skidmore theater living newsletter

Video Interview With “Our Town” Director Phil Soltanoff

Faculty Spotlight: Yvonne Perry

By: Rachel Karp ’18 *This article originally appeared in print in The Skidmore Theater Newsletter. It has been transcribed from its original format*   Yvonne Perry, whose course “Acting for the Camera” offers theater students a look at the world of screen acting, grew up in a small town in upstate New York. While applying to colleges, she […]

Faculty Spotlight: Gautam Dasgupta

By: Zachary Cohn ’16 *This article originally appeared in print in The Skidmore Theater Newsletter. It has been transcribed from its original format* Professor Gautam Dasgupta (affectionately referred to as “Gautam” among students) has a reputation as one of the Skidmore Theater Department’s eminent minds. A leading scholar and theater critic, his knowledge of the arts […]

Fall 2015 Workshop #1: “The Breasts of Tiresias”

Testing the Waters of Surrealism By: NICK GRAVER ’16 As the title The Breasts of Tiresias would suggest, Skidmore Theater’s latest workshop production is no friend to conventional realism. In case they miss the title’s reference to breasts on Tiresias, the blind male prophet of Greek mythology, the audience is reminded twice of the play’s […]

Spring Mainstage 2015: “Blood Wedding”

Honoring Lives Gone Too Soon By: Ziggy Schulting ’18 This spring, two fearless directors and an ensemble of over twenty actors collaborated to honor the remarkable life of poet and playwright Federico García Lorca, in the only way that seemed apt—through theater, love, language and art. With the help of a phenomenal crew, the Janet […]

Spring Black Box 2015: “The Penelopiad”

Giving Voices To The Voiceless By: Gabe Cohn ’16 Twelve women rush the stage like a pack of wild animals. Indignant over deeds done in a distant past, their minds are restless even years after leading a life of servitude at the hands of Odysseus. Wronged by their master, abused by their patriarchal society, and […]

Spring 2015 Workshop #3: “Fool For Love”

The Ultimate Love-Hate Relationship By: Gabrielle Collette ’18 Director of Fool for Love Alexandra Scordato ’15 shares: “I first read this play last summer, and I fell in love with it immediately. Sam Shepard is an incredible playwright.” Thanks to the brilliant work done by the cast and crew, a multitude of audience members also […]

Spring 2015 Workshop #2: “Dacha”

An Exploration of the Theatrical Form By: Molly Burdick ’17 In no way was Dacha, directed by Aaron Ardisson ’16, a traditional “play.”  Unlike a traditional single-text show, Dacha was an exploration of three works by Anton Chekhov: On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco, The Bear, and The Tragedian in Spite of Himself. These three […]

Spring 2015 Workshop #1: “The Infant”

A Comedy Of Terrors By: Gabriel Cohn ’16 “The show plays with many ideas: police brutality, authoritarianism, the culture of terror that we’re living in. But it’s a comedy. Who would have thought?” Speaking with director Theo Saroglou ’16, it becomes increasingly clear that the biting political satire that first drew Saroglou to Oliver Lansley’s […]

2015 Senior Project: Kev Berry’s Wild Times 20/80

A Wild Time Guarenteed For All By: Rebecca Gracey ’18 On Tuesday, April 28th, Kev Berry ’15 opened his show entitled The Bootleggers Present WILD TIMES 20/80!!! (stop it you lazy prohibition sluts), an event unlike any Skidmore has seen before. The two-hour promenade performance took place inside the Saratoga Music Hall and utilized the […]

2015 Senior Project: Dani Turner & Joanie Lawson’s Stupid F**king Bird

A Spin on Chekhov, With Feeling By: Caity Cook ’18 The Carriage House is buzzing. Paint cans sit open on the floor, crew sets props and lights, cast members arrive for warm-ups, and the open space of this unique venue transforms into an exciting play world. But despite this frenzy of activity, Danielle Turner ’15 […]

2015 Senior Project: Jonathan Lee-Rey’s Hotel Anello

The World Outside the Elevator By: Giorgos Petkakis ’18 What do a widower, a 7-year-old girl, and a grade school teacher all have in common? Although it may sound like the opening line of a potentially bad joke, this arrangement of characters were in fact the springboard for a different kind of comedy. This semester, […]

The 2nd Annual 24-Hour Play Festival

  A Matter of Time By: Sam Grant ’18 It usually takes a village to put up a production in the JKB Theater. Costumes need to be designed, lighting needs to be perfected, and scripts need to be thoroughly studied—just to name a few pieces of the puzzle. This year’s production of Together We Can […]

Fall 2014 Mainstage: “American Medea”

In Front of the Lens By: Grace Gerrish ’15 In the midst of a gaggle of flamboyantly dressed neighbors, Medea (Evy Yergan ’16) looked lost and confused beneath the hot Texas sun. In actuality, the source of the heat is a glaring spotlight—pointed at her by a swarming, omnipresent camera crew. They project her confusion […]

Fall 2014 Black Box: “Dancing At Lughnasa”

Discovering Harmony in Ballybeg By: Ziggy Schulting ’18 This fall, upon entering the Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Black Box theater, the audience found themselves in mystical Donegal, Ireland in the year 1936. They stepped on woodchips as they entered the Mundy household, but still managed to get a glimpse of the lush Irish hills in the […]

Fall 2014 Workshop #4: “Lungs”

Are We Good People? By: Julia Friedland Lungs opened strikingly with stark florescent lighting, silence, and two characters—M (John Noble Barrack ’15) and W (Lily Donahue ’15)—standing just outside the audience, who were seated in-the-round. We heard W say in disbelief “A baby?” and then M reassure her: “Breathe.” With that, the thrilling, ferociously honest […]

Fall 2014 Workshop #3: “Top Girls”

From Middle Ages To Modern Day By: Rachel Karp ’18 As audience members, we were thrust into the world of the play before we even entered Studio A. Stage Manager/Hostess Daphne Preti ’16 arrived in the lobby to escort us to our seats, which were arranged in small clusters around a large circular table in […]

Fall 2014 Workshop #2: “Boom!”

The End of the World (As We Know It) By: Molly Breitbart ’18 Boxes. The audience walks into a room cluttered with a myriad of boxes. Perhaps this is someone’s attic, perhaps it is your neighbor’s apartment—the one who’s lived in the building for close to five years, but has never quite finished unpacking. Or, […]