2013

'New Visions' Directors' Festival to Showcase Promising Young Directors

March 20-24 Festival Includes 'Iphigenia and Other Daughters,' Evening of One-Act Plays

 Friday, March 1, 2013 09:58 AM

Emerging directorial talents will be on display in Muhlenberg College's "New Visions" Directors' Festival, featuring plays directed by four senior directing students in the college's Department of Theatre & Dance.

Presented by the college every other year, the "New Visions" festival features rarely-produced, avant-garde works for theater, and offers a rare opportunity for audiences to see the work of the next generation of up-and-coming theater artists. This year's festival includes two productions, performed in repertory: Ellen McLaughlin's "Iphigenia and Other Daughters," directed by Danielle Barlow, and "Mental Landscapes," an evening of three one-act plays directed by Jimmy Morgan, Abby Wylan, and Riva Rubenoff.

The festival runs Wednesday through Sunday, March 20-24. "Iphigenia and Other Daughters" will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m., Thursday and Saturday at 10 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. "Mental Landscapes" will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.

"Iphigenia and Other Daughters," McLaughlin's poetic modern adaptation of the legend of Agamemnon and the aftermath of the Trojan War, offers a provocative feminist perspective on a story of lust, fury, sacrifice and rebellion. The "good girl" of the bloodiest family in Greek legend, Iphigenia is sent in a time of suffering and war as a sacrifice to appease the gods. She is saved at the eleventh hour, but by then her family has spiraled into vengeful obsession and self-destruction.

"Mental Landscapes" includes three plays that explore the topography of the world in our heads, the anxiety of forging a path through it, and the uncertainty that lies beyond. Morgan directs "The Man Who Turned Into a Stick," by Kobo Abe. Wylan directs "Intermission," by Will Eno. Rubenoff directs "Rough for Theatre II," by Samuel Beckett.

Both evenings are intended for mature audiences.

Muhlenberg College is a liberal arts college of 2,200 students in Allentown, Pa. The college offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theater and dance. The Princeton Review consistently ranks Muhlenberg's production program in the top ten in the nation, and the Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theater and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States.

Tickets for either "Iphigenia and Other Daughters" or "Mental Landscapes" are $15 for adults and $8 for LVAIC students, faculty and staff and for patrons 17 and under. Combination tickets, including both performances, are $20 for adults, $12 for students, faculty and staff, and can be used for any two performances. Performances are in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, Muhlenberg College, 2400 Chew St., Allentown. Performance information and tickets are available at 484-664-3333 or muhlenberg.edu/theatre