{"id":4199,"date":"2014-04-24T09:38:35","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T13:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=4199"},"modified":"2022-03-24T10:34:40","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T14:34:40","slug":"kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Members<\/a>
Members of the cast of HOW MISS LONG BEACH BECAME MISS LONG BEACH include (at left) Natalie Vazquez \u201917 (seated) and Belinda McCauley \u201916, and, at right (l-r): Wendy Rubio \u201916, Mireya Guzman-Ortiz \u201917, and Marta Gonzalez Infante \u201917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach<\/em>, (written by Alejandra Castillo \u201915<\/strong> and directed by Amy Jimenez \u201914<\/strong>) and a new staging of The Chairs<\/em> (written by Eugene Ionesco and directed by Grace Gilmore \u201915<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Performances occur Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4, in the Light Fine Arts Building\u2019s Dungeon Theatre.<\/p>\n

Playwright Alejandra Castillo says her play poses important questions: What does it mean to be a girl? What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a Latina?<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Long Beach<\/em> is a play that explores femininity and womanhood in Latino culture,\u201d she adds. \u201cSixteen-year-old Angie must decide whether to compete in a beauty pageant to please her glamorous mother or continue with her tomboy ways. The play touches upon issues of gender, sexuality and cultural assimilation, and the importance of mother-daughter relationships.\u201d Director Amy Jimenez says, \u201cAlthough this play speaks to the Latina experience to some extent, it is definitely relevant to all female experiences because it deals with issues of identity, sexuality, family, and the ideology of beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Eugene Ionesco\u2019s landmark Absurdist play, The Chairs<\/em>, the Old Man and the Old Woman prepare their guests for the arrival of the mysterious Orator, whose speech will not only be the couple\u2019s farewell to life, but also will contain a great message for humanity.\u00a0The Chairs<\/em> is a comedy of language,” director Grace Gilmore explains, \u201cthat forces us to imagine a world where the meaning of life is undefinable, where loneliness is in the eye of the beholder, and where what we say is not always what we mean. When we look closer we realize this world is not so different from our own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katie Anderson \u201915<\/strong> designed the sets for the two performances, and Michael Wecht \u201914<\/strong> serves as the lighting engineer.<\/p>\n

The Senior Performance Series showcases the best and brightest of Kalamazoo College students creating their own theatre. Show times for the two plays are Thursday, May 1, at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, at 8pm, and Sunday, May 4, at 2pm.. After Thursday\u2019s performance the audience is invited to converse with the director and actors for The Chairs<\/em>, and, after Friday\u2019s performance, with the cast, director, and playwright of Miss Long Beach<\/em>. All tickets at the door are $5, with the exception of Thursday\u2019s performance, which is pay what you can.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach, (written by Alejandra Castillo \u201915 and directed by Amy Jimenez \u201914) and a new staging of The Chairs (written by Eugene Ionesco and directed by Grace Gilmore \u201915). Performances […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231],"tags":[17,38,58],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-4199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-students","tag-campus","tag-students","tag-theatre"],"yoast_head":"\r\nKalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-24T13:38:35+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-24T14:34:40+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"355\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Van Sweden\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Van Sweden\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\",\"name\":\"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-24T13:38:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-24T14:34:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/33b812ef7fd17031ab566856049c97af\"},\"description\":\"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\",\"width\":\"500\",\"height\":\"355\",\"caption\":\"Members of the cast of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach include (at left) Natalie Vazquez ''''17 (seated) and Belinda McCauley ''''16, and, at right (l-r): Wendy Rubio ''''16, Mireya Guzman-Ortiz ''''17, and Marta Gonzalez Infante ''''17.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News and Events\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/33b812ef7fd17031ab566856049c97af\",\"name\":\"Jim Van Sweden\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25d851921c00e5d3b76e386535f86c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25d851921c00e5d3b76e386535f86c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jim Van Sweden\"},\"description\":\"Director, College Communications\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events","description":"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events","og_description":"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/","og_site_name":"News and Events","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege","article_published_time":"2014-04-24T13:38:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-24T14:34:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"500","height":"355","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim Van Sweden","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@kcollege","twitter_site":"@kcollege","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim Van Sweden","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/","name":"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS - News and Events","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","datePublished":"2014-04-24T13:38:35+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-24T14:34:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/33b812ef7fd17031ab566856049c97af"},"description":"The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","width":"500","height":"355","caption":"Members of the cast of How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach include (at left) Natalie Vazquez ''''17 (seated) and Belinda McCauley ''''16, and, at right (l-r): Wendy Rubio ''''16, Mireya Guzman-Ortiz ''''17, and Marta Gonzalez Infante ''''17."