ISU Department of Theatre and Dance announces 2019-2020 season featuring all productions written by female playwrights

“We are very excited to produce work written by this dynamic group of female playwrights,” said Tara Young, new chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. “We worked hard to find all female playwrights for the season and hope the public enjoys each performance.”

The season features the productions “Last Train to Nibroc,” “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” “Bright Star” and “The Wolves.” The dance program will also put on a production titled “Configurations.”

Season ticket prices are $55 for all performances for adults, and $50 for ISU faculty, staff and seniors. Season ticket packages include all four theatrical productions and the dance concert. These are available for purchase at the ISU Box Office at (208) 282-3595.

Single performance tickets are also currently available at isu.edu/tickets or the ISU Box Office at (208) 282-3595. Tickets are $15 for adults, $14 for seniors, faculty and staff, $10 for children and $7 for ISU students with a Bengal ID.

Contact Melissa Lee at leemeli@isu.edu or (208) 282-1404 with additional questions.

2019-2020 Season Overview:

• “Last Train to Nibroc”

Sept. 27, 28 and Oct. 3, 4, 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Stephens Performing Arts Center Black Box Theatre

Written by Arlene Hutton

Set in December 1940, an east-bound train carries the bodies of the great American writers Nathanael West and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also on board is May, who shares her seat with a charming young flier, Raleigh. Religious and bookish, May plans to be a missionary. Raleigh has been given a medical discharge and, inspired by West and Fitzgerald, is heading to New York to be a writer. Raleigh and May discover they are from neighboring Appalachian towns, and he decides to change trains for Kentucky, promising to take May to the next Nibroc Festival. Raleigh and May discover a mutual attraction that changes their lives forever.

• “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”

Nov. 8, 9, 14, 15, 16 at 7:30 p.m., matinee performances on Nov. 9 and 16 at 2 p.m.

Stephens Performing Arts Center Beverly B. Bistline Theatre

Written by Barbara Robinson

In this hilarious Christmas musical, a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant is faced with casting the Herdman kids — probably the most inventively awful kids in history. You won't believe the mayhem — and the fun — when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on! This comedy is adapted from the best-selling young adult book and has become a holiday staple in the United States.

• ISU Dance Concert “Configurations”

Jan. 30, 31 and Feb. 1

Stephens Performing Arts Center Black Box Theatre

Join ISU Dance for its annual concert featuring unique choreographic works by faculty, students and guests. This year, dancers will explore themes related to configuration; the contours, shapes, relationships and patterns that exist all around us. Ultimately, configuration is about forming elemental connections.

• “Bright Star”

March 6, 7, 12, 13, 14 at 7:30 p.m., matinee performance on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m.

Stephens Performing Arts Center Beverly B. Bistline Theatre

Written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

This bluegrass musical follows one woman at two different points in her life: the first, when she is a wild young thing growing up barefoot and carefree in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina; the second, when she is a well-to-do magazine editor in Asheville, 22 years later. Her story is inevitably woven with that of an idealistic young man named Billy, with whom she shares a mysterious connection.

• “The Wolves”

April 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Stephens Performing Arts Center Black Box Theatre

Written by Sarah DeLappe

Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girl’s indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of its suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals. This production features an all-female cast.

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