Marshall University Theatre has announce its 2019-2020 season which features at least two edgy relevant plays. In addition to The Nutcracker, MUT has a new work by W.Va, native Brandon McCoy.

Here's the lineup:

Silent Sky

by Lauren Gunderson

October 9‐12, 2019 7:30 PM Nightly

In the Playhouse of the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

When Henrietta Leavitt begins work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she isn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who calculates projects in “girl hours” and has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. The true story of 19th‐century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them. Social progress, like scientific progress, can be hard to see when one is trapped among earthly complications; Henrietta Leavitt and her female peers believe in both, and their dedication changed the way we understand both the heavens and Earth.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night‐Time

Based on the Novel by Mark Haddon

Adapted by Simon Stephens

November 13 ‐16 and 20‐23 7:30 PM Nightly

Francis‐Booth Experimental Theatre in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

15‐year‐old Christopher has an extraordinary brain: He is exceptional at mathematics but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched, and he distrusts strangers. Now it is 7 minutes after midnight, and Christopher stands beside his neighbor’s dead dog, Wellington, who has been speared with a garden fork. Finding himself under suspicion, Christopher is determined to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington, aand he carefully records each fact of the crime. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a thrilling journey that upturns his world.

THE NUTCRACKER

PRESENTED BY HUNTINGTON DANCE THEATRE

December 6 – 7 / 8:00 PM

December 8 / 2:00 PM

In the Playhouse of the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

$25 at the door | $20 for Seniors, Faculty, children 12 and under, & MU Students

West by God

By Brandon McCoy

January 17‐18 and 24‐25 at 7:30 PM

January 19 and 26 at 2:00 PM

In the Playhouse of the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

WEST BY GOD is a story about home. In a small town in the Appalachia region of West Virginia, two different families grapple with issues of grief and love, memory and identity, and with the distance and time that both unite and divide generations. A new play by West Virginia native Brandon McCoy, WEST BY GOD is a funny, heartwarming, and gut‐wrenchingly honest examination of the divide between urban and rural America, and the kinds of prejudice and intolerance too often left unchallenged in our society.

Free and Open to the Public!

The Laramie Project

By Moises Kauffman & Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project

February 19‐22 and 26‐29, 2020 7:30 PM Nightly

Francis‐Booth Experimental Theatre in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

In October 1998, a twenty‐one‐year‐old student at the University of Wyoming was kidnapped, severely beaten, and left tied to a fence in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming. His bloody, bruised, and battered body was not discovered until the next day, and he died several days later in an area hospital. His name was Matthew Shepard, and he was the victim of this assault because he was gay. Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half, in the aftermath of the beating and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard. They conducted more than 200 interviews with the people of the town. Some people interviewed were directly connected to the case, while others were citizens of Laramie, and the breadth of the reactions to the crime is fascinating. Kaufman and Tectonic Theater members have constructed a deeply moving theatrical experience from these interviews and their own experiences in Laramie. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is a breathtaking collage that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion of which we are capable.

SPRING DANCE CONCERT

March 14 / 7:30 PM

In the Playhouse of the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

$10 at the door | $5 for children 12 and under | Marshall University students admitted FREE with a valid ID.

Sense and Sensibility

By Katie Hamill

Adapted from the Novel by Jane Austen

April 15‐18, 2020 7:30 PM Nightly

In the Playhouse of the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center

A playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor and hypersensitive Marianne—after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. Set in gossipy late 18th‐century England, with a fresh female voice, the play is full of humor, emotional depth, and bold theatricality. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY examines our reactions, both reasonable and ridiculous, to societal pressures. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart?

$20 at the door | $15 for Seniors & Faculty | $7 for children 12 and under | Marshall University students admitted FREE with a valid ID.

To purchase season tickets, please call the box office at 304-696-ARTS (2787)