Theater Festival: five companies, five plays, one spirit

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by Amy Hemphill

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This year is no different in this respect. There are five productions currently on campus. In the past, this abundance of theater presented a problem. All of the shows competed for dwindling audiences, staff and resources. This year, a new approach is being taken.

The Spring Theater Festival is a celebration of the intense commitment to theater found on a campus with no theater department. All five of the shows are pooling their resources for box office and publicity, and Friends of Rice Players is sponsoring some special events for the members of the theater and of the Rice community to celebrate their commitment and hard work.

Unlike past years, the focus is on the sharing of assets and the camaraderie of the theater community, rather than competition between the various productions.

The shows available present a wide range of entertainment options. BakerShake, with its long-running tradition of strong productions, has invited back veteran BakerShake directors Katie Sammons and Bob Ives for All's Well that Ends Well.

Will Rice College, under the direction of Eric Garland, offers up the ever-popular Guys and Dolls . Rice Players is presenting A.R. Gurney's Another Antigone , directed by Amy Hemphill.

Rice Players and the Friends of Rice Players are also sponsoring an Equity Workshop production of resident playwright Bren Dubay's Secrets , which will have a special Sunday matinee during the first week of the Festival. For this production, Friends of Rice Players hired New York director Terrence Lamude.

Secrets was presented as a world premiere by Rice Players in their 1990-91 season. In collaboration with Lamude and the workshop's actresses Dubay has reworked the script, producing a play full of surprises.

A welcome addition to the theater community is the Black Student Association. For its debut theatrical production, it will present For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf during the second week of the festival.

Hopefully, this year is the beginning of an annual tradition for the Black Student Association, as well as for the festival itself.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the March 18, 1994 issue.

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