Ohio State Mansfield Theatre returns to in-person shows
The Ohio State University at Mansfield welcomes audiences back to campus for its 2021-22 performances. The performances, which will be held in Founders Auditorium on the Mansfield campus, include a comedy, drama and a new play, along with two staged readings.
The Ohio State University at Mansfield welcomes audiences back to campus for its 2021-22 performances. The performances, which will be held in Founders Auditorium on the Mansfield campus, include a comedy, drama and a new play, along with two staged readings.
The season will kick off with the first staged reading, “The Guys,” a reflection on the attacks that took place Sept. 11, 2001. Written by Anne Nelson, this free performance will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11.
This special reading is based on a true story and will take audience members back to the first few weeks that followed the Sept. 11 attacks. It tells the story of a reporter who receives an unexpected phone call from a fire captain who lost most of his men in the attack and is looking for a writer to help him with the eulogies. The reading is produced by arrangements with Dramatists Play Service Inc.Donations will be accepted for local first responders.
With performance dates from Friday, Oct. 8 through Monday, Oct. 11, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” is this fall’s mainstage performance. Written by Greg Allen, “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” is an ensemble experiment in presenting 30 plays in 60 minutes. Produced by arrangements with Playscripts Inc., it’s a mix of audience call-out, improv, sketch comedy and selective madness. Each two-minute play is performed in random order by audience request. An onstage 60-minute timer keeps everyone honest.
The second staged reading, “De Luxe,” wraps up the fall performances. This rarely presented work depicts a social elite on the eve of destruction. Set in Paris 16 years after the First World War, this story follows a war veteran disillusioned by life after the war amidst a group of shallow elites and social climbers who struggle to face their new realities. Written by Louis Bromfield and John Gearon and presented in cooperation with the Malabar Farm Foundation, this free performance will take place Thursday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.
The spring offerings will begin with Mansfield playwright Tiger Bradley’s “The Healing Project.” With opening night on Feb. 25, this mainstage production is presented in cooperation with Ohio State Mansfield Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Bradley’s play, “The Hurt and The Healed,” continues its development with “The Healing Project.” Bradley, a first administrator of New Community Temple and youth pastor for 20 years, has written several plays to help people discover the root cause of their problems.
The season wraps up with “Antigone” by Sophocles. This final mainstage production is a timeless play about recognizing the dignity owed to every person. With performances beginning on Thursday, March 31, this abridgement and adaptation of the original Greek tragedy, based on a translation by R.C. Jebb, continues Ohio State Mansfield Theatre’s recent effort to make rights-free, accessible versions of classical texts available to students and teachers everywhere.
For all fall and spring mainstage productions, auditions are open to the community and held in Founders Auditorium. Auditions consist of readings from scripts.
General admission tickets are $8 each. A special $6 ticket is available for senior citizens and the faculty, staff and students of Ohio State Mansfield and North Central State College. A $20 flexpass also is available for purchase through Oct. 7 and consists of four tickets that can be used for any show.
A free reception supported by the Friends of the Theatre will take place after each opening night.
To learn more about accessibility accommodations, individual performances and auditions or to purchase tickets, visit www.mansfield.osu.edu/theatre or call the box office at 419-755-4045.