Having kicked off their 2024-25 theatrical season this month, the Resident Ensemble Players (REP) have a lot to offer this school year. Scheduled shows include everything from classic Shakespeare shows to horror to timely political commentary. Regardless of the differing genres, one thing that all REP productions share is the goal of making theater accessible to college students.
Unlike previous seasons, this year’s season includes five shows instead of the four show schedule that was typical for the past few seasons. The seasons were abbreviated as the theater community adapted to life post-pandemic.
“We’re slowly and surely getting back to closer to where we were pre-COVID,” the REP’s Program Coordinator Amanda McGinty said. “There are more performance opportunities for everyone, more shows for people to see.”
The season kicked off Sept. 13 with the play “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which is playing a two-week limited engagement at Gore Recital Hall located in the Center for the Arts. The play, written by Heidi Schreck, originally premiered on Broadway at the Hayes Theater in March of 2019 and has only recently been available for other theater companies to perform.
“It analyzes the constitution from the eyes of a grown woman who’s reflecting back on her time as a teenager when she used to do constitutional debates,” McGinty said. “So you get a little back and forth of what the teenage self was thinking about and then what she thinks about now that she’s older.”
The next show of the season, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] (again)” overlaps with “What the Constitution Means to Me” and opens Sept. 19 at Thompson Theatre. According to McGinty, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] (again)” features three actors on stage who try to get through all of Shakespeare’s works in as little time as possible.
Closing out the fall semester for the REP is another comedic piece. “Rough Crossing” opens Nov. 7 at Thompson Theatre and runs until the start of the university’s Thanksgiving break. “Rough Crossing” is a 1984 comedy centering around the cast and crew of a Broadway-bound show as they cross the Atlantic Ocean on an ocean liner. The play was written by Tom Stoppard, who also wrote the 2023 Best Play Tony Award-winning “Leopoldstadt.”
Kicking off the spring semester in February of 2025 is the classic Stephen King psychological thriller “Misery” which opens Feb. 13 at Thompson Theatre. The stage production of “Misery” is a direct theatrical adaptation of the 1990 Oscar-winning film, which in turn, is based on the 1987 novel of the same name.
“It’s just as creepy as the movie and I feel like it’s even more intense than the movie because it’s a live performance, so you’re there in the audience watching this, and there’s no escape, there’s no pause button,” McGinty said.
Rounding out the REP’s 2024-25 season is the classic Shakespeare tragedy “King Lear.” The production opens April 10 at Thompson Theatre and runs for roughly a week and a half.
Much like past shows produced by the REP, this season’s productions mainly feature members of the REP both on and off the stage. REP members serve as directors, actors and crew members for this season’s productions, with a few key exceptions.
“Every season, depending on the shows, we supplement our company with guest actors and guest designers,” McGinty said. “Theater is so collaborative, so we have to bring in new fresh creativity to elevate our own shows.”
With such a large variation of show genres, the REP is aiming for mass appeal this season. Tickets cost only $15 for university students, ensuring that the opportunity to see a theatrical production is financially accessible.
“I’m excited to see the fruits of our labor once it’s on stage,” McGinty said. “You get the actors and the technicians and the designers, and they all come together and they put on this really great thing.”