Press Contact
Manager, Performances & Events:
Randal Fippinger
rfippinger@williams.edu
(413) 597-4808
May 2, 2007
Williamstheatre presents "Blueberry Hill" - Senior Project of Spike Friedman '07
The production is the Senior Project of Spike Friedman ’07. Friedman wrote, directed, and produced “Blueberry Hill” over the course of the last year, working with academic advisor Deb Brothers. The play stars six actors, all Williams College students, and is set in the near future. In Friedman’s words, the work is “a nightmarish take on our world, seen through the lens of two brothers.” Friedman presented the work in workshop form in March 2007; this performance represents the culmination of feedback and revisions he has made in the past two months.
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.
“Blueberry HIll” will be performed Wednesday, May 9th at 7 pm, in the CenterStage of the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance. The event is free and open to the public – no reservations are necessary. For more information, 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.
