Art major Abby Murdock, junior from Murray, looks at the upcoming events offered by the theater department.
From psychological thrillers to classic love stories, the Murray State theater department is sure to entertain this academic year. The theater department will offer three shows this semester of contrasting themes and subjects: “Toyer,” “Jack Frost” and “South Pacific.”
“Toyer” is the edgier show with intimate and scandalous themes.
“‘Toyer’ will provide some emotion, tension and edge-of-your-seat type feelings,” said Taylor Davis, senior member of the theater department from Owensboro, Ky.
The show unwraps the mind of a manipulative character known as ‘the toyer.’ He toys with his victims and then paralyzes them.
Although there are no harsh scenes involving murder or extreme sexual acts, the show has some adult content, so it is not suitable for children, Davis said.
“‘Toyer’ is going to be very intimate, which is always interesting to see how the character relationships develop, especially since there are only two actors on stage,” Davis said.
“Toyer” will show in Wilson Hall, room 310B on Sept. 25-28.
The next show on the bill is “Jack Frost,” a children’s play.
“’Jack Frost’ will warm your heart and feed into the child within all of us,” Davis said.
“Jack Frost” is the story of Martha, a little girl living with an evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. When clever Jack Frost comes to town, Martha’s passion and kindness warms the heart of cold Frost.
“Jack Frost” will run Oct. 17-21 at Robert E. Johnson Theatre. The show will run during the day for children and elementary schools as well as the regular nighttime showings for all audiences.
As for the last show of the semester, the theater department will team up with the music department for a winter hoorah, “South Pacific.”
A classic story of love and loss, “South Pacific” is set in World War II. Two unconventional love stories parallel each other as the lovers try to overcome the hardships of war and prejudice.
“I’m looking forward to seeing something so classic take the stage,” Davis said. “It’s also very wonderful to broaden our horizons a bit and join hands with the music department.”
“South Pacific” will begin Nov. 20 and end Nov. 23 at the Robert E. Johnson Theatre.
Auditions for “Toyer,” “Jack Frost” and “South Pacific” ended Monday night, but there is still time to prepare for the spring show auditions.
“Auditions are open to any and all who wish to audition,” said TJ Lewis, junior from Mayfield, Ky. “Auditions for this semester will be over tonight (Monday,) and auditions for next semester will be posted at the theater office toward the end of the semester.”
As for next semester, the theater department will put on a show that hasn’t even been written yet – a brand new production, Lewis said.
“A class offered this semester is Devised Theatre, where the students in the class are actually writing a show based off of their dreams,” Lewis said.
The show will rehearse throughout the fall semester and premiere as the first show in the spring semester.
Following that show will be William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and then “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.”
Throughout the semester, there will be several changes in the department including new venues for the shows and new showings for “Jack Frost.”
Also, the variety in productions is broad, giving the audience something new to look forward to with each show.
“Each event has the potential to be very enlightening,” Davis said. “I encourage people to attend as many shows as possible to really see what our department is working on.”
Future events in the music department include “Business Principles for Music” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2 in the Performing Arts Hall in New Fine Arts, a guest artist recital featuring flautist Molly Barth and guitarist Dieter Hennings at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 10 in the Performing Arts Hall and “Mallet Music” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18 in the Performing Arts Hall.
Story by Madison Wepfer, Staff writer