The Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe will showcase its student talent with a diverse selection of performances and Brazos Valley venues during its 2021-22 season. The season, titled “Then and Now,” will span through the ages with plays from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the French Revolution, and the 21st century.
The season begins Oct. 28-29 on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., with the return of Blinn College-Bryan Campus theatre alumni to share their professional experiences in theatre and film. The discussion will take place in the Bryan Campus Student Center Theatre and be streamed live on YouTube at bit.ly/TheatreAlumni, and will be of particular interest to students interested in pursuing a career and anyone who has ever been curious about the industry. Alumni participating in the discussion will include those currently working in theatre, film, and television from Los Angeles to New York as well as current educators in the field.
Tickets for the show are available now at blinn.edu/boxoffice.
Courtesy of Blinn College District
In December, Blinn will perform “The Second Shepherd’s Play,” a unique manuscript from the Wakefield Cycle, a series of 32 mystery plays originating in England based on the Bible. Noted as the jewel of the series, “The Second Shepherd’s Play” knits together the stories of the shepherds, a wily sheep thief and his wife, and a miracle in a lowly manger. The Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe previously performed “The Second Shepherd’s Play” in 2019.
“Theatre was often used in medieval times to teach a primarily illiterate audience about the Bible,” Blinn-Bryan Theatre Director Greg Wise says. “This play celebrates the holiday season while mixing mystery and comedy to highlight the Nativity story.”
Performances will take place Dec. 1-2 on Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Bryan Campus Student Center Theatre, and as part of the First Friday celebration at 6 and 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3 on the front steps of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in downtown Bryan. The play is suitable for all ages.
The Troupe’s second performance, “The Revolutionists” by Lauren Gunderson, will take audiences to the French Revolution, where former queen Marie Antoinette, assassin Charlotte Corday, playwright Olympe de Gouges, and Caribbean spy Marianne Angelle try to beat back extremist insanity in 1793 Paris. This irreverent comedy is about violence and legacy, art and activism, feminism and terrorism, compatriots and chosen sisters, and how we go about changing the world.
The Cincinnati Enquirer calls the play “a wild ride, filled with verbal gymnastics that come racing at you so quickly it’s occasionally hard to keep up. Listen closely, though, and hang on tight. If you do, you’ll be treated to an invigorating and enlightening journey.”
Shows will take place Jan. 27-29 on Thursday through Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 30 at 2:30 p.m. in the Blinn-Bryan Student Center Theatre. The Troupe will produce special high school performances on Friday, Jan. 28. The play is recommended for ages 13 and up.
Courtesy of Blinn College
In February and March, the Theatre Troupe’s comedy will take a dark turn with Kim Rosenstock’s “Tigers Be Still.” The play follows the misadventures of Sherry Wickman, a young woman who recently earned her master’s degree in art only to move back home with her family while sending out resumes. When a job offer finally comes, Sherry only needs her mother to come downstairs, her sister to get off the couch, her first therapy patient to do one of his take-home assignments, her new boss to leave his gun at home, and someone to catch the tiger that escaped the local zoo for everything to be perfect.
“Subtly funny dialogue and the vivid, truthful characters keep the play grounded in prickly emotional authenticity,” the New York Times writes.
Blinn will present the play Feb. 23-25, Wednesday through Friday at 7 p.m. at the Bryan Campus Student Center Theatre and March 2-4, Wednesday through Friday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. at the Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Performance Studies Black Box Theatre. The play is recommended for ages 13 and up.
The Theatre Troupe will close the 2021-22 season with William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” as adapted by Gillette Elvgren. In this one-act adaptation, four players in a traveling clown troupe wake up one morning to discover they have been abandoned by the other members of the company. That evening, they are required to perform “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” before the local squire and must madly reinvent the play so it can be performed with four clowns.
Showtimes are April 27-28, Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Blinn-Bryan Student Center Theatre and April 29-30, Friday and Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Lick Creek Park Amphitheatre. The play is suitable for all ages.
About the Blinn College District
With innovative programs and award-winning co-enrollment partnerships, Blinn’s academic transfer rate ranks No. 1 among Texas community colleges. Courses are available online and at five Central Texas campuses, and students save 43% in tuition and fees compared to the average state university. For more information, visit blinn.edu.
