HELENA – Carroll College’s Theatre program will be performing She Persisted in the Flex theatre on November 13–16. Each performance will start at 7:30 pm. She Persisted is a compilation of ten minute one act plays that students of Kim Shire’s Women in Theatre class have selected. In addition to choosing each play, Carroll students are assistant directing, costuming, building props, designing projections, sound and lighting for the performance. Below is some information about each play:
The How and the Why – by Sarah Treem
Evolution and emotion collide in this play about science, family, and survival of the fittest. Rachel meets her birth mother Zelda with whom she shares a surprising amount of similarities and interests as both women are evolutionary biologists studying the female reproductive system. This intimate and keenly perceptive play explores the difficult choices faced by women of every generation.
Ada and the Engine – by Lauren Gunderson
As the British Industrial Revolution dawns, young Ada Byron Lovelace (daughter of the flamboyant and notorious Lord Byron) sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soulmate Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge—a world she might not live to see. A music-laced story of love, friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future. Jane Austen meets Steve Jobs in this poignant pre-tech romance heralding the computer age.
Photograph 51 – by Anna Ziegler
A humorous and moving portrait of Rosalind Franklin, one of the great female scientists of the twentieth century, and her fervid drive to map the contours of the DNA molecule. A chorus of physicists relives the chase, revealing the unsung achievements of this trail-blazing, fiercely independent woman. A play about ambition, isolation, and the race for greatness.
These Shining Lives – by Melanie Marnich
This play tells the story of women painting radium, now known to cause cancer but considered beneficial then, on watch and clock faces to make them visible in the dark, the girls discover the true dangers of their job. It’s a story of survival in its most transcendent sense, as they refuse to allow the company that stole their health to kill their spirits—or endanger the lives of those who come after them.
Bound by Stardust – by Claudia I. Haas
In this scientific, fanciful and emotional show, we explore the world from the eyes of a young girl Miranda, who is grieving the loss of her father, and staying with her Aunt while her mother gets remarried, comes up with a theory of ways to see him again. With the help of Otto, she devises a plan to hang a mirror on a star in hopes of reflecting the past.
Fossil Lady – by Claudia I. Haas
In spite of discovering some of the more extraordinary fossil finds of her time, Mary Anning finds herself dismissed by scholars and in such dire straits that she is selling all her worldly goods.
Men on Boats – by Jaclyn Backhaus
An adventure story of discovery as ten men set out to map out the “never before seen” course of the Colorado River, comedic and satirical telling of the historical-ish 1869 expedition.
The Afterparty – by Regina Hardy
Claire Leverrier, a poet haunted by the death of her childhood crush, reveals the secrets of the universe using a bicycle light. “The Afterparty” is a romance. Or is it a metaphor? Either way, Claire might never recover once a star steps down from the sky and invites her to a party.
The Ruby Sunrise – by Rinne Groff
A young girl named Ruby struggles to turn her dream of the first all-electrical television system into a reality. The Ruby Sunrise charts the course of the phenomenon of television: from early idealism and sparks of genius, to promises fulfilled and compromises brokered, and beyond.
Shows will be at 7:30 pm on November 13-16. Parking is free in the Campus Center lot off of Lyndale for all performances. The theatre is fully ADA accessible through the east entrance of the Campus Center. Tickets are available at the door or online. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors, and $5 with a current Carroll College ID.
For more information contact:
Kimberly Shire
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Director of Theatrical Production
Carroll College
kshire@carroll.edu