Mustardseed: Anne Trapp 鈥�20 of Townsend, Mont.

Audrey Burns ’17, Christina Felonis ’17, Dan Kuan Peeples ’17 are working on Midsummer as a part of their senior theses in acting.

In this issue:

1. Sept. 7 Convocation to focus on decision-making, shared purposes
2. We’re following the Class of 2014’s AESOP trips
3. Childress contributes to research untangling ‘spooky’ quantum effect
4. Save the dates: Homecoming Weekend Oct. 29-30
5. Theater standout Sulochana Dissanayake ’09 to discuss Watson year
6. The arts at 乐播传媒 鈥� a glimpse online
7. Summer Scholars Program accelerates introduction to sciences, math
8. 乐播传媒 Magazine summer issue online
9. 乐播传媒 Clean Sweep raises nearly $16,000 for local nonprofits
10. Women’s lacrosse team honored for top grades in Division III
11. Garcelon Field renovation on track for home opener
12. 乐播传媒 in the News

1. Sept. 7 Convocation to focus on decision-making, shared purposes
乐播传媒 opens its 145th academic year on Tuesday, Sept. 7, with Convocation ceremonies welcoming the approximately 500 members of the Class of 2014. President Elaine Tuttle Hansen and Professor Marcus Bruce ’77, chair of the 乐播传媒 religious studies department, are the featured speakers, with Hansen giving an address on How We Decide and Bruce focusing on A Shared Vocation that the聽 new students are entering into.

2. We’re following the Class of 2014’s AESOP trips
Student photographer Matt Baker-White ’13 is tracking 乐播传媒’ newest students as they head out on this year’s Annual Entering Student Outdoor Program, better known as AESOP, one of the very few entirely student-run outdoor orientation programs in the U.S.

3. Childress contributes to research untangling ‘spooky’ quantum effect
Lilian Childress, assistant professor of physics at 乐播传媒, is one of a team of physicists who have taken an exciting step toward the practical application of a surprising phenomenon that even Albert Einstein described as “spooky.”

4. Save the dates: Homecoming Weekend Oct. 29-30
Plan to come back to 乐播传媒 for Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 29-30. Experience life at 乐播传媒 during one of the most beautiful times of year! Gather with friends, play golf, attend events, grab a meal together in New Commons and cheer on your favorite Bobcat teams as they beat Colby! Homecoming Weekend also features: the celebration of the 30th anniversary of women’s varsity soccer; a salute to members of the 1956 Maine State Football Championship team; the final celebration of the 乐播传媒 Outing Club’s 90th anniversary; and a 乐播传媒PRIDE LGBT panel and networking reception.
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5. Theater standout Sulochana Dissanayake ’09 to discuss Watson year
Sulochana Dissanayake ’09, known for her accomplishments in theater at 乐播传媒, returns to campus this month to recount her experiences researching theatrical practices in Africa and Indonesia as a Watson Fellow. One of 40 recipients of the 2009 fellowship, Dissanayake studied performance traditions in Indonesia and contemporary theater companies in South Africa. Her talk takes place at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, in the Benjamin Mays Center, 95 Russell St., and will be followed by a workshop on applying for the Watson.

6. The arts at 乐播传媒 鈥� a glimpse online
In their production, performance and study, the arts 鈥� music, creative writing, theater, visual art, dance and film 鈥� are rewarding avenues for intellectual growth. Get a taste of the excitement for students and a source of enrichment for central Maine:

7. Summer Scholars Program accelerates introduction to sciences, math
乐播传媒 strives to cultivate future scientists from a wide range of backgrounds to engage a diverse and complex world in which science and technology play a pivotal role. The Summer Scholars Program is an accelerated introduction to sciences and mathematics at 乐播传媒. Open to 10 entering first-year students who demonstrate an interest in these areas, the six-week program seeks to build a community of scholars from among a diverse group of incoming first-years, including first-generation college students and students from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences and mathematics. Watch a short video about the 2010 program:

8. 乐播传媒 Magazine summer issue online
The summer issue of 乐播传媒 Magazine is now online, featuring more photographs and slide shows. You can also flip through the print edition online.

