2005 Theatre Archive

• February 4 2005
• Eric Kupers Dance Festival Director
• (Univ. Theatre)

The CSU Hayward Department of Theatre and Dance presented the second annual Renaud-Wilson Dance Festival, bringing together dance students and teachers from throughout Northern California to learn, perform, build alliances and celebrate. This year's festival, named in honor of Laura Renaud-Wilson (an inspiring Bay Area dance advocate and the guiding light for CSU East Bay's Dance Program for over 20 years) will focus on "Activist Choreography: Dance as a Vehicle for Social Change." CSU envisioned the festival as an opportunity for university, college and high school dance departments throughout Northern California to come together in a non-competitive yet vigorous and passionate environment for learning, performing, sharing, networking and celebrating our diverse dance community. It included master dance and dance/theater classes, student performances, and faculty/guest artist performances (including works in the theater and site-specific). Among others, Danny Nguyen, NDC taught a fusion of cultural and modern dance and Nguyen Dance Company also performed at Activism in Performance.

• February 25-26 & March 4-6 2005 
• Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
• Book by James Lapine.
• Directed by Kelly Ground,
• Musical direction by Marianna Wolff
• Choreography by Joe Giuffre.
• (Univ. Theatre)

If fairytales are not real, can life be a fairytale?

• April 30 and May 1, 2005
• By Joanna Halpert Kraus
• Directed by Nancy Prebilich
• (Univ. Theatre)

"The Ice Wolf: A Tale of the Eskimos"-a drama for a young audience about a light-haired girl exiled by her own tribe of Eskimos. The Ice Wolf is an Inuit folk legend set in and around the lives of an Eskimo village."The themes of this Inuit tale are so familiar to the social problems of today," said Nancy Prebilich, who will be making her Cal State East Bay directorial debut with this show after seven years of overseas directing credits. "It broke new ground in children's theatre, when first performed 30 years ago, by exploring serious subject matter instead of the usual lighter fair generally produced for young audiences."

• May 13-14 & June 3-4, 2005
• (Studio Theatre)

A culmination featuring advanced students from the department, including acting, dancing and improve.

• August 12-13, 19-21 2005
• By Stephen Schwartz & John Caird
• Directed by Dawn Monique Williams
• (Univ. Theatre)

The Highlands Summer Theatre of California State University, East Bay will conclude its season with the inspiring musical, "Children of Eden.” Stephen Schwartz ("Wiked," "Godspell," and "Pippin") and John Caird ("Les Miserables") comes a joyous show about family, hope, and faith. Freely based on the story of Genesis, "Children of Eden" is an examination of the age-old conflict between parents and children. Adam, Eve, Noah, and the Father who created them deal with the headstrong actions of their respective children. The show ultimately delivers a bittersweet but inspiring, message that "the hardest part of love... is letting go." The score is a mix of pop, folk, rock, reggae, and gospel. "Children of Eden follows the story of the creation and the flood as accepted by three of the world's major religions, but the music is joyful and the story really deals with classic generational issues," said Dawn Monique Williams, the play's director. "Children will love the colorful animals that inhabit the worlds of this show. It would be a wonderful summer treat for young and old alike." 

• July 22-23, 29-31, 2005
• By William Shakespeare
• Directed by Christine L. Plowright
• (Studio Theatre)

This production of “Romeo and Juliet” featured several unique elements, most notably Plowright’s decision to cast a female Romeo. In a news release, Hird said Plowright made an interesting choice that probably adds additional pressure to the complication of the secret the young lovers keep.   Also the play showed how rivalries can explode into violence, especially among the younger generation when the older generation fails in its responsibility to balance control and justice

• October 14-15 2005
• By Aristophanes
• Directed by David Toda

The Acharnians is Aristophanes’ comment on and perhaps his attempt to halt the famous Peloponnesian Wars which probably led to the downfall of Athens.  He comically ridicules the lame political justifications for war that abound in his country.  Once again we find modern issues played out on the ancient stage in Aristophanes’ oldest surviving comedy, probably the world’s first known anti-war play.

• November 11-12, 18-20, 2005
• By Timberlake Wertenbacker
• Directed by Nancy Prebilich
• (Univ. Theatre)

This highly theatrical production follows the story of a Victorian woman who dresses and passes as a boy as she travels in North Africa observing the Sufi culture and making uncommon friends.  Yet the value of the play is not in the story, but in the lives and relationships Wertenbaker portrays, as well as the underlying theme of what anatomy can men as social and cultural contexts play out in a woman’s life.

• December 2-3 2005
• (Studio Theatre)

A dance celebration and concert for the whole family.

• December 9-10, 2005
• Based on the story of Charles Dickens
• Directed by Marc Jacobs
• (Univ. Theatre)

A timeless classic wherein the spirit of Christmas, even the most Scoogiest of people can transform.