WCSU Theater Arts Dept. Has A Pair Of Holiday Offerings

DANBURY — Western CT State University’s theater arts department will stage two entertaining offerings this weekend.

One-act plays directed by theatre students will be staged at 7 and 9 pm on Friday, December 9, in Berkshire Hall, on Osborne Street (on the university’s midtown campus).

 The 12 student-directed, one-act plays have been assembled in a production called Two Six Packs.

Admission is free and the public is invited. For more information, call the theatre box office at (203) 837-8732.

The 12 plays are The Early Morning Mists of Dawn, Unfamiliar Faces, Uncle Chick, Variation on the Death of Trotsky, Opres Opera, The 2nd Beam, The Sheriff, Dirty Talk, Fur Hat, Downtown, Bus Stop Diner and Wasting Discount Daddies.

Some were written by well-known playwrights, such as Joe Pintauro and David Ives; others were written by current or former WestConn students.

At the helm of each of the plays will be students from the directing course offered by the theater arts department. Most — but not all — are theater majors, and the purpose of the class is to allow each student to oversee the production of a play from beginning to end. They hold auditions, organize rehearsals, design costumes and sets, select music and generate publicity.

Then at 2 pm on Saturday and Sunday, December 10-11, the theater arts department, in association with LaMar Productions, will present its annual holiday children’s theater production, also in Berkshire Hall.

This year’s production, Holiday Tidings, will take audiences on a journey to the fictitious Christmas village of Tatalia, where tradition rings on every street corner. Early each Christmas Eve, the bells of Tatalia can be heard ringing around the world. When Santa hears them, he hops on his sleigh and delivers toys to girls and boys.

One Christmas Eve, however, two thieves steal the bells, jeopardizing Santa’s traditional call to action.

Children who attend the production will be invited to make an arts-and-crafts bell in honor of the Tatalian tradition; their handmade bells will be used in the performance. They also will be able to visit with Santa after the show.

Tickets are $7.50 and will be available at the theatre box office or by calling 778-3344 for reservations.

Holiday Tidings was written and is being directed by Linda Randazzo of LaMar Productions. Skip Jennings, a music teacher in the Danbury Public School System, is musical director. The sizable cast includes current and former WestConn theater arts students.