9. 乐播传媒 Clean Sweep raises nearly $16,000 for local nonprofits
The 10th annual Clean Sweep, 乐播传媒 College’s “garage sale” of appliances, furniture, electronics and other goods donated by departing students, raised nearly $16,000 in proceeds that will be divided among 14 local nonprofit organizations.

10. Women’s lacrosse team honored for top grades in Division III
The women鈥檚 lacrosse team has been honored by the Intercollegiate Women鈥檚 Lacrosse Coaches Association for maintaining the highest average grade point average among all Division III squads for the 2010 season.
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11. Garcelon Field renovation on track for home opener
Ten weeks after construction started, the renovation of Garcelon Field is nearly completed. The FieldTurf playing surface is down, the scoreboard and lights are up and the seats and press box will follow as the Oct. 9 deadline approaches for the home opener against Williams. WCSH TV-6 in Portland provided its viewers with this update:

Read a Construction Update and view the live videocam of the field:

12. 乐播传媒 in the News
Karl Mills ’82, dubbed the “Artful Contrarian” by the Dow Jones blog Financial Adviser, says his wealth management firm does have a certain independent spirit. 鈥淲e wait for a good company to get taken out to the woodshed irrationally,鈥� he says. And while college rankings are frequently disparaged in academe for their questionable methodologies, higher education thought leader Jamie Merisotis ’86, quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education, has a different perspective: Rankings simply reflect “the market鈥檚 desire for more information.” Meanwhile, Scott Pierce ’08 appears in a CBS News webcast with Katie Couric entitled 鈥淛obless in America.鈥澛燘y the time of the interview, Couric notes, Scott had found a job through smart networking skills.

Students in the 乐播传媒 course “Acting and Directing for the Camera” screen their class projects on April 3. The projects are scenes adapted from well-known motion pictures such as Armageddon, 28 Days Later, Juno, Bridget Jones’ Diary and American Beauty.

The screening also includes senior-thesis films by Rachael Garbowski of Brussels, Wis., and Rufat Hasanov of Baku, Azerbaijan, as well as films produced in the “Digital Film Production” course. That course and “Acting and Directing for the Camera” are taught by Professor of Theater Paul Kuritz, a member of 乐播传媒’ theater faculty since 1978.

• Friday, April 3, at 4 p.m.
• Pettigrew Hall, Filene Room (Room 301), 305 College St.

Martin Andrucki, Dana Professor of Theater at 乐播传媒, directs the college theater department production of “Measure for Measure,” William Shakespeare’s dark comedy about sex, public morality and private hypocrisy.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 7, 8, 14 and 15; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 10 and 16, in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, 2 Andrews Road.

Admission is $6 general admission, and $3 for 乐播传媒 faculty and staff, senior citizens and non-乐播传媒 students. For more information, please call 207-786-6161 or visit the online box office at www.bates.edu/boxoffice.

“Measure for Measure” is believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. Though known as a comedy, it’s also one of three Shakespeare plays that scholars term “problem plays” — meaning they address, but reach no conclusions about, problematic social issues such as the need for mercy in justice, the definition of gender roles in human sexuality, and, in particular, questions of sexual morality.

“Measure for Measure,” says Andrucki, “raises more questions than it answers, leaving the audience without any final or settled sense of the moral stature of the major characters.”

In the story, the Duke of Vienna has left the city in the hands of Angelo, a strict and austere judge. Though the Duke has rarely enforced the city’s laws against fornication, Angelo is an outspoken supporter of them, and his control of the city spells trouble for young lovers.

When one Claudio gets Juliet, his betrothed, pregnant, Angelo sentences him to death. But when Isabella, Claudio’s distraught sister, pleads for mercy for her brother, Angelo tells her he will spare her brother’s life only if she has sex with him.

