HWS News
21 August 2023 • Arts HWS Theatre Announces 2023-2024 Season
A rollicking backstage farce, a campy supernatural mystery, and a lyrical journey of friendship and artistry comprise the HWS Theatre 2023-2024 season of detours and delights.
April 2024 marks the 10-year anniversary of the establishment of the Theatre Department and over two centuries of theatre production at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. To mark the department’s decade milestone, HWS Theatre will celebrate the legacy of live theatre at the Colleges, culminating in a special event held in conjunction with the closing performance of the season on April 13, 2024.
To learn more about the upcoming season, the HWS community is invited to the HWS Theatre Ice Cream Social on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m. in the McDonald Theatre.
The season opens with The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields. When the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society tries to stage a 1920’s Murder Mystery, what could go wrong? Well... pretty much everything. The West End and Off-Broadway hit comedy comes to the McDonald Theatre in its original one-act form this fall. The funniest way to spend 75 minutes during HWS Homecoming weekend! Running Oct. 26 and 27 at 7:30 and Oct. 28 at 2 and 7:30 p.m., The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Chris Hatch.
The HWS Theatre season continues with a developmental production of Zombie Cheerleaders, a Teenage Witch, & The Demonic Voice on the Other End of the Phone by Brandon Monokian, running Feb. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. There’s a new student at Madame Daphne’s Academy for Strange Girls and she’s got a killer secret. Teen angst takes a supernatural turn in this camp horror comedy. Directed by Professor of Theatre Chris Woodworth, Zombie Cheerleaders features original music by the Geneva electronic duo Shrimps (Brady Leo and Joe Calabrese). Please note: This production features adult content and language and is not recommended for young audiences.
The 2023-2024 season closes with Icarus and Amelia Earhart Had Tea This Morning by Lizz Mangan. Icarus flew too close to the sun. Amelia Earhart flew beyond our reach. Isaac and Amy just want their art to take off. All four characters find themselves lost in a wilderness of their own creation, searching for someone else to provide a map out. Fighting self-sabotage and the desire to run – or fly – away from problems, these characters discover a way home to themselves. Taking place just days after the total solar eclipse in Geneva and as part of HWS's Year of the Sun programming, Icarus and Amelia Earhart Had Tea This Morning runs April 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. and April 13 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. The show is directed by Professor of Theatre H. May. Please note: This production features adult content and language and is not recommended for young audiences.
HWS Theatre welcomes back their extraordinary team of designers for the 2023-2024 season. Ed Hallborg returns for his seventh season as Resident Designer / Technical Director. Kelly Walker returns for an 11th season as HWS Theatre Resident Sound and Projections Designer. Katharine Tarkulich returns as HWS Theatre Costume Designer for a fifth season.
Tickets for all HWS Theatre productions are free (donations accepted) and should be reserved in advance through www.hws.edu/HWSTheatreBoxOffice. Online ticket reservations close two hours before each performance. Remaining tickets will be available at the Box Office, one hour before each performance.
Auditions for The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong will be held on Thursday, August 31 from 6-8 p.m. with callbacks immediately to follow. Additional audition information and sign-ups will be posted on the Theatre bulletin board in the Gearan Center. Auditions for Zombie Cheerleaders, a Teenage Witch, & The Demonic Voice on the Other End of the Phone and Icarus and Amelia Earhart Had Tea This Morning will be held in the second half of the Fall semester.
To learn more about the upcoming season as well as other exciting happenings in the Theatre department, visit: https://www.hws.edu/academics/theatre/default.aspx or find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/hwstheatre or Instagram (@hwstheatre). For specific questions, contact Department Chair Chris Woodworth (cwoodworth@hws.edu or 315-781-4581).
The photo above features the cast of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind performing in November of 2022.
