New season begins at Robsham Theater
The curtain will rise on this season's Theatre Department productions with an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen鈥檚 play, 鈥淎n Enemy of the People," presented on the Robsham Theater Arts Center main stage October 1-4.
Written in 1882, the work rings as true today as it did over a century ago and resonates with contemporary relevance, organizers note.
鈥淧atricia Riggin will direct 天美传媒app students in Ibsen's classic, reimagined by playwriting instructor and 天美传媒app alumna Maggie Kearnen 鈥�14,鈥� said Theatre Department Chair and Associate Professor Courtney Elkin Mohler.
In the play, respected physician and scientist Dr. Stockmann has discovered that the town鈥檚 famed medicinal health spa is being fed by poisoned water. Instead of being thanked for his findings and his warning heeded, the town鈥檚 power brokers--including Stockman鈥檚 brother, the mayor, dismiss his findings as 鈥渇ake news," and put a positive spin on the benefits of the health resort.
Associate Professor of the Practice of Theatre Patricia Riggin adapted the play with Kearnan, a Boston-based playwright and theater artist whose works have been produced on campus.
鈥淭his exciting new adaptation asks what a town owes its people when economic survival and environmental safety collide,鈥� Mohler said. 鈥淚 hope audiences come ready to see just how little distance there is between Ibsen's world and our own."
The following month will showcase the work of music theater writer Patrick Lazour, the 2026-2027 Monan Professor in Theatre Arts and 2013 alumnus of the Theatre Department.
He will direct 鈥淎 Midsummer Night's Dream: A New Musical,鈥� which will be staged November 18-22.
Written by Lazour and his brother Daniel, with whom he collaborates professionally, it features music by KPOP Demon Hunters songwriter Mark Sonnenblick and music direction by David McGrory.
Based on the play by William Shakespeare, the updated production is set in a place 鈥渘ot unlike the great state of Florida, where the country club abuts the everglades and everything is humid and everyone is every-so-slightly...strange,鈥� according to its description. 鈥淭his musical 鈥楳idsummer鈥� takes place on the eve of billionaire film producer Demetrius and District Attorney Hermia's wedding of the century.
鈥淭he comedy, enchantment, and twisted emotional journeys of the Bard's source material mixes with contemporary nonsense, and a whole lot of horns. All are welcomed in, including the audience, as words, dance, and music fuse, and we find out just what twisted kind of 鈥楩ools These Mortals Be.鈥欌��
鈥淚t is not everyday student artists get the opportunity to work on a new musical in development with real pros,鈥� said Mohler. 鈥淚 hope audiences come ready to be surprised by what this incredible team of current and alum 天美传媒app theatre students create.鈥�
Patrick Lazour
Patrick Lazour, the new Monan Professor, is an accomplished writer, lyricist, and playwright.
This semester, he is teaching a Musical Theatre Performance Workshop open to majors and minors in the Theatre Department. Students are learning about, and getting hands-on experience with, the skills to thrive in musical theater spaces, as well as exploring all aspects of performance, particularly how to balance the many foci required to act, dance, and sing simultaneously.
鈥淧atrick Lazour is exactly the kind of artist the Monan Professorship was designed to bring to campus,鈥� said Mohler.
鈥淭he work he and Daniel have developed, at many of our nations' most esteemed theatrical spaces, represents some of the most original thinking in musical theater right now,鈥� Mohler added. 鈥淚'm thrilled that our majors and minors have the opportunity to learn directly from him this fall in an intensive workshop setting.鈥�
The Lazours鈥� musical 鈥淭he Grand Room鈥� was produced on campus with the Theatre Department when Patrick was a student. It is one of a number of original musicals written by him and his brother. Among them, 鈥淲e Live In Cairo鈥� and 鈥�Night Side Songs鈥� premiered at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge. Last year, the Lazours鈥� 鈥淣ight Side Songs鈥� and 鈥淭he Lunchbox鈥� each had high-profile productions at Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in New York City and Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, respectively. 聽
Lazour, with his brother, is a Jonathan Larson Grant and Richard Rodgers Award recipient.
For more on the productions, including performance times and ticket prices, visit聽. For tickets, visit聽 or call ext.2-4002.