Dawn Bonker
Ready for some great plays? The Chapman Department of Theatre has two excellent options on tap this week and next, as they open
Bus Stop
and
Hedda Gabler
in repertory at the Waltmar Theatre on campus.
Bus Stop
, by Willam Inge and directed by John Benitz, is the play that the famous 1956 movie was knd of, sort of based upon — the movie that marked the first time Marilyn Monroe was taken seriously as a dramatic actress. Inge’s play is set in a roadside diner near a Kansas bus stop, circa 1950s. In the middle of a howling snowstorm, a bus is forced to stop for the night, depositing a variety of mismatched characters who, by morning, will have learned something about life, loneliness and love.
Bus Stop
will be performed Mar. 12, 14, 18, 20 at 8pm, and Mar. 13 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 to $15, and are available at the door or
online here.
Hedda Gabler
is probably the kind of leading role Marilyn Monroe at her most serious would have aspired to. (Personally, we would have liked to see her do it!) The great Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote this drama in 1890, and the lead role is now considered something of a female Hamlet in its breadth and range. Is Hedda a feminist heroine ahead of her time, struggling against the bonds of her husband, lover, family and restrictive era? A tragic victim? A manipulative schemer? It all depends on your point of view. It’s been filmed as a motion picture several times, with Glenda Jackson getting an Oscar nomination for playing Hedda in 1975. Chapman’s production, directed by Tamiko Washington, will be performed Mar. 13, 16, 17, 19 at 8pm, and Mar. 14 at 2pm. Tickets are $10 to $15, and are available at the door or
online here.
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