The Theatre Department is hosting auditions for the Fall Directors’ Showcase at 5 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Black Box Theatre in Ophelia Parrish 2302.

Eight new directors from the play direction class will be at the casting. Actors should prepare 60 seconds of material that shows how they move and talk. Examples include: reciting a list of their best jokes, doing a dramatic reading of a Drake song, performing a monologue, doing yoga while reciting your roommate’s annoying morning routine, etc. Interested actors should do something that will grab the directors’ attention and make them remember the actor’s performance.

On each night of the final performances, the directing class presents a different set of one act plays written by some of the best playwrights from around the country.

View schedule

The Truman Theatre Department opens its 2016-2017 season this week with The Wake of Jamey Foster, a comedy/drama by Beth Henley, directed by Ron Rybkowski. The play will be performed at 8 p.m. on Sept. 21-24, 2016, in the James G. Severns Theater of Ophelia Parrish Hall. Suffused with the warmth and offbeat humor that have become the hallmark of its brilliant young author, this richly comic study of a small-town Mississippi family drawn together by supposed grief was produced with great success by the Hartford Stage Company prior to its transfer to Broadway.

TICKETS: Tickets are $5 per person and are on sale at the Theatre Box Office in the atrium of OP Hall. Tickets must be paid for in advance, except for our out of town guests. Reservations for out of town guests may be made by phone 660-785-4515 and those tickets will be held at the box office until 15 minutes before show time. At this time we are only able to accept cash or check payments. No refunds or exchanges on any tickets.  There will be a reception in the lobby with refreshments after the performance on opening night.

THE STORY: The scene is a small town in Mississippi, where the family of Jamey Foster have gathered for his wake.  Jamey Foster was a failed poet and would-be historian, who was kicked in the head by a cow while consorting with his mistress in a pasture. The mourners at his wake include Jamey’s estranged wife, her sister and brother, the brother’s fey girlfriend, Jamey’s upwardly mobile brother, and his oppressively doting wife.  There is also an eccentric family friend who raises pigs.  All of the characters seem to agree on one point:  none of them really liked the deceased very much. But on most other matters they are far apart, and as old enmities flare up, the play explodes with bizarre humor and zany revelations. In the end, a tenuous truce is reached as those assembled prepare to depart for the final rites—but it is abundantly clear that the lives on which Jamey had a baleful effect in his lifetime may well be changed for the better by his untimely demise.

*Please note that the subject matter is suitable for adults and children over 13.

Sept. 21-24, 2016: The Wake of Jamey Foster
By Beth Henley
Directed by Ron Rybkowski
James G. Severns Theater: 8 p.m.

Nov. 9-12, 2016: Seussical
Book by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Directed by Dr. Dana Smith
James G. Severns Theater: Wednesday-Friday: 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m.

Feb. 22-25, 2017: Woman in Black
By Stephen Mallatratt
Directed by Randy Bame
James G. Severns Theater: 8 p.m.

April 19-22, 2017: King Charles III
By Mike Bartlett
Directed by David Charles Goyette
James G. Severns Theater 8 p.m.

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For more information, visit the www.truman.edu/now-playing-in-theatre/ or contact the Department of Theatre.

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Before the curtain rises and the actors take the stage, students and faculty spend weeks preparing for opening night. This video gives you a glimpse of all the time and effort that goes into a theatre production from developing promotional materials, to making costumes, to perfecting each scene.

For this stage production, Truman’s Theatre Department took on the legendary show, “Hamlet,” with an interesting spin on the casting choices with a gender-blind production.