Swarthmore College Department of Theater

Two chances today to see 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go at 2 PM and 8 PM. Thanks to everyone who came out to opening last night!

The magic eight ball is telling us it’s time to open 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go! Will you join us tonight as we try to make sense of our shared mortal predicament?

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The cast of 32 Very Short Plays getting some final notes before their opening tomorrow. Will you join us as we let go?

INSTAGRAM TAKEOVER TONIGHT! Maddie Adams-Miller ‘26 () will be giving us the inside scoop of tech for 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go. Tune in tonight to see what she and her ensemble have been up to!

Death is inevitable; no one is exempt. Join us as we try to come to terms with this fact, together.

32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go. Nov 15 - Nov 17. Lang Performing Arts Mainstage

Photos by Laila Swanson

Here's a behind the scenes look at our rehearsals for our Fall Production Ensemble piece, 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go. Will you come see their work and share some breath with us?

Lang Performing Arts Center Main Stage
Fri Nov 15 8:00 PM
Sat Nov 16 2:00 PM + 8:00 PM
Sun Nov 17 2:00 PM

Thanks to Grace Fruauff for the photos!

Fri Nov 15 8:00 PM
Sat Nov 16 2:00 PM + 8:00 PM
Sun Nov 17 2:00 PM
LPAC MaineStage

"what do you think it feels like to be microwaved?"

see u soon, don't get microwaved by Sophia Pereda-Echeverry '25

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Playwriting Honor's Thesis Staged reading!

Photos courtesy of Howard Wang

Come check out Sophia Pereda-Echeverry's new play "see u soon, don't get microwaved"

October 26th at 7:30 PM
Frear Ensemble Theater
Free and Open to the All!

Lyra is alone in their apartment, but surrounded seemingly at all moments by group texts, phone calls, photos, videos, and endless content. In this Honors Playwriting Thesis, author Sophia Pereda-Echeverry '25 seeks to represent the internet of today without judgment and to ask questions of its role in our lives. Directed by guest artist Becky Wright and featuring a cast of both student and professional actors, "see u soon" explores relationships nowadays—the loneliness of young adulthood, the fake and real connection of online spaces, and the ways that technology both widens and narrows the gap between people. It asks, in this constant barrage of information, advertisement, joy, suffering, awareness, distance, and almost-connection, how do we each find our way through to the things, and people, that matter?

Welcome back to school, Swatties! We hope that many of you will get involved with our shows, classes and workshops in the 2024-25 year!

Pictured, from left: Liv Medeiros-Sakimoto '25, Frank Paz '25, and Eliana Swai '24 in Bryna Turner's "At The Wedding", directed by Assistant Professor Jude Sandy. February 2024.

Our final post is the 2012 Production Ensemble show: "Ivona, Princess of Burgundia", by Witold Gombrowicz. This show was directed by K. Elizabeth Stevens, with set design by Matt Saunders, costume design by Laila Swanson, sound design by Michael Kiley, and lighting design by James P. Murphy.

The cast featured Alejandro Bellon '15, Madeline Charne '14, Amelia Dornbush '15, Michael Edmiston '12, Hannah Hammel (HC) '12, Alexandra Isdebski '13, Hannah Kosman '14, Jeannette Leopold '13, Josh McLucas '15, Sebastián Bravo Montenegro '13, Sophia Naylor '12, Sasha Rojarin '15, Patrick Ross '15, Anna Russell '14, Nina Šerbedzija '14, & Glenn Stott '12.

All photos by David Swanson.

Thanks for following along with our summer series, and much love to ALL our theater alumni- graduated but never forgotten!

Today's show is our 2019 Acting Capstone Show: The 24 Hour Bald Soprano, directed by Assistant Professor Alex Torra.

In this inventive production, the cast performed Eugène Ionesco's classic of Absurdist theater, "The Bald Soprano", 24 times in 24 hours. Starting at 8:00 p.m. on Friday March 1st and ending at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday March 2nd, the six actors performed continuously. Audiences were free to come and go. Two of the actors added small changes and "Easter Eggs" to each performance to surprise the others and keep them on their toes- sometimes as small as blacking out their two front teeth, or as large as performing a whole hour in their underwear.

