Black Box Players open 23rd season with ‘The Water Children’

Doreen Sayegh
(315) 497-0374

The Black Box Players opens its 23rd season at Syracuse University with Wendy MacLeod’s “The Water Children” on Friday, Sept. 26, at 8 p.m. The show runs through Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Black Box Theatre located at the Syracuse Stage/SU Drama complex, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. A talk-back session will be held following the Sunday, Sept. 28, performance.

The Black Box Players was founded in 1986 and is one of the oldest theatrical student organizations at SU. The group presents four main productions each academic year that are produced, created, directed, designed and acted by students in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).

“The Water Children” premiered at Playwrights Horizons in New York and was subsequently produced at L.A.’s Matrix Theater, where it was cited as “the most challenging political play of 1998” by L.A. Weekly. The production earned six L.A. Drama Critics Circle nominations.

When 36-year old actress Megan loses an important role to a younger woman, her agent convinces her to take a part in a commercial for Life Force, a pro-life group. Megan, having had an abortion at age 16 and being a staunch liberal, is conflicted about the job. In accepting the role, she unwittingly embarks on the personal journey of her life — spinning into her past, magnifying her present, and leaving her completely at a loss as to her future.

The cast includes senior Margaret Doyle as Megan, junior Kayla Levitt as Kit/Mom/Cat, sophomore Mary Kate Morrissey as Liz, senior Devin McNichol as Chance, junior Daniel Skinner as Father/ Roger/ Buddhist Priest, senior Thomas Garruto as Randall, junior Jacob Keefe as Tony Dinardi, sophomore Darianna Sub as Crystal, sophomore Anthony Cavallo as the male understudy and sophomore Lori Pasqualino as the female understudy.

The show is directed by junior Alexandra Kantor. Senior Meredith Wilcox used her set design for the production to showcase various pieces of Megan’s life. The show’s costumes were designed by sophomore Samantha Schroer. Juniors Evan Gannon and Doreen Sayegh collaborated on the lighting design. Stage manager for the show is sophomore Chelsea Jennings.

Performances are as follows:

Thursday, Sept. 25 8 p.m. preview
Friday, Sept. 26 8 p.m. opening
Saturday, Sept. 27 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 28 7 p.m., talk-back session to follow
Thursday, Oct. 2 8 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 3 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 4 2 p.m., 8 p.m. closing

All Black Box Players productions are free of charge to the public. Seating is limited, so please arrive at least a half-hour prior to the performance. To make reservations, leave a message on the voice mailbox at (315) 443-2102 or send an e-mail to tickets@blackboxplayers.org. All requests will receive a follow-up phone call from the box office.

For more information, visit http://www.blackboxplayers.org.