Timeless Theater: from Shakespeare to Carrie

This year, the theme for the Minnesota State University’s Theatre Department’s season is Timeless Theatre. So naturally, the opening mainstage show is about male strippers.

The Full Monty focuses on a group of unemployed steel workers who, after finding out that their wives enjoyed a night of adult entertainment, decide to try stripping themselves in pursuit of quick cash and affection. With a Tony-nominated score by David Yazbeck, those who see this show won’t soon forget it. Performances will be from Sept. 29-Oct.1 and Oct. 6-9. On those nights, you could say that more than one moon will be on display over MSU.

Up next is an all-female version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Adapted by Fred Carmichael, this play tells the classic tale of Victor Frankenstein and what happens when the doctor’s living experiment goes awry. Everyone in the theatre department is very excited for this one, so don’t miss the much anticipated performances from Oct. 13-16 and Oct. 19-23.

To close the mainstage for the semester, MSU borrows a few plays from the collection of Shakespeare to create an intriguing theatrical concoction. The Two Henrys is an original adaptation by our own theatre department head Paul J. Hustoles. Combining Shakespeare’s history plays Henry lV Parts I and II and Henry V, this version will tell the full story of the two kings of England, including how their stories connect. Since Shakespeare history plays were essentially reality television for the Renaissance Era, be prepared for a night of classic drama. Performances will be on Nov. 3-5 and Nov. 10-13.

Also be sure to look into the fall studio season, as they’ve got a couple very interesting things lined up. First up is Comic Potential, a satire play about the future of filmed entertainment that focuses on a robot actor as it begins to malfunction during its soap opera. Get tickets soon, as it’s the first show to open this year from Sept. 14-17. Later this fall, the MSU theatre department is very excited to put on Carrie the Musical. (Yes, the Stephen King book/movie. Yes, they made a musical of it.) In case you’ve gone through life so far having been spared the horrors of the plot, Carrie tells the story about an isolated girl who has always been bullied, by both her mother and her peers. When a cruel trick is played on her at the senior prom, everyone is subject to the horrors of her telekinetic powers. Performances will be held from Nov. 16-19, with special midnight matinees on the Friday and Saturday nights of that weekend.

Season tickets for the mainstage year are on sale now, and individual tickets go on sale Sept. 12. Tickets can be purchased online at mnsu.edu/theatre or at the box office in the Performing Arts building, open Monday through Friday from 4-6. The box office will open Sept. 12. Student prices are $15 for The Full Monty, $11 for Frankenstein, The Two Henrys, and Carrie the Musical, and $8 for Comic Potential.