With diverse interests and artistic specialties, the Parables worship team comes together about once a week to share their many gifts but same spirit with congregations and other Christian functions in the area. They recently held one such program for prospective students and local youth groups in Reith Recital Hall. After beginning the evening with an up-beat, foot-kicking African number, the 10-person group introduced their repertoire as stories from the Bible and from their own lives. “We encourage you to listen with an open heart so you, too, can find some truth in it,” said Aaron Kaufmann, a sophomore. In...

By Sarah Rich • November 4, 2009 • Arts

When was the last time you attended a Greek wedding in a swimming pool involving fifty cousins? Big Love, written by Charles Mee and directed by Michelle Milne, opens this weekend: a fast-moving, contemporary show based on an ancient Greek play that includes themes of gender, power, refugees and revenge. The play follows a group of sisters as they flee to Italy seeking refuge with Italian hosts in order to escape a marriage contract betrothing them to their cousins. A variety of opinions are expressed regarding how to deal with the marriage contract; the women argue that they were not...

By Laura Schlabach • October 28, 2009 • News

Ted Swartz, of Ted & Company TheaterWorks, will be coming to Goshen on Saturday, Nov. 7 for the first time in 11 years. Swartz, father of current student Derek Swartz, a senior, will be performing with Trent Wagler of Harrisonburg, Virginia along with Jay Lapp, a Goshen alumnus and native, and a choir of local singers. Rachel Lapp, assistant professor of communication and sister of Jay Lapp, said, “Ted does something so unique with his shