Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance is starting off its 2023-2024 season with "Passage" running September 28 through October 1 in E. Turner Stump Theatre, located in the Center for Performing Arts.
A fantasia inspired by E.M. Forster’s "A Passage to India," "Passage" is set in the fictional Country X, which is a neocolonial client of Country Y. B, a local doctor, and F, an expat teacher, begin to forge a friendship that is challenged after a fateful trip to a local attraction. A meditation on how power imbalances affect personal and interpersonal dynamics across a spectrum of situations, the play allows a director wide latitude in casting the roles by race, ethnicity, and gender, with different casting choices highlighting different societal structures.
This play is written by Christopher Chen. Benny Sato Ambush, a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), is the Roe Green Visiting Director and Julia Howe is the assistant director. The production team also includes Noah W. Johnson as the production stage manager and Keely Rutledge as the costume designer. Lighting design by Jakyung Seo, sound design by Daniel Braun and technical direction by Jordan Campbell, Jake Koneval and Jack Libengood. Scenic design is by Faylinn Oswald and Kenzie James. The kurogo coach is Jubilith Moore and Dr. Caitlin Kane is the intimacy coordinator. Karl Erdmann is the production manager and Tony Hardin is the director of the School of Theatre and Dance and producer.
About the Roe Green Visiting Director Series
The Roe Green Visiting Director Series was established in 2003 by Kent State alumna and Cleveland-based philanthropist Roe Green. An initial $25,000 donation was repeated annually until 2018 when Ms. Green endowed the Series with a $2.2 million gift allowing it to continue in perpetuity. Through the program, the School of Theatre and Dance invites a guest professional director each year to work in residency with students and direct one of the School's Main Stage productions. The School of Theatre and Dance is fortunate to be able to offer this opportunity to its students. Now in its 19th year, the Roe Green Visiting Director Series continues to bring professional directors to Kent State University.
About Benny Sato Ambush
Benny Sato Ambush, a veteran professional director, institutional theatre leader, educator, published commentator, and consultant, is the Artistic Director of Venice, FL’s Venice Theatre, the 2nd largest community theatre in America. Formerly, he was Artistic Director of TheatreVirginia (Richmond, VA), Oakland Ensemble Theatre (Oakland, CA), and Rites and Reason Theatre Company (Providence, RI). He served as Associate Artistic Director of San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater, Co-Artistic Director of San Francisco Bay Area Playwrights Festival, PEW Charitable Trust/TCG Director-In-Residence for Manalapan, Florida’s Florida Stage, and Associate Artistic Director of Anna Deavere Smith’s Institute on the Arts & Civic Dialogue at Harvard University.
He has directed at numerous professional regional theatres throughout the nation, and taught and directed at many university M.F.A., B.F.A., and B.A. training programs.
He earned an A.B. in Theatre Arts and Dramatic Literature from Brown University, and an M.F.A. in Stage Directing from the University of California, San Diego. Board Membership: College of Fellows of the American Theatre, National Theatre Conference, Seven Devils New Play Foundry. Founding Steering Committee Member - National Alliance of Acting Teachers.
PERFORMANCES
All performances take place in E. Turner Stump Theatre, Center for the Performing Arts (1325 Theatre Drive, Kent, OH, 44242).
Thursday, September 28, 2023
7:30 p.m.
Friday, September 29, 2023
10 a.m.
7:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 30, 2023
7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 1, 2023
2:00 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to "Passage" can be purchased through the Performing Arts Box Office by phone at 330-672-2787 or online at www.kent.edu/artscollege/box-office
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Media Contact:
Jen Crabtree, jcrabt13@kent.edu