Wesleyan theater production ‘Bad Panda’ begins Thursday
The West Virginia Wesleyan College Department of Theatre and Dance will present "Bad Panda" Thursday through Sunday in Buckhannon. Directed by Thomas Schoffler, assistant professor of music theater, with set and lighting design by Nathan Elsener, assistant professor of theater, and costume design by Ruth Humphrey, "Bad Panda" is an original work created with the playwright Megan Gogerty in residency during the fall semester.
"Bad Panda" is a sweet celebration of nontraditional families: Gwo Gwo, the panda, must balance his newfound desire for Chester, the crocodile, with his obligations to his prescribed panda mate, Marion. The animals eat, mate, splash around in identity politics, meditate on their impending extinction and love one another as only families can. The play deals with mature themes and may not be suitable for young children.
Gogerty is a playwright, performer and songwriter. Her music-play "Love Jerry" was produced in the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2008 and premiered at Actors Express in Atlanta. Her 10-minute play Rumple Schmumple (Dramatic Pub) was featured at Dad's Garage 8 1/2 x 11 Festival. Other plays include: "Sig Gotta Do" (Synchronicity's SheWRITES Festival, Pasadena Playhouse Hothouse Series) and "Hillary Clinton Got Me Pregnant" (Synchronicity Theatre, Riverside Theatre). A Playwrights' Center Jerome Fellow, she earned her MFA in playwriting from the University of Texas in Austin. She currently teaches playwriting and dramaturgy at the University of Iowa and is the playwright-in-residence at Coe College.
The cast of "Bad Panda" includes senior theater arts major Eddis Brown; sophomore musical theater major Gabrielle Tokach; and Dr. Eric Waggoner, associate professor of English.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and non-Wesleyan students and $3 for Wesleyan students, faculty and staff with identification.
The Arts Alive! Series is sponsored by 88 Restaurant & Lounge. Visit www.wvwc.edu for more information.
