Faculty Performance Production: Everything That Never Happened by Sarah Mantell
DRA4152.01
Course Description
Summary
"Jessica and Lorenzo are in love, but in order to be together they must plan an escape from her father鈥檚 house, the Venetian ghetto, and her entire culture. Taking place in the gaps between "The Merchant of Venice" and the realities of Jewish history, "Everything That Never Happened" is a play about a father, a daughter, disguise, assimilation, pomegranates, and everything Shakespeare left out.... Clothing can suggest 16th century Venice but it should be more improvised, more flexible, more like rehearsal room costuming....This world is created primarily through language.... The visual world of the play functions like memory鈥攚e only see the things we need, the things that we touch." -- Sarah Mantell Guided improvisation and creative collaboration will be key in our rehearsal process. The words and movements of the actors, and perhaps musicians, in concert with light and space, conjure the maze that is Venice. This is a story of intrigue: what we conceal to survive, and what we must reveal to become fully human. Sarah Mantell is the 2023 winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Award for their play 鈥淚n the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot.鈥 Performances will be scheduled for April 2025.Prerequisites
Auditions will be held for "Everything That Never Happened" during the first week of the Spring 2025 term. Actors, musicians, dancers, dramaturgs, assistant directors, and designers who might be interested in this faculty performance production are encouraged to reach out to Jean Randich by email (jrandich@bennington.edu). For a smaller commitment, it may be possible to participate in this course for two credits.
Please contact the faculty member : jrandich@bennington.edu