Department of
Theater, Film, and Media Studies

Theater and Arts Season:
Main Stage Productions and the TFMS Film Series

As part of our annual theater and arts season, TFMS produces three main stage shows (major productions) in the Bruce Davis Theater. Directed by the faculty or guest artists, these productions encompass the widest possible range of theatrical forms, genres, periods, and experiment. Each season offers students opportunities to perform, design, stage-manage, or crew a range of material, staged in various configurations (proscenium, thrust, arena, or alley). The department encourages and relies on student involvement to mount each production, and recognizes that without student assistance the production season would not materialize.

Included in our annual theater and arts season is the TFMS Film Series. The film series brings to campus internationally acclaimed, award-winning filmmakers who screen and discuss their work, visit classes (e.g. Media Production I and II, Documentary Practices, etc.), and meet informally with TFMS students during their two-three day residencies at the College. The inaugural film series (2008), for example, featured films and filmmakers from the exciting vanguard of experimental documentary, while subsequent series have examined such diverse topics as uses of the home movie in documentary and fiction films, environmental film, alternative forms of animation and collage, and feminist film. See the Film Series archive to learn more about our annual series and participating filmmakers and their work.

In addition to our annual main stage season, the student-run White Room regularly produces shows written and/or directed by students. White Room activities supplement the department's main stage offerings and afford students further opportunities to direct, design, perform, stage-manage, or crew. Read more about The White Room and The White Room Committee.

Also, the department complements its production season with occasional guest artist residencies and/or shows designed specifically for touring to community schools. Guest artists may be contracted to direct or design main stage shows, or may be members of regional, national, or international theater companies, such as Bread and Puppet Theater (in residency 1991, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008), who hold workshops and performances for the College and St. Mary's communities. View the list of recent visiting guest artists.

A sample of recent main stage productions, by season, follows:

2011-2012: As You Like It, by William Shakespeare; St. Mary's Hear and Now, an original, collaborative performance project about the Black student experience at SMCM, conceived, written, and directed by Caleen Sinnette Jennings; The Big Picture App?, an original, collaborative performance piece, conceived, written, and directed by Merideth Taylor and ensemble

2010-2011: Hay Fever, by Noel Coward; The Bald Soprano, by Eugène Ionesco; Mother Hicks, by Suzan Zeder

2009-2010: Arms and the Man, by George Bernard Shaw; Cabaret, by John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics), and Joe Masterhoff (book)

2008-2009: Looking for Tarô Kaja: An Evening of Kyôgen Comedies; subUrbia, by Eric Bogosian; Polaroid Stories, by Naomi Iizuka

2007-2008: A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare; Dancing on the Earth: a dance concert; The Balcony, by Jean Genet

2006-2007: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie, adapted for the stage by Timothy Supple and David Tushingham; The Wild Duck, by Henrik Ibsen; The Mandrake, by Niccolo Machiavelli

2005-2006: Fuente Ovejuna, by Lope de Vega; HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, by Gerome Ragni, James Rado, and Galt MacDermot; The Cocoonery, by Merideth Taylor

2004-2005: The Serpent, by Jean-Claude van Itallie; DANCING 2004, a faculty-student dance concert; The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, by Paul Zindel; The Road to Kyoto!, stage adaptation by James R. Brandon and Kathy Foley

2003-2004: The Miser, by Molière; Old Times, by Harold Pinter; Don Juan Comes Back from the War, by Ödon von Horváth; 900 Dreams, by Sharon Wyrrick

2002-2003: The Skin of Our Teeth, by Thornton Wilder; Three Japanese Plays in Translation: Delicious Poison (Busu), Black Tuesday, Tricked by a Rhythm (Yobikoe), various authors; Love's Labour's Lost, by William Shakespeare

2001-2002: The Laramie Project, by Moisés Kaufman and Members of Tectonic Theater Project; 2001: A Dance Odyssey, a faculty-student dance concert; The House of Blue Leaves, by John Guare; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, by Stephen Sondheim, Bert Shevelove, and Larry Gelbart

View the Gallery of seasons produced on the Bruce Davis Theater main stage.

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