Kasser Theater allows the Montclair community to catch high-quality performances without making the trip to New York.
Photo by Therese Sheridan
Within the next four months a plethora of shows will open at the Kasser Theater, including a few presented by professional companies who visit Montclair for one weekend only. Compiled below is a list of can’t-miss theater coming to campus this semester that all Montclair State students can see for free with a Student I.D.:
Raphaëlle Boitel’s “The Forgotten/L’Oublié(e)”
Dates and times: Sept. 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 2 at 3 p.m.
The first show to open its curtains on the Alexander Kasser Theater stage this season combines circus, physical theater and dance to tell the story of a woman who plunges herself into the mind of a man who has been asleep for years. In a quest to find him and finally wake him, the woman falls into the man’s dreams, a land of hallucinations and fantastical situations.
“The Forgotten/L’Oublié(e)” is the first large scale show directed by Raphaëlle Boitel. Starting her career at the early age of 13, Boitel has become a well-known circus artist who is highly skilled in aerial, object manipulation and dance.
Cullberg Ballet, Deborah Hay and Laurie Anderson’s “Figure a Sea”
Dates and times: Oct. 6 and 7 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 8 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 9 at 3 p.m.
Following Boitel’s aerial dance piece is another 60-minute dance piece—a ballet in which the dancers and the stage meld together to form a single sea. Nothing happens by chance in this piece as each member of the company glides across the stage, sometimes in chaos, and then dissolve again like waves lapping against the shore.
“Figure a Sea” is the first large-scale work produced by Deborah Hay in many years. Hay is a founding member of the groundbreaking Judson Dance Theater. The piece is set to a score by Laurie Anderson and is performed by the 21 dancers of the Cullberg Ballet.
The Abbey Theatre’s “The Plough and the Stars”
Dates and times: Oct. 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. and Oct 23 at 3 p.m.
Set in 1916 Ireland comes a play telling the story of ordinary lives ripped apart by idealism and revolution. Residents of a Dublin tenement hide from the violence that sweeps through the city’s streets during the Easter Rising, a revolution that shaped the country’s future.
“The Plough and the Stars” was first performed at the Abbey Theatre in 1926. After the performance, the audience rioted. The play has since been regarded as a masterpiece and is essential to our understanding of the Easter Rising in 1916 Ireland.
Department of Theater and Dance’s “Iphigenia at Aulis”
Dates and times: Nov. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.
Greek tragedy will be coming to the Kasser stage in the form of an impossible choice made by a father to either sacrifice his own daughter to appease the gods, or remain beached on the shores of Aulis.
“Iphigenia at Aulis” will be performed by Montclair State University’s own Department of Theater and Dance and will run from Nov. 3-6.
Third Coast Percussion, Cathie Boyd and Cryptic (U.K.)’s “See You Later”
Dates and times: Nov. 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 3 p.m.
The last professional performance of the season to open at the Alexander Kasser Theater is an immersive experience in which music, lighting, films and staging come together to enlighten the senses. Powerful, haunting music from David T. Little and Peter Garland will be performed along with the world premiere of Gavin Bryars’s “The Other Side of the River.”
Cathie Boyd is well known for pushing the boundaries of musical performance with her Glasgow-based theatre and production company Cryptic. Combining forces with Third Coast Percussion, “See You Later” is set to close out the professional performances at Kasser Theater.
Scattered throughout these performances mentioned are various nights of music from the student musicians and vocalists at Cali School of Music as well as many shows at Memorial Auditorium and other theaters on campus.
More information about all of these performances as well as other shows on campus can be found at peakperfs.org.
