Welcome to the 2022-23 Theater and Dance Season at Bates College and to once again gathering together to experience live theater and dance! We’re grateful to be delving into these incredible creative projects by these wonderful writers, makers and choreographers. We’re also thrilled to be able to collaborate with several professional guest artists throughout the year.
This season starts off with Hurricane Diane, directed by Kush Sharma ’23 as part of an honors thesis in directing. In this Obie-winning comedy with a twist, Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards. The department is pleased to then welcome Ananya Dance Theater for their performance of Dastak: I Wish You Me, in partnership with the Bates Dance Festival. Dastak is a meditation on borders, loss, belonging, home, and liberation. Structured through four elemental journeys, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. Up next we have the Marcy Plavin Fall Dance Concert, marking the culmination of the Dance Repertory & Repertory Styles courses. This concert will feature an independent study work by Maya Golden ’23, and works from faculty and nationally renowned repertory artists including Lindsey Bourassa, Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, Tristan Koepke, and Darrius Strong
In the spring, hilarity abounds with Much Ado About Nothing directed by Professor Tim Dugan. Shakespeare offers us witty wordplay that dazzles and a raucous celebration that uplifts! Professional set designer, Judy Gailen, and sound designer, Charles Coes, join us as guest artists. Thesis students Lucie Green ’23 (Stage Management) and Diana Zhou ’23 (Dramaturgy) will be part of the creative team. Our season ends with the aptly named Spring Dance Concert, which catapults student artists’ work on to the stage. The thesis work of Dance Majors’ Thesis and Independent Studies are showcased in a fully supported production on Schaeffer stage. This year will feature thesis work by Maya Golden ’23 and Lauren Reed ’23
Tickets are available at batestheateranddance.eventbrite.com or through the box office 207-786-6161.
Hurricane Diane
November 3-7, 2022
By Madeleine George
Directed by Kush Sharma ’23
Meet Diane, a permaculture gardener dripping with butch charm. She’s got supernatural abilities owing to her true identity—the Greek god Dionysus—and she’s returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state. Where better to begin than with four housewives in a suburban New Jersey cul-de-sac? In this Obie-winning comedy with a twist, Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George pens a hilarious evisceration of the blind eye we all turn to climate change and the bacchanalian catharsis that awaits us, even in our own backyards.
Ananya Dance Theatre
Dastak: I Wish You Me
Monday, November 7, 2022
In partnership with the Bates Dance Festival, the Department of Theater and Dance is pleased to welcome Ananya Dance Theatre this fall for their performance of Dastak: I Wish You Me.
Dastak is a meditation on borders, loss, belonging, home, and liberation. Structured through four elemental journeys, Earth, Water, Fire, and Air, the work traces the knockings (dastak, in Farsi) of global injustices on our hearts, and echoes the subtitle created by writer Sharon Bridgforth – I Wish You Me – indicating the cross-generational love that has carried communities through difficult igrations. Dastak invites viewers to imagine what freedom is possible as it expands the realms of intention and trans-dimensional connection through spells that invoke rest, forgiveness, love, and freedom.
The Marcy Plavin Fall Dance Concert
December 3-5, 2022
Marking the culmination of the Dance Repertory & Repertory Styles courses, student artists bring to the stage dynamic works from faculty and nationally renowned repertory artists. Student artists engage with three to four repertory artists through out the Fall and each repertory artist’s diverse way of moving and creating art empower student artists to expand their definition of dance as a powerful mode of artistic expression. The two-week process are quick in nature and steeped in knowledge. Please join us in celebrating the arts and continuing the the legacy of Marcy Plavin, the founder of the Bates College dance program.
Much Ado About Nothing
March 16-20, 2023
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Tim Dugan
Everyone can see that confirmed bachelor Benedick and headstrong Beatrice are meant for each other—except for Benedick and Beatrice themselves! Or at least they won’t admit it. Hilarity abounds in Bar Harbor, Maine in the summer of 1945 where their friends are trying to trick the bickering pair into admitting they’re in love while Hero and Claudio start a romance of their own. But will false accusations, broken promises, and even Dogberry prevent a happy ending? One of the greatest romantic comedies ever, Shakespeare offers us witty wordplay that dazzles and a raucous celebration that uplifts!
Spring Dance Concert
April 7-10, 2023
The aptly named Spring Dance Concert, catapults student artists’ work on to the stage. The thesis work of Dance Majors’ Thesis and Independent Studies are showcased in a fully supported production on Schaeffer stage. Dance Majors cast their pieces in the beginning of the Winter Term and conduct a semester long rehearsal process complete with showings, feedback and collaboration with designers. A tremendous amount of effort is poured into these works of art from student artists all across campus, please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of the student artists as they bring together all of their artistic knowledge bringing the fullest expression of their artistry to stage.