September 29, 2014
Newsletter
Fall 2014
END DAYS Opens Thursday!
Productions:
End Days
by Deborah Zoe Laufer
Directed by Daina Robins
October 2-4, 9-11, 7:30 p.m.
Urinetown
Music by Mark Hollmann, Lyrics
by Hollmann and Greg Kotis
Book by Greg Kotis
Directed by Richard Perez
November 18-22, 7:30 p.m.
November 22, Matinee
Upcoming
Dates:
September
29 & 30, House Manage-
ment Workshop, 5pm, DeWitt
Lobby.
1
October
, Off-campus Study applications for Spring 2014 due.
2-4, 9-11, End Days, 7:30
p.m, DeWitt Main Theatre
12, The Hinterlands Ensem-
See page 2 for more!
Ushers Needed
If you are interested in participating End Days as an usher,
please sign up in the theatre office. See the performance for
free! No prior experience is required.
ble workshop, 2-5pm, Studio
Theatre
23,
November
The Hinterlands Ensemble workshop, time TBD, Studio Theatre
Hope College Theatre Presents END DAYS
Hope College Theatre will present “End Days,” a dark comedy about faith, science, and the impending
Rapture.
Directed by theatre faculty member Daina Robins, the play depicts the raw but funny story of a
dysfunctional family coping with post- 9/11 trauma in the face of the Apocalypse. Both serious and
comic, the production performs in the Dewitt Theatre at 7:30 PM on October 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11.
“End Days” follows the Stein family, two years after it has left New York City, following the shock
of 9/11. Arthur, the father, suffers from survivor’s guilt and hasn’t changed out of his pajamas in
weeks. Teenage Rachel is now a Goth and fending off the attentions of the Elvis impersonator next
door. And Sylvia, the mother, is busy distributing evangelical pamphlets outside the video store and
talking with Jesus, who actually appears onstage. When Sylvia becomes convinced that the Rapture
will happen this Wednesday, she determines that she and her family will be ready.
The play tells the story of that fateful Wednesday and, in the process, explores the various paths by
which the family members seek healing and understanding. The 9/11 trauma has compelled the
Steins to consider questions regarding life’s meaning and purpose. “Like all of us, each individual
character is grappling with life’s big questions. They pursue their individual journeys but are also
looking to come together as a family and community,” says Robins.
The production team for “End Days” includes faculty members, Richard Smith as scenic and
properties designer Richard L. Smith, Michelle Bombe as costume designer and Perry Landes
as lighting and sound designer. The stage manager for the production is junior Mandy Scott of
Newberry, Michigan; the assistant stage managers are sophomore Mariah Del Valle of Chicago,
Illinois and Deana Velandra of Tecumseh, Michigan; and the dramaturg is junior Theo Zucker, of
Lake Orion, Michigan.
The cast includes senior Austen Boer of Holland; sophomore Calirose DiGiuseppe of Portage; junior
Emma Fondell of Wilmette, IL; senior John Haga of Rochester Hills; and sophomore Sean Zorn of
Clinton Township.
Individual tickets are now on sale at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Field House (222
Fairbanks Avenue), which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for
regular admission, $7 for seniors, Hope faculty and staff, and $5 for students. Patrons may purchase
tickets in person or by calling the ticket office at (616)-395-7890.
THE PRESENTATION Reading
The Theatre Department will be doing a playreading of THE PRESENTATION by Brian Gardner
‘85 Saturday evening, October 18. Exact time and place are TBD.
We are looking for interested readers/actors (and later, of course, audience members)! Strong British
accents are not a must but would certainly be helpful as Brian’s play occurs in England with Oscar
Wilde as one of the characters. Members of the faculty will also be reading but we are in need of two
young women and four young men.
We would like to schedule one rehearsal on Friday, October 17, from 3-6 p.m. And then the reading
will occur the following evening.
If you are interested and available, please contact Daina -- robins@hope.edu.
House Management Workshop
September 29 and 30 at 5:00 PM
Meet in the DeWitt Lobby
Come learn about the ins and outs of house management at Hope and beyond! This one hour
workshop will cover everything you need to know from emergency preparedness to patron services
to disability accommodations to career opportunities! This training is mandatory for all wishing to
house manage or assistant house manage this year. Students who have experience house managing
at Hope ARE STILL REQUIRED TO ATTEND due to some policy changes.
Please contact Bridget McCarthy (mary.mccarthy@hope.edu) with questions or if you absolutely
cannot make one of the dates.
Grand Rapids City High School
Seeks Director
In this coming year, the Speech and Debate program at Grand Rapids City HS would like to provide a theatrical experience for their students. Two years of highly successful musicals at the school
have demonstrated a desire for theatre in the student body. The stage production would complement these activities (as well as the competitive Forensics program). To provide this opportunity
they are looking for an outside resource (faculty, staff, advanced/graduate student) to help with the
direction and staging. This is a first year, “beta” project, part of a longer-term initiative to embed
speech, debate and the performing arts as an established part of the extracurricular programming
at the school. They anticipate being able to offer a stipend, conditional on present grant requests.
For more information, Contact: William Harris wmrharris@sbcglobal.net or Visit: Talk Talk Talk
(cityhighforensics.wordpress.com).
Student Representative Reminder
Bridget McCarthy (senior class), Kenny Cole (junior class), and Sean Zorn (sophomore class), have volunteered to represent their respective classes at council meetings. If you are still interested in becoming a student representative at the weekly
Theatre Countil meetings (Tuesdays 12-1:45pm in DeWitt 221), please contact
Daina Robins at robins@hope.edu.
As a reminder, council meetings are open to all students who would like to attend,
except when matters of confidentiality are being discussed
Have something you would like to share? Please send an email by Thursday afternoon for inclusion in the Monday newsletter to Reagan Chesnut at
chesnut@hope.edu