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kalamazoo College Senior Performances Feature MISS LONG BEACH and THE CHAIRS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/","name":"News and Events","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/33b812ef7fd17031ab566856049c97af","name":"Jim Van Sweden","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25d851921c00e5d3b76e386535f86c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25d851921c00e5d3b76e386535f86c38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jim Van Sweden"},"description":"Director, College Communications"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Jim Van Sweden","author_link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/author\/jvsweden\/"},"guten_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach-e1398353856183-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach-300x213.jpg",300,213,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg","500","355",false],"large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"pl-blogpost-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"pl-blogpost-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_square_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"guten_post_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false],"campus-posts-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",300,213,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",300,213,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",400,284,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg",500,355,false]},"category_info":"<a aria-label=\"archive of category Students\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/students\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Students<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/campus\/\" rel=\"tag\">campus<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/students\/\" rel=\"tag\">students<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/theatre\/\" rel=\"tag\">theatre<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/kalamazoo-college-theatre-program-features-the-world-premiere-of-miss-long-beach\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<figure id=\"attachment_4203\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4203\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-4203 size-full\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/04\/issLongBeach.jpg\" alt=\"Members of the cast of "How Miss Long Beach Became Miss long Beach"\" width=\"500\" height=\"355\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4203\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Members of the cast of HOW MISS LONG BEACH BECAME MISS LONG BEACH include (at left) Natalie Vazquez \u201917 (seated) and Belinda McCauley \u201916, and, at right (l-r): Wendy Rubio \u201916, Mireya Guzman-Ortiz \u201917, and Marta Gonzalez Infante \u201917.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Senior Performance Series of Festival Playhouse of Kalamazoo College presents two one-act plays: the world premiere of <em>How Miss Long Beach Became Miss Long Beach<\/em>, (written by <strong>Alejandra Castillo \u201915<\/strong> and directed by <strong>Amy Jimenez \u201914<\/strong>) and a new staging of <em>The Chairs<\/em> (written by Eugene Ionesco and directed by <strong>Grace Gilmore \u201915<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>Performances occur Thursday, May 1, through Sunday, May 4, in the Light Fine Arts Building\u2019s Dungeon Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Playwright Alejandra Castillo says her play poses important questions: What does it mean to be a girl? What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to be a Latina?<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Miss Long Beach<\/em> is a play that explores femininity and womanhood in Latino culture,\u201d she adds. \u201cSixteen-year-old Angie must decide whether to compete in a beauty pageant to please her glamorous mother or continue with her tomboy ways. The play touches upon issues of gender, sexuality and cultural assimilation, and the importance of mother-daughter relationships.\u201d Director Amy Jimenez says, \u201cAlthough this play speaks to the Latina experience to some extent, it is definitely relevant to all female experiences because it deals with issues of identity, sexuality, family, and the ideology of beauty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Eugene Ionesco\u2019s landmark Absurdist play, <em>The Chairs<\/em>, the Old Man and the Old Woman prepare their guests for the arrival of the mysterious Orator, whose speech will not only be the couple\u2019s farewell to life, but also will contain a great message for humanity.\u00a0<em>The Chairs<\/em> is a comedy of language,” director Grace Gilmore explains, \u201cthat forces us to imagine a world where the meaning of life is undefinable, where loneliness is in the eye of the beholder, and where what we say is not always what we mean. When we look closer we realize this world is not so different from our own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Katie Anderson \u201915<\/strong> designed the sets for the two performances, and <strong>Michael Wecht \u201914<\/strong> serves as the lighting engineer.<\/p>\n<p>The Senior Performance Series showcases the best and brightest of Kalamazoo College students creating their own theatre. Show times for the two plays are Thursday, May 1, at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, at 8pm, and Sunday, May 4, at 2pm.. After Thursday\u2019s performance the audience is invited to converse with the director and actors for <em>The Chairs<\/em>, and, after Friday\u2019s performance, with the cast, director, and playwright of <em>Miss Long Beach<\/em>. All tickets at the door are $5, with the exception of Thursday\u2019s performance, which is pay what you can.<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4199"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9692,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4199\/revisions\/9692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4199"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=4199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}