Theatre Productions
The Department of Art, Design, and Theatre at Cedarville University presents three full productions each academic year. To search for a specific production, please use the search box in the sidebar, making sure to choose the "in this collection" option. Click here to view memorabilia from theatrical productions from the earlier years of the university.
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An Ideal Husband
October 2-4 and 9-11, 2008
Oscar Wilde's romantic comedy is filled with political ambition, blackmail, mistakes of our youth, and romantic intrigue. Sir Robert Chiltern, the brilliant politician, perfect gentleman, and ideal husband, is about to be asked to join the Prime Minister's cabinet. He is then blackmailed with a dark secret from his past by the scheming and vindictive Mrs. Cheveley, which brings his career and marriage to the verge of collapse. The plot swirls around Robert, his wife, his sister, and his best friend, Sir Arthur Goring, as they scheme to resolve the threat from Mrs. Cheveley. This scintillating and dazzling comedy moves at a lively pace as it explores human frailty, social hypocrisy, and forgiveness. An Ideal Husband was an instant success at its debut, and it still continues to delight audiences 100 years later.
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Crossing Delancey
April 3-5 and 10-12, 2008
When Isabelle Grossman's grandmother hires a matchmaker to find Isabelle a husband, Isabelle comes face-to-face with a part of her Jewish heritage that she would rather leave behind. As a "modern" New Yorker, she believes that progress and the "old world" cannot exist together... that is, until a "pickle man" teaches her otherwise. This play has all the elements of a great romantic comedy: a pretty girl, a suitor or two, a colorful cast of characters, and a very happy ending. Written by Susan Sandler and first performed in April 1985, Crossing Delancey challenges viewers not to leave their heritage behind while reaching toward the future.
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Alice in Wonderland
January 31 - February 2 and 7-9, 2008
This 1921 adaptation of the classic fantasy tale by Lewis Carroll tells the story of Alice, a little girl who finds adventure when she enters the world located on "the other side of the mirror." In this magical world, Alice encounters numerous amazing characters such as the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Gryphon and Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. After experiencing many exciting, and sometimes harrowing, interactions with these "nonsensical" creatures, Alice returns safely home to muse on the meaning of life as a huge chess game in which individuals seek self-identity and try to make sense of the world. The gentle message of the story is that while the prospect of approaching adulthood can be scary, it is ultimately a rewarding and exciting adventure.
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The Imaginary Invalid
October 4-6 and 11-13, 2008
The famous hypochondriac in this classic farce not only complains of a million imaginary ills, but also of his astronomical medical bills. If he marries his daughter to a doctor, he reasons, he will have free medical care. He chooses a double-Latin-talking numskull without consulting the daughter, who is already smitten by another. The inventive maid exposes the doctor and his father as charlatans and demonstrates to the master that his second wife loves his money, not him. Thus are truth and love triumphant and all troubles, real and imaginary, relieved by laughter.
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The Glass Menagerie
March 29-31 and April 12-14, 2007
Tom, who is both a narrator and a character in Tennessee Williams' masterwork, recalls his family's struggle to escape the realities of life in 1939 St. Louis. Amanda, his mother, is trying to provide for the future in difficult times, but the responsibility of being the breadwinner has fallen to Tom. His frail sister, Laura, has shielded herself from society's expectations with a homebound life where she finds comfort caring for her collection of little glass animals. Inevitably, Tom becomes desperate to escape his circumstances and follow his dreams just as a "gentleman caller" arrives for Laura - a caller who could be either a sign of hope or a disturbance that will shatter their fragile home.
This haunting American classic speaks as profoundly to our 21st century way of life as it did when it premiered in 1945. Its timeless themes of enduring family crises, escaping reality, and dreaming of a better future resonate powerfully in our turbulent times and make it an excellent reminder of how to fully embrace the reality of our lives.
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You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
February 1-3 and 8-10, 2007
The original version of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown was based on the comic strip, "Peanuts," by Charles M. Schulz. Book, music and lyrics were written by Clark Gesner. First produced in 1967, the musical became an instant off-Broadway smash and ran 1,547 performances. Since then, it has become one of the most produced musicals in history. We will be performing the revised version, billed as a "new musical entertainment," which opened on Broadway in 1999. In his Feb. 14, 1999, review of the show for the New York Times, Vincent Canby states, "Among other things, you will discover a blissfully sunny alternate universe to the one of broken marriages, career compromises, alcoholism, mental breakdowns (plus the occasional redemption) that became so familiar in American literature of the postwar years."
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown tells the story of an average day in the life of the famous comic strip hero, Charlie Brown. The vignettes reflect moments picked from Valentine's Day to baseball season, ranging emotionally from wild optimism to utter despair. Charlie's kite won't do what he wants it to, he makes the final "out" in the baseball game he could have won, he doesn't have the nerve to talk to that little red-haired girl, and he thinks that few kids like him - but by the show's end, Lucy comes up to him and asserts, "You're a good man, Charlie Brown."
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The Mousetrap
October 5-7 and 12-14, 2006
Agatha Christie's classic story, The Mousetrap, opened in 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre in London, England and is still playing in theatres around the world nightly. The longest running play or musical in history, it is Agatha Christie at her best.
The setting is the 1940s in post World War II England. A young married couple has inherited a large manor house in the English countryside, which they have decided to open as a guest house. On their first day of business their curious and interesting guests arrive along with a massive winter storm confining everyone to the house. The roads are blocked and the phone does not work. A detective arrives on skis to announce that the address of the house was found on the body of a woman murdered in London. The police are concerned that someone staying in the house might be the next victim. Suspicion grows as the detective attempts to unmask everyone present. When one of the guests is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. Who will be killed next? The tension and suspicions build to an amazing and surprising climax. The Mousetrap will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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Romeo & Juliet
March 31 - April 1, 6-8, 2006
Using the timelessness of this classic, Baker has set the play in Miami in the 1930’s. She reasons that this setting will celebrate the power of the play, as well as enhance the youthful feel for the audience. Along with using a relatively more modern setting all the while maintaining the Shakespearean structure, the script contains slight adjustments in language to help the audience better understand the plot of the story.
