Every spring semester, the Ursuline College English Department produces a play, which is performed twice for the campus community.  In 2013, the Ursuline College Drama Workshop, sponsored by the English Department, presented Snapshots, by playwright Cynthia Mercati, to full-house audiences on Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, 2013, in the Mullen Little Theatre.  Sophomore English and psychology major Jasmin Montalvo was joined by English major alumnae Kim O’Keefe and Alyssa Porter (both from the class of 2011) in the lead roles of Carol, Sherry, and Hollis, respectively.  The Lighting Design/Operator for the production was Junior English major/public relations minor Haley Tinlin.  Sophomore fashion design major Kelley Plas designed the costumes for Snapshots, just as she had for last spring’s production, Crimes of the Heart.  She was assisted by sophomore fashion design and merchandising major Samantha Hamilton and freshman fashion design major Keith Reeves.  Hamilton also served at Properties Master, and Reeves assisted her in this role.  Experienced actor and playwright Jennifer Dunegan, M.A., M.F.A., directed this year’s production.

Snapshots was first produced by the Drama Workshop in Des Moines, Iowa, in January of 1996.  The play is performed in a series of vignettes and monologues on an unadorned stage, providing a singular challenge for actors and allowing the audience to trace the trajectory of the characters’ lives from one theatrical snapshot to the next.  The piece chronicles the lives of three friends from their early teens as they come of age with the Beatles to middle age as they search in everyday experiences for their identities as women.  Each has dreams which are lost or sacrificed to other circumstances and demands.  In spite of their conflicts and denial, fate does present one last opportunity to discover their true selves.  Page after page turns in this theatrical album until finally the women, in a moment of grace, find the simplest of solutions to their search for meaning.
 
The audition call for Drama Workshop’s spring play is made every January via Ursuline email.  If you are interested in participating in the spring 2014 play or want free tickets to attend it, please contact the English Department.