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The play explores stories of three generations of women. Their lives play out simultaneously – staging periods from the 1970s, 1990s, and 2030s. It explores their complex inner states via their emotional, intellectual, and physical devastation.
Inclusivity Statement: Anatomy of a Suicide by Alice Birch depicts three generations of women in a family, staging periods from the 1970s, 1990s, and 2030s. As their lives play out simultaneously onstage, the play looks closely at generational trauma and suicide. This storytelling is an exploration of their complex emotional, intellectual, and physical devastation. Anatomy of a Suicide allows diverse and inclusive casting.
It tells the story of the members of the St. Cassian High School chamber choir of Uranium City, Saskatchewan, who perish on a faulty roller coaster called "The Cyclone". Each tells a story to win the reward of a mechanical fortune teller — the chance to return to life.
Inclusivity Statement: The hilarious and twisted Ride the Cyclone has quickly become a cult favorite amongst musical theatre aficionados, because it so beautifully focuses on the philosophical questions surrounding the human condition and the human experience – What brings us together? What do we crave the most? What are our hopes/dreams? What makes a life well-lived? This piece focuses on six multifaceted human beings who are each grappling with their diverse identities and the legacies they leave behind. Because the writers of this piece prioritized the characters’ journeys of self-discovery over determining their physical characteristics, this show allows for diverse and inclusive casting.
Inclusivity Statement: Dance concerts within WVU’s
School of Theatre and Dance are inherently varied programs
that include works choreographed by faculty, guest artists, and students. These
works encompass a diverse range of dance styles and genres
including, but not limited to ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary,
tap, and other global classical, folk, and urban dance forms.
The play spotlights the absurdities of social and literary pretension, focusing on a man who is quick to criticize the faults of others, yet remains blind to his own. This play satirizes the hypocrisies of French aristocratic society, but it also engages a more serious tone when pointing out the flaws, which all humans possess.
Inclusivity Statement: The Misanthrope by Molière is a play about dishonesty, decadence, vanity, intolerance and intransigence. As such, in the words of Richard Wilbur (whose translation of this French neoclassical play we are using): "In this play, society itself is indicted. It is true that falseness and intrigue are everywhere on view; the conventions enforce a routine dishonesty, justice is subverted by influence, love is overwhelmed by calculation, and these things are accepted, even by the best, as 'natural'." These issues are also a reflection of our current American society. We just need to turn on the news to see a perfect mirroring of the play. With the goal of showing this parallel to contemporary society, this production lends itself to diverse and inclusive casting.
Dance Now! is the annual concert presented by the Dance Program in the School of Theatre & Dance here at West Virginia University.
Inclusivity Statement: Dance concerts within WVU’s School of Theatre and Dance are inherently varied programs that include works choreographed by faculty, guest artists, and students. These works encompass a diverse range of dance styles and genres including, but not limited to ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, tap, and other global classical, folk, and urban dance forms.
William Shakespeare wrote his plays in pieces, never putting all the parts together until the actors were on stage, for fear of someone stealing his work. But who’s to stop people stealing it after he dies? This is the conundrum faced by his friends. When a sub-par Hamlet rip-off hits a stage near the Globe Theatre, members of the King’s Men, are incensed. To try to put an end to the plagiarism and Will’s work for the ages, they hatch a plan to put it all down on pager, setting them off on a mad chase to find all the bits and pieces to create the First Folio. A funny, charming play about the battle to save a legacy, offering up excerpts of some of the Bard’s most beloved writing.
Inclusivity Statement: Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will tells the tale of the world that printed Shakespeare’s First Folio; exploring how we process grief, build legacy, and rely on community. This story weaves together an unlikely team of individuals who played their roles alongside the remaining King’s Men in the folio’s production, exploring societally imposed gender roles, partnership, loss of life, and the power of speech. It solicits diverse and inclusive casting, as Shakespeare belongs to all.
The story focuses on a young woman forced into a life or servitude by her stepmother and stepsisters. Cinderella dreams of a happier life and eventually finds it with the help of her fairy godmother.
Inclusivity Statement: A story of overcoming life’s obstacles to realize your dreams, Cinderella is a centuries-old folk tale told in every culture all over the world. Since her father’s death, Ella does caters to her stepmother and stepsisters as they call her “Cinder-Ella” as she cleans the hearth. And she does meet a handsome prince along the way. But this is no damsel in distress that needs saving. From her own little corner in her own little world, Ella empowers family, friends, and that prince with her aspirations, her opinions, challenging authority and showing kindness to all. And through those actions, she empowers herself, with some magical help from a crazy vagrant lady. Cinderella is that tale of empowerment for all to find that their power lies within themselves, as they strive for a better life, a kinder world, and yes, happily ever after.
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