Skyline Theatre: Blue Sky New Works Festival features world premiere of five plays
Skyline Theatre is excited to announce its first-ever Blue Sky New Works Festival – an evening featuring the world premiere of five brand-new short plays. Four of the plays are written by Skyline students and one by a staff member.
“Skyline Theatre always has students involved in every aspect of production, but this is the first time we’re even featuring student writers,” says Skyline Theatre assistant director Brodie H. Brockie. “They’ve written a variety of different types of shows: a dramatic allegory, a slice-of-life-vignette, a broad farce, and a student’s eye view of a day in a classroom. They’re as excited to see their writing come to life as I am.”
Harry (Jalen Steudle) and Arthur (Matt Rupp) compete for Julia’s (Savanna Cowley) affections in “Triple Date.” Photo by Lisa Gavan.
The student shows are:
“The Seed Sorters,” by Maggie Lareau, in which a pair of workers in the future sort seeds in slow, mindless work, but one of them begins to wonder if the drudgery isn’t really just to keep them from thinking.
“Triple Date,” by Ben Bower, in which three friends go out to dinner. Two of them are hoping romance will finally bloom, but instead find themselves fighting over the same woman.
“Vibe Check,” by Matthew McMorrough, in which a restaurant critic is on the job, but finds himself more interested in critiquing the other patrons than the food.
“Do We Have a Sub,” by Karpu Palaniappan, in which a group of students prepare for class, but the hardest task they face is trying to avoid embarrassment.
The second half of the show is “Pardon My Spaceship,” written by Brockie. On the bridge of the spaceship The Greenhouse, the surviving members of the human race are headed to a new home. Unfortunately, the planet they’ve found is already populated by people deeply suspicious of humanity’s bad reputation.
Harry (Jalen Steudle) and Arthur (Matt Rupp) compete for Julia’s (Savanna Cowley) affections in “Triple Date.” Photo by Lisa Gavan.
Meanwhile, the ship’s lieutenants are hiding a big secret, the robot has a memory problem, the captain is a windbag, and the chief of security is nearly psychotic.
The plays are brought to life by nine student actors, each playing a variety of roles. They are Anneka Billick, Ben Bower, Savanna Cowley, Ella Hall, Laila Krugman, Maggie Lareau, Matt Rupp, Jalen Steudle, and Sarah Wajdi.
The crew includes stage manager Joyce Zhou, student tech director Lisette Gold, and makeup head Lilli Shehan.
Skyline Theatre presents “Blue Sky New Works Festival,” directed by Brodie H. Brockie, on Feb. 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Skyline Auditorium, 2552 N. Maple Rd, Ann Arbor.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students.
MAIN PHOTO: The space-faring crew of “Pardon My Spacehip” (Left to right) Maggie Lareau as Activities Director Marmot, Ben Bower as ship robot RT-FL (or “Artie), Savanna Cowley as Lt. Eudoxus, Jalen Steudle as Captain Methany, Laila Krugman as Lt. Cope, and Matt Rupp as Commander Armbruster. Photo by Lisa Gavan.
