Spring arts preview

Feb. 17-  Green Eden - This original play is the senior playwriting work of Noah Mease ’11. In it, Philip Cummings welcomes a young poet to his house on a winter’s night, but he is not the first Spanish poet to find him in the solitude of Vermont. Years earlier, Summer 1929, the famous poet Federico Garcia Lorca visits a young Philip Cummings at a rented cabin beside Lake Eden. Sasha Rivera ’12 directs, and it stars Matt Ball ‘14, Willy McKay ‘11 and April Dodd ‘13.

Mar. 18 - Big Action Performance Ensemble (Big APE) - In reaction to dance competition reality shows that evaluate who is qualified to dance, Big APE presents Everyone Can Dance, a community-based performance project that celebrates the contagious allure of movement and the dynamic capabilities of the human body. Come see the performance take shape at several open rehearsals: Saturdays from 2:30–5:30 p.m. in the Dance Theatre:  2/12, 2/26, 3/5, and 3/12. And then check out the culminating performance, Friday and Saturday (18 & 19) at 8:00 P.M. in the Town Hall Theater. Tickets are $24/18/6.

Apr. 7 - Eurydice - One of this spring’s faculty shows is directed by Alex Draper ’88. The play, by award-winning playwright Sarah Ruhl, weaves a dreamlike retelling of the Orpheus myth. A story of love, loss and the mystery of death, from the author of The Clean House, Passion Play and Dead Man’s Cell Phone. The New York Times called it “a tenderhearted comedy, weird and wonderful, devastatingly lovely.” From April 7-9, it will run 8:00 P.M. each evening, plus 2:00 P.M. on Saturday only in the Seeler Studio Theatre. Tickets are $10/8/6 and will go on sale on March 14.

Apr. 28 - Victory - This spring’s other faculty show, directed by Richard Romagnoli, takes place in 1660: Britain’s brief experiment with republicanism ends, and the monarchy is restored. As Charles II returns to the now-powerless throne, the wife of one of the former republican leaders sets out to recover the pieces of her husband’s body, which has been dug up and exhibited on the orders of the new king. Howard Barker’s blistering analysis of a failed regime interweaves the national, political and intensely personal to study the life-shattering effects of fundamental change. Tickets are $10/8/6 and will go on sale on April 11.

May 6 - Middlebury Bach Festival - The first of its kind, this festival seeks to further the appreciation of the music, life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach by providing College and community audiences with three days of performances and informative workshops culminating in an exciting concert in Mead Chapel at the College on Saturday, May 7 at 8:00 P.M. The opening of the festival will be celebrated on Friday, May 6 at 7:00 P.M. with a gala event at Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, and on Sunday, May 8, performances of Bach’s will take place throughout Middlebury.