This Green Key weekend, amidst the cacophony of undergraduate activity and a sea of returning alumni, the Hopkins center will be hosting the 68th annual Eleanor Frost Festival. Watch for the buzz of student involvement as the traditional display of student produced, directed, written and performed plays happens this Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. in Bentley Theatre.
The three one-act plays represent not only a variety of student perspective and dramatic style, but also a cooperative undergraduate effort to produce and stage the works of their fellow students. This festival serves as the prime opportunity for ambitious, young Dartmouth playwrights to unveil their works and experience the reality of production, to witness their works performed and interpreted by undergraduate actors. The Frost Festival has traditionally focused upon the writers, but the event also provides an opportunity for novice student actors, as well as undergraduate stage and costume designers to explore the mechanics of drama.
The three one-act plays are:
"The Produce King of Hub City," by Richard Molson '94, a triple major in English, Film, and Philosophy from New Brunswick, N.J.. The play examines a single day in the life of a black, small-business owner as he plans to close down his failing shop. The play is directed by James Riddick, '95.
"A Night in Tennessee," by Jessica Keyt '95, and English major from Newton, Connecticut. The play explores the waves set in motion by a daughter's plans to leave her Tennessee farmhouse. The play is directed by Nate Levine '97.
"Well Wishing," by Rebecca Gorman '96, a drama major from Akron, Ohio. Utilizing both modern dialogue and a fairy tale setting, the play depicts a girl's inner turmoil over her ambivalence, harboring both yearnings and fears concerning independence. The play is directed by Suzanne Breselor, '97.
The Frost competition was established in 1927 in honor of Eleanor Frost by her husband Newton I. Frost, in order to award the best original play by a Dartmouth undergraduate. Today all three undergraduate playwrights receive an award for their work. The omission of the competitive factor a couple of years ago was due largely to the difficulty and ambiguity in judging plays for artistic merit when student productions are quite prone to holding apparent political agendas.
The Frost Competition helped launch the careers of Dartmouth alumni, such as playwright Frank Gilroy '50 who garnered a 1956 Pulitzer for "The Subject was Roses."
Tickets are available at the Hokin's center Box Office - $1.50 for Dartmouth Students, $3 for general admission. All three plays will be presented each evening.
