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Manager, Performances & Events:
Randal Fippinger
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(413) 597-4808

Senior Project: "The Mystery of Irma Vep"

WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – The Williams College Theatre Department presents “The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful” by Charles Ludlam, directed by Jess Phillips '07, and starring Greta Wilson '07 as...every character, excepting only those played by Eric Phillips '09. The show will be performed Friday, April 13th at 7 pm, and Saturday, April 14th at 7 pm and 11 pm, in the Adams Memorial Theatre of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance.

The production is the Senior Project of Jess Phillips ’07 and Greta Wilson ’07. As a crucial step toward earning a Theatre degree at Williams College, theatre majors work with theatre faculty during their junior year to determine the goals and scope of their Senior Project. Projects may be artistic or scholarly in design and execution and grow from each student’s experience within curricular and extra-curricular offerings in the department. They may build on previous academic achievements, or venture into new territory, but each project is conceived as a capstone experience within the theatre major.

Students must work within strict guidelines to launch their production. The guidelines are intended to put each project in more or less the same place on the production continuum, and to focus creative energy on dramatic values that can be explored within the constraints. For example, students must work with little to no scenery, very few props and costumes, and limited sound and lighting capabilities. A shoestring budget for each production ensures that the students maximize their creativity while forgoing traditional production values. The result is a finely honed focus on the text of the work, brought to life by the talent and enthusiasm of Williams College Theatre majors.

“The Mystery of Irma Vep” will be performed April 13 at 7 pm and 11 pm, and April 14 at 7 pm, in the Adams Memorial Theatre of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. Tickets are free, but reservations are suggested. To make a reservation, please contact the Box Office at (413) 597 2425. The box office is open Tuesday through Friday, 1pm-4pm, and 1 hour before each performance. The Box Office accepts cash and check only.