GC Fall Mainstage ‘Mother Hicks’ explores peacemaking using sign language, poetry
Fall Mainstage: “Mother Hicks”
Dates and times: Nov. 10, 11 & 18 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 12 & 19 at 3 p.m. (ASL interpreted)
Location: Goshen College Umble Center
Cost: $10 general, $5 students/seniors/GC employees. Buy tickets online.
Tickets can be purchased in advance through the Goshen College Box Office by contacting (574) 535-7566, boxoffice@goshen.edu or online at www.goshen.edu/tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at the Umble Center box office one hour before the show.
The Goshen College Theater Department will present Suzan Zeder’s play “Mother Hicks” on Nov. 10, 11 and 18 at 8 p.m.; Nov. 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. in Goshen College’s Umble Center.
Set in and around Ware, Illinois, in the late spring of 1935 during the Great Depression, “Mother Hicks” is about three outsiders—a foundling girl known only as Girl; a deaf boy, eloquent in the language of his silence; and an eccentric recluse, Mother Hicks, who is suspected of being a witch. The tale, told with poetry and sign language, chronicles the journeys of these three to find themselves, and each other, in a troubled time.
“This is the first time we’ve worked on collaborative content with the Goshen College American Sign Language program on the portrayal of a deaf character within the storyline of the play,” said Doug Liechty Caskey, professor of theater and the play’s director. “Through the rehearsal process we’ve most definitely deepened our understanding of visual storytelling.”
“Mother Hicks” is a play that resonates with people of all ages, and is appropriate for families with children in 5th grade and older.
There will be many new faces on the Umble Center stage, with the thirteen-member cast made up of three sophomores and ten first-year students.
The Goshen College Theater Department’s 2017-2018 theater season theme is “Swords into Plowshares,” in celebration of this year’s core value, compassionate peacemaking. For this year’s performances, the GC Theater Department will explore characters and circumstances that journey from contention to unity. This included the Ted and Co. play “Discovery: A Comic Lament,” earlier this fall, as well as the fall mainstage play “Mother Hicks;” the spring musical “Pirates of Penzance;” and student-directed one act plays in April.
The cast for “Mother Hicks” includes: Kailey Rice, a first-year ASL and music major from Frisco, Texas; Jessica Croy, a first-year theater major from Goshen; Shianne Harrison, a first-year theater and broadcasting major from Elkhart, Indiana; Ian Martin, a first-year sociology major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Abigail Greaser, a sophomore music and theater major from Goshen; Tobias Garcia, a first-year business and music major from Goshen; Cristina Jantz, a sophomore writing and theater major from Durango, Colorado; Stephen Lowe, a first-year music and elementary education major from Dayton, Virginia; Khampha Stempel, a a first-year nursing major from Broadway, Virginia; Emmy Rupp, a first-year social work major from Apple Creek, Ohio; Madeline Kauffman, a first-year nursing and Spanish major from Walnut Creek, Ohio; and Claude Lilford, a sophomore film production and writing major from South Africa.
Production Team:
Director: Doug Liechty Caskey
Technical Director: Andrew Moeggenborg
Producer: Anna Kurtz Kuk
Stage Manager: Rachel Buckley
Set Designer: Andrew Moeggenborg
Light Designer: Riley Woods
Costume Designer: Lauren Myers
Sound Designer: Claire Mitchel
Props Designer: Jonah Yoder
Hair & Make-Up Designer: Olivia Smucker
Assistant Director/Dramaturg: Ben Meyer Reimer
ASL/Visual Consultant: Nouri Marrakchi
Assistant Technical Director: Cristina Jantz
Assistant Stage Managers: Emily Bennett, Cailin Smith, Violet Smucker
Assistant Light Designers: Jonathan Bontrager-Waite, Simon Hurst
Assistant Props Designer: Cara Wilson
Assistant Hair/Makeup Designer: Lucia Martinez
Scene Shop Assistant: Emily Bennett
Master Electricians: Simon Hurst, Riley Woods
Costume Shop Manager: Mary Seeck
Poster/Program Designers: Lauren Myers, Kristin Troyer
Administrative Assistant: Sandy Slabaugh
ASL Interpreters: Emily Evans, Diana Hankins, Becca Yoder
Umble Center is accessible to wheelchairs and people with other physical limitations. American Sign Language interpretation will be offered during the Sunday, Nov. 19 performance of the play.
Tickets cost $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors, and can be purchased in advance through the Goshen College Box Office by calling (574) 535-7566, emailing boxoffice@goshen.edu or online at goshen.edu/tickets. Tickets can also be purchased at the Umble Center Box Office one hour before the show.