The IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance will showcase "At First Sight," a series of two new plays written by students in IU's MFA playwriting programduring the last two weekends of February.
“Tiger Beat,” written by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin, will premiere Friday in the Wells-Metz Theatre and will run through Feb. 29. The play follows a girl group in 2003 working underneath a reality television network.
Jenny McKnight, director and professor of acting and directing, said that the play is about being an artist under a capitalist structure. Issues of race and misogyny are also covered.
“As artists, we have a responsibility to initiate those conversations and keep them going,” McKnight said. “This show is really fun and it asks a lot of interesting questions.”
“jelly beans,” written by Christin Eve Cato, will run Feb. 26-29 in the Studio Theatre at the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Building. The story is about a family dealing with the loss of their father, told through the lens of his children. The youngest brother has an invention that can check into brain activity and project memories, with the goal of keeping the memories of his father alive.
Leraldo Anzaldua, director and assistant professor of movement and stage combat, said that though geared and written for young audiences, the play deals with darker themes of grief and loss.
“The show itself is kind of like an after-school-special-meets-'Black Mirror' story,” Anzaldua said.
Tickets can be purchased online. They are $10 for students and $20 for adults.
