From the scientific discoveries of Galileo to the rocky road of love, the Blinn College-Bryan Campus Theatre Arts Program will entertain audiences with dynamic drama during its 2019-20 theatre season.
The upcoming season will feature one main campus production each semester as well as the second installment of the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe, an extension of the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Arts Program that engages in educational outreach opportunities in the Brazos Valley.
“The two feature productions this season will challenge and entertain audiences with their relevant subject matter and unique characters,” Blinn-Bryan Theatre Director Greg Wise said. “Our program brings multifaceted topics to life and provides a forum to showcase Blinn students’ vast talents.”
The season begins with an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s A Life of Galileo, Nov. 7-10. This thought-provoking play, originally written in German, was first performed in 1943 and examines 17th-century scientist Galileo Galilei’s struggle between scientific discovery and religious dogmatism.
The season will continue in the Spring semester with John Cariani’s Love/Sick, a comedic and slightly twisted look at romantic relationships. Directed by Theatre Professors Greg Wise and Jean Daniels, Love/Sick will run April 16-19, 2020, and is composed of nine vignettes. The play traverses the ups, downs, and in-betweens of a myriad of couples trying to manage love in contemporary times.
To complement its 2019-20 performances, the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Arts Program continues its successful outreach program that brings live theatre and educational tools and exercises into local schools, community centers, libraries, and retirement communities. Now in its second year, the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe consists of Blinn theatre students who create short, interactive theatre experiences to encourage cultural and collaborative exchange in the community. The troupe will conduct on-campus and community performances, which are made possible by a grant from the Eugene Edge III Charitable Trust. The troupe’s offerings include three productions: Toil and Trouble by Lauren Gunderson, on-campus Oct. 16-17; The Second Shepherd’s Play edited by Adrian Guthrie, on-campus Dec. 5; and Poof! by Lynn Nottage, on-campus Feb. 19-20, 2020. Two community performances of The Second Shepherd’s Play, a unique retelling of the Nativity story, will be held on the steps of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Historic Downtown Bryan as part of the city’s First Friday event on Dec. 6.
“We are thrilled by the inaugural response the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe received last year,” Wise said. “This outreach effort enables us to share the arts with local schools and organizations, collaborate with the community, and connect prospective students with our program.”
All campus performances will be hosted in the Blinn-Bryan Student Center Theatre (map). Curtain times are 7:30pm for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday shows, and 2pm for Sunday performances.
Friday and all Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe performances will be followed by “Talk-Backs,” in which the director and actors return to the stage to discuss the production and answer questions from the audience. Both productions contain adult language and themes.
Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for the general public. All theatre performances are open seating. Tickets can be purchased at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice/bryan. For questions regarding ticket reservations, contact the Box Office at (979) 209-8100 or bryanboxoffice@blinn.edu. Tickets also will be available at the door.
Student auditions for the 2019-20 productions will be held Wednesday, Aug. 28. For more information or to reserve the Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe, contact Wise at greg.wise@blinn.edu.
About the Blinn College District With an enrollment of 19,581 students, Blinn ranks among the nation’s leaders in transferring students to leading four-year universities and has received national recognition for affordable educational excellence. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.
