2019-2020 LSU and Swine Palace Seasons
LSU Mainstage
Trouble in Mind
by Alice Childress
Directed by G.D. Kimble
Sept 25 - Oct 8, 2019
Shaver Theatre
Alice Childress’s play, Trouble in Mind is a semi-satirical study of racism in the
theater world that proves fascinating on several levels. It is a sometimes-acrid backstage
comedy, a frank look at mid-1950s social attitudes and also a commentary on the discomfort
between blacks and whites that remains relevant to some degree today. The play opens
on the first day of rehearsals for a new Broadway drama, “Chaos in Belleville,” that
is written and directed by white artists. Several African-American actors are complaining
to one another about the stereotypical roles they have played in other shows.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Directed by George Judy
April 22 - May 3, 2020
Reilly Theatre
In this classic Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream portrays the events surrounding
the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta. These include the adventures
of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors who are controlled
and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is
set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely
performed across the world.
Brooklyn Bridge (TYA Production)
by Melissa James Gibson
Directed by John Fletcher
November 19-24, 2019
Studio Theatre
In adjacent apartments that resemble nothing so much as broom closets with windows, the three young, ambitious neighbors of Melissa James Gibson's [sic] come together to discuss, flirt, argue, share their dreams, and plan their futures with unequal degrees of deep hopefulness and abject despair, all the while pushing the limits of their friendship to the max and demonstrating that language can be both an instrument of intimacy and a weapon of defense. Theo is a composer trying to create a heroic theme for an amusement park ride called the Thrill-o-Rama; Babette is a writer who is trying to finish--or even start--a book theorizing that temper tantrums are the major motivating force behind historical events; and Frank is a would-be auctioneer, preparing for his future career by constantly practicing such tongue twisters as "Sally sought some seeds to sow but sadly soon it snowed." By exploring these questing lives in language that alternates between exhilarating structural inventiveness and loony comedy, poignant soul-searching and incisive analysis of the life that may actually exist beyond one's four walls, Melissa James Gibson has created a unique play that is as witty and wise as it is stylistically groundbreaking and unexpected.
2020 Dance Concert and Physical Theatre Showcase
TBD
Shaver Theatre
Tickets will be available closer to performance date.
Take 6 Film Festival
TBD
Shaver Theatre
Tickets will be available closer to festival date.
Swine Palace Season
Gloria
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Femi Euba
November 6-19, 2019
Reilly Theatre
Swine Palace begins the season with Pulitzer Prize finalist, Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Taking place in modern-day Manhattan, it starts on a normal work day for a group of aspiring writers who are growing tired of the monotony of their desk jobs. Dean stumbles in hungover from a party at the home of the 'office freak', Gloria, the night prior. As the day goes on, everyone goes about their business, though tensions are high with a dispute over who should be allowed to write a story on a deceased singer, and Gloria begins to act stranger than usual. In a sudden shift in tone, Gloria shoots and kills many workers, including Miles and Ani, leaving Dean, Kendra, Nan, and Lorin alive. The story then follows the fallout of each character's life as they try to cope with the stress of witnessing the events and feud over who deserves a book deal based on the events of the shooting.
Oil
by Ella Hickson
Directed by Joy Vandervort-Cobb
February 5-16, 2020
Shaver Theatre
In her new play Oil, Ella Hickson transforms oil’s global history into a human story, one that asks audiences to suspend their disbelief across 200 years of action to follow a mother and daughter from the birth of the petroleum industry to the end of the age of oil. Oil moves away from clichés about male oil executives as cutout villains of fossil capitalism to spotlight the journey of a single mother determined to better the situation of her child.
