Kent, OH – The School of Theatre and Dance is thrilled to announce its 2023-2024 season: "PASSAGE," "Cabaret" (1998 version), the Fall Faculty Dance Concert, "Rent," Kent Dance Ensemble Concert, and "Everybody."
The 2023-2024 season will open with Christopher Chen’s "PASSAGE," running Sep. 28 - Oct. 1, 2023 in E. Turner Stump Theatre. "PASSAGE," inspired by E.M. Forster’s "A Passage to India," is set in the fictional Country X, which is a neocolonial client of Country Y. B, a local doctor, and F, an ex-pat teacher, begin to forge a friendship that is challenged after a fateful trip to a local attraction.
The season will continue with "Cabaret" (1998 version) by Kander and Ebb, running Oct. 27 - Nov. 9, 2023. "Cabaret" is based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood, the book is written by Joe Masteroff, the music is composed by John Kander and the lyrics are written by Fred Ebb. Set in a Berlin nightclub as the 1920's draw to a close, a garish Master of Ceremonies welcomes the audience and assures them they will forget all their troubles at the "Cabaret." With the Emcee's bawdy songs as wry commentary, "Cabaret" explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin's natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich.
The Fall Faculty Dance Concert will run Dec. 1 - Dec. 3, 2023. This concert features original choreography by members of 5XÉçÇø’s dance faculty and performances by dance majors and minors.
School of Theatre and Dance will continue into the new year with Johnathan Larson's "Rent," Feb. 16 - 25, 2024. Based loosely on Puccini's "La Boheme," Jonathan Larson's "Rent" follows a year in the life of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.
The annual Kent Dance Ensemble Concert will run Mar. 15 - 17, 2024. The concert will feature original choreography and performances by 5XÉçÇø’s pre-professional dance company and choreography by a variety of sought-after guest artists, who will spend time in residency with the Kent Dance Ensemble during the 2023-2024 academic year.
The season will conclude with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's "Everybody," open Apr. 19 - 28, 2024. "Everybody" is a modern adaptation of the 15th-century morality play "Everyman," one of the first recorded plays in the English language.
Tickets for the 2023-2024 season will go on sale in Fall 2023. For tickets, call 330-672-ARTS (2787), purchase online at www.kent.edu/theatredance or in person at the Performing Arts Box Office located in the Roe Green Center lobby of the Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Drive. The box office is open Monday through Friday, Noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $14 for faculty and staff, $14 for seniors (60+) and non-Kent State students age 18 and under are $10. Tickets for full-time, Kent campus undergraduates are free of charge. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $12 per person. The box office accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, checks, and cash.
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Media Contact:
Jennifer Crabtree, jcrabt13l@kent.edu