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MFA students design media for Theatre and Dance productions

March 31, 2014

MFA students design media for Theatre and Dance productions

The Department of Theatre at The Ohio State University, in partnership with the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), announces the world premiere of There Is No Silence, inspired by the great French mime artist Marcel Marceau. It will be staged April 3-13th in Thurber Theatre, Drake Performance and Event Center.

There Is No Silence is a kaleidoscopic fantasia that playfully investigates Marcel Marceau's history, passions, and significance in a vibrant performance that fuses text with mime, dance with theatre, personal reflection with archival truth, and the ridiculous with the transcendent. It will be performed in a richly mediated environment, featuring animation, projection, and live motion capture.

There Is No Silence is conceived and directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Jeanine Thompson, who trained extensively with Marceau himself and is one of his key American legacy holders. With the mentorship of Assistant Professor of Theatre Jennifer Schlueter, the piece was devised by a cohort of MFA actors, MFA designers, and MA/PhD students. Its projected environment has been built in collaboration with Vita Berezina-Blackburn (Animation Specialist, ACCAD), ACCAD GRAs Tom Heban (MFA Design) and Sheri Larrimer (MFA Design), Alex Oliszewski (Assistant Professor, Theatre/ACCAD), and Janet Parrott (Associate Professor, Theatre).

There Is No Silence draws from the extensive Marcel Marceau archive held by the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute at Ohio State. Its run will be accompanied by a lobby exhibition of Marceau ephemera, as well as a symposium, Making the Invisible Visible: Mime's Contemporary Legacy, on April 11.

Ticket Information for the Performances: Tickets $20 general public; $18 Ohio State faculty, staff, Alumni Association members, senior citizens; $15 students and children. Tickets may be purchased at the Theatre Box Office, 1849 Cannon Dr. Call 614 292-2295 or go to the OSU Theatre website.

Drums Downtown photo

The popular event Drums Downtown celebrates its 10th anniversary of innovative collaboration, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5, at the Riffe Center's Capitol Theatre, 77 South High St. in downtown Columbus.

This year's theme, Timeline, will feature highlights from the event's previous nine productions, along with several new works. Joining the Ohio State Percussion Ensemble will be students and faculty from the Department of Dance, The Department of Design and Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD).

Joseph Krygier and Susan Powell direct the Percussion Ensemble and serve as artistic directors for the event.

Alumni of past Drums Downtown events have been invited to participate in the program's finale, with all previous performances represented by former members of the Ohio State Percussion Studio.



Featured on the program will be choreography by Melanie Bales, Sophie Clemmensen, Susan Hadley and Abby Zbikowski, and visual work by ACCAD collaborators Alan Price (Associate Professor, Design), Nikki Lemon (MFA Design) and Ben Schroeder (CSE).



Reserved seating tickets are $20, general public; $10 ConcertCard holders, senior citizens, Alumni Association members, Ohio State faculty and staff, students and children. This concert is not included in the Free with BuckID program. Tickets through the Ohio State Theatre box office 614 292-2295 and CAPA Ticket Center 614 469-0939.