PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — From the historical to the brand new, from the eclectic to the inclusive, next season’s theatre and dance performances at Brown University promise a little something for everyone.
Brown’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies (TAPS) previewed its 2019-20 season this week, which kicks off with a Family Weekend Dance Concert.
The Oct. 18 to 20 event, featuring works choreographed by faculty, alumni and guest artists in the Providence community, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown’s dance program. Founded by Julie Strandberg in 1969, the program was built to give University students from every background, shape, ability and concentration a chance to dance. Fifty years later, Strandberg is still a senior lecturer at Brown, and her commitment to inclusivity lives on, both in the courses she teaches and in a partnership that connects medicine and art.
Another fall dance concert, held Nov. 21 to 24, will feature a program of student-choreographed work. Even more student-created dance will be on display in a spring festival from April 30 to May 3, alongside historical and contemporary pieces.
Sock & Buskin, the resident theater troupe in TAPS, will present four major productions during the 2019-20 season, from new works to reimagined contemporary classics.
Undergraduate senior Harrison Epstein will direct “The Diary of Anne Frank,” bringing to life the autobiography of a girl whose family famously hid in their attic for two years to escape discovery by the Nazi regime. The spring will bring two more intimate productions, including the traditionally all-female “Fefu and Her Friends” by Maria Irene Fornes and the provocative “Race” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet.
From Oct. 31 to Nov. 10, master of fine arts playwriting students will present fully staged productions of their senior thesis plays — from “Dry Swallow,” which takes place entirely inside a shipping container, to “Kemps,” a contemporary queer epic set in the Pennsylvanian forest.
Tickets to each performance are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $7 for students. More information and performance details are available on the TAPS website.