Archives 2005-2006

Graduate Student Showcase: a wonder junkie celebration

Thursday September 15

Our wonder junkie graduate students opened our fifteenth season in the HopKins Black Box with pieces that celebrated wonder junkies everywhere.


The Maidens

Directed by Ben Powell
Wednesday September 28 Saturday October 1
Sunday October 2

In August 1945, a single moment of energy and history changed the pulse of humanity. The Maidens investigated this past and present moment through an excavation of two histories: the development and deployment of the atomic bomb and its impact on a group of Japanese women known as the Hiroshima Maidens.


Who Killed the Kingfish?

By David Zinman & Michael D. Wynne
Directed by Jacqueline D. Burleson
Wednesday October 26 Saturday October 29
Sunday October 30

2005 marked the seventy year anniversary of the still hotly debated assassination of Senator Huey P. Long at the hands of Dr. Carl Weiss. The life and times of the two key figures and the evidence against Weiss were re-viewed in this tense courtroom drama where audience members served as jury and, in the end, rendered their verdict as to who killed the kingfish.


Dear You: A Collection of Unsent Letters

Written & performed by Wendy Armington
Wednesday November 9 Saturday November 12
Sunday November 13

Dear You, It all started when I slipped on the mittens I wore every day for eight months.. . . So begins one of the many letters the author wrote over a three year period to an unspecified you, with no intention of sending. In her performance, Armington explored the non/fiction world of senders and receivers, of private and public, of refrigerator poetry and Dr. Phil rants created in unsent letters now sent through performance.


The Undergraduate Student Showcase

Tuesday November 29 & Wednesday November 30

Ever surprising, our undergraduate students took the stage in a two night celebration of their exceptional work in our performance studies courses.


REANIMATED: Live Action 2002-2005

Tuesday January 31

The Chicago based Live Action Cartoonists combined comics and theatre to create high-energy, multi-media spectacles, praised by Chicago Sun-Times as original, playful, and thought provoking. In their appearance at LSU, LAC performed selections from their past three shows SCIENCE (FICTION); are you my negative space?: a performance about comics, war, and love; and performance of sleep in one long act without intermission. Following the showcase, LAC members discussed their techniques with the audience.


LIVE ACTION OR DIE; drawing as performance

Saturday February 4

As part of their residency at LSU, Live Action Cartoonists led a three day workshop with students that culminated in this original performance using LACs signature techniques of choreographed large-scale drawing and interactive video.


Across Disciplines: Performance Research & Response: GO!

Produced by Roger Pippin
Wednesday March 8 & Thursday March 9

This years sixth annual Across Disciplines featured graduate student research presented as performance, focusing on the cultural and cognitive transformations that evolve from science and scientific technologies. Through scenes, robotic models, installations, and projections, GO! explored such areas as nanotechnology, neuroscience, and genetics.


". . . she looked like Mary, Queen of Scots"

Conceived & directed by Michael Bowman
Wednesday April 26 Saturday April 29
Sunday April 30

In 1587, Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland and Queen Dowager of France, was beheaded on the orders of her cousin Elizabeth, Queen of England. Widely viewed as a murderess, an adulteress, and a traitor at the time, Mary has been largely exonerated of such crimes by historians, and popular culture has rehabilitated her as an icon of the beautiful and tragic princess. This docu-performance traced the story of Marys life and death and her influence on our collective imagination.


The Undergraduate Showcase

Tuesday May 2 & Wednesday May 3

Our year ending event featured a cornucopia of delights created by our outstanding undergraduate students.