The cast included Shelby Billups ’20, Max Marckel ’19, Arijit Nerurkar ’19, Josie Ross ’21, John Wojciehowski ’19, and Emily Uhlmann ’19. The creative team included Nadia Malaya ’22 (assistant director), Assistant Professor Laila Swanson (costume design), Jack McManus ’21 (set design), Abby Schlackman (lighting design), Anthony Martinez-Briggs (sound design), Marla Burkholder (dialect coach), Sophie Nasrallah ’20 and Michael Lambui (stage managers), and Administrative Assistant Jean Tierno (pancake chef).

All photos by Steve Weinik.

Congratulations to LeVonne Lindsay, our Costume Shop Manager, on her TWO Barrymore nominations this year! Congratulations as well to Elizabeth Atkinson, our Visiting Assistant Professor of Sound Design, on her nomination for Other Orbits! 🎉

Today's post features 2009's Macbeth, an Honors Directing Thesis by Jacqueline Vitale '09. This show took place outdoors in the Crum woods, with a reception in Crumhenge following the performance. The production also featured "wildly re-imagined music by The Kinks played live by Swarthmore's finest troubadours."

The cast included Colin Aarons '09 (Macbeth), Eva Amesse '09 (Duncan), Jessie Bear '09 (Lady Macbeth), Sasha Shahidi '09 (Macduff), Brian Willis '11 (Ross) and Glenn Stott '12 (Malcolm), Jessica Cannizzaro ’12, Daniel Perelstein ’09, Carmella Ollero ’09, Sara Lipshutz ’11, and Simone Fried ’10, Christopher Compton ’09 and more. The band included Jeff Santner ’09, Travis Rothbloom ’10, Scott Goldstein ’09, Greg Albright ’10, and Bobby Hollahan ’09. Designers included Daniel Perelstein '09 (sound), Carmella Ollero '09 (choreography), Emma Ferguson '10 (set), Allison McCarthy '09 (costumes), and Logan Tiberi-Warner '10 (body art). Guest artist Kate Watson-Wallace provided space and movement dramaturgy.

All photos by Steve Weinik.

How did the Swarthmore Theater Department make shows during early Covid? For today's "From The Archives" post, we're highlighting "Glare", an Acting Capstone show directed by Assistant Professor Alex Torra. Created and performed by Amaechi Abuah '21, Jack McManus '21, and Josephine Ross '21, this show was livestreamed and performed for small outdoor audiences.

Sound Design by Elizabeth Atkinson
Scenic & Lighting Design by Michael Lambui
Media Design by Taj Rauch
Costume Design by Laila Swanson
Dramaturgy by Iris McCloughan
Stage Management by Melanie Leeds
Production Management & Technical Direction by Scott Cassidy
Assistant Stage Management by David Melo '21

Huge congratulations to Assistant Professor Isaiah M. Wooden, who received an Honorable Mention for the Vera Mowry Roberts Research and Publication Award for the best essay published in English from the American Theatre and Drama Society.

His article, "At the Nexus of Catharsis and Black Healing: Ritualizing Repair in What to Send Up When It Goes Down," was published in the 2023 issue of the journal Theatre Annual, and explores the ways that Aleshea Harris's extraordinary play "What to Send Up When It Goes Down" enables communal catharsis and Black healing by strategically staging rituals of repair. It specifically analyzes how Harris uses repetition, revision, absurdity, and parody in her mold-breaking theatrical text to grant Black audiences opportunities to contend with the realities of racialized violence, and to bring into being possibilities for Black wellness and flourishing.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Wooden on this major recognition of his work!

For today's "From The Archives" post, we are featuring "The End: A Q***r Reckoning". This Acting Capstone project from 2018 was a cabaret night created and performed by Wesley Han '18 and Oliver Lipton '18. Directed by John Jarboe of the Bearded Ladies, the show featured music direction by Pax Ressler, ​lighting design by Yoshi Nomifura '18, costume design by Max Brown, and set design by Michael Lambui.

All photos by Steve Weinik.