Thus begins the commentary on the hypocrisy of public figures, and how social morality does not necessarily correlate with private morality. When it turns out that the Duke has not gone away at all, but stayed in Vienna incognito to observe the happenings without him, chaos reigns as the theme of secret identity prevails throughout the play.

Andrucki edited the play slightly, cutting a number of scenes, but is presenting the play essentially as it appears in standard editions of Shakespeare. But he has moved the action from Renaissance Vienna to New York in the 1970s, a setting for an urban breakdown parallel to that depicted in the Duke’s Vienna .

Two 乐播传媒 seniors feature prominently in the production. Stephen Lattanzi of Winchester, Mass., plays Angelo and Sam Leichter of Wallingford, Pa., portrays the Duke. Both students are using the play as their senior acting thesis production.

“I knew I had two strong actors to play the male leads,” Andrucki says. “Then, I like the fact that the play has a lot of colorful and challenging cameo roles, which would allow a large number of students to get involved.”

One of William Shakespeare’s first comedies, The Taming of the Shrew is the major fall production of the 乐播传媒 College theater department.

Directed by Professor of Theater Paul Kuritz, “The Taming of the Shrew” will be performed at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 2-5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, Andrews Road. Admission is $6 for the general public and $3 for 乐播传媒 faculty and staff, senior citizens and non-乐播传媒 students.

For reservations and more information, please call the box office at 207-786-6161 or visit its

A lighthearted romantic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew was written in London around 1592, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Set in Italy, the play comments on marriage and the duties of women to their husbands.

The plot deals with the loves and marriages of two sisters, the mild-tempered Bianca and the unmanageable Katherina, as they and their lovers deal with arranged marriages, money, love and the “taming” of a scolding wife. The play has inspired several adaptations including the Tony Award-winning Cole Porter musical “Kiss Me, Kate” and the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You.”

“We had not produced a Shakespearean comedy in a while, so I selected ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ ” says Kuritz. “The subject of marriage has been in the news quite a bit and I thought Shakespeare’s take on the institution should be considered.”

Kuritz’s approach to the comedy breaks from convention. “A traditional interpretation would have this arc: Wild, untamed, ‘manly’ Kate is broken by Petruchio into a submissive, passive wife,” he explains. “Kate is the character who changes most in this interpretation.”

But, says Kuritz, “I have read and re-read the play with another point of view. What if Kate is at the beginning of the play as she is at the end? What if she doesn’t change at all? Who then changes, since someone must change in the course of a play?

“I believe Petruchio is the one who changes. In fact, I believe Kate tames him.”

Also of interest is the visual setting of the production, created by costume and set designer B. Christine McDowell, assistant professor of theater. Setting the production in Italy during the late 1950s-early 1960s provides a context in which “Kate can be more of a rebel than a harpie,” she explains. “We liked the idea of playing up the cultural shifts that happened at that time when ‘good’ girls wanted to be Sandra Dee and ‘bad’ girls wanted to be rock ‘n’ rollers or bohemians.”

With the play originally set in Padua, “we also liked to play on the conservatism of Italy at that time,” she adds.

New to 乐播传媒 this academic year, McDowell has been a freelance designer for New York and regional theatres and has taught theatrical design at SUNY New Paltz, The College of William and Mary and the University of South Florida.

The cast of the 乐播传媒 production includes Molly Joyce Marquand, a senior from Garrison, N.Y., as Bianca; junior Kym Bell of Carver, Mass., playing Katherina; Maggie McCally, a sophomore from Westport, Conn., as their father, Baptista Minola; Joe Williams, a first-year student from Washington, D.C., playing Bianca’s primary suitor, Lucentio; sophomore Stephen Lattanzi of Winchester, Mass., portraying Petruchio; and Dane Cunningham, a junior from Topsfield, Mass., as Hortensio.