Birmingham-Southern Starts 2019-20 Theatre Season

For Immediate Release
Sep. 23, 2019

No one could kick off Birmingham-Southern College’s 2019-2020 theatre season better than the Bard himself, especially with all 37 plays in an hour and a half.

“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, condenses all of Shakespeare’s plays into a humorous parody. The BSC theatre department production opens Sept. 26, with performances running through Sept. 29

The show stars junior Gale Riggs and sophomores Lauren Beagle and Jack Dominick, led by student director Sarah Mayhew.

“The play is spontaneous, funny, and fast-paced. It’s like if ‘Saturday Night Live’ was performing Shakespeare,” says Mayhew, a senior musical theatre major. “This show made me feel like Shakespeare was more accessible than I had ever thought before.”

The actors get to consistently break the fourth wall to speak to the audience members, who will be seated on three sides of the stage in the Underground’s in-the-round, black box theatre. Some scenes will rely on audience participation as well.

When Mayhew was a sophomore, she pitched “The Complete Works” to theatre faculty and asked to direct as part of her studies. After taking a directing class last spring, she has carried what she learned into putting on a personal favorite show.

The directing role also allowed Mayhew to make a few twists of her own. Though the production traditionally features three male characters, she chose to cast women in two of the roles.

“My original concept was to have three women do the show, but Jack had such an incredible audition that I knew he had to be in the production with Gale and Lauren. That changed my vision a bit, but I always wanted to give this opportunity to women in our department,” Mayhew says.

Performances will be held in the College’s Underground Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26-28 and at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 29. Tickets cost $10 and seating is first come, first served. To buy tickets, call the Theatre Box Office at (205) 226-4780, order online, or go to the box office. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 1-4:45 p.m. during ticket sales. Tickets can also be purchased at the door.

Media contact: Amy Bickers, Director of Communications, (205) 226-4919 or [email protected]

About Birmingham-Southern College

Birmingham-Southern College is a selective residential liberal arts college enrolling approximately 1,300 undergraduate students. BSC is included in Pope’s Colleges that Change Lives and is a sheltering institution for Phi Beta Kappa. The college’s curriculum is based on close faculty-student interaction in teaching, advising, and research. For more on the college’s faculty, students, educational mission, and national reputation visit www.bsc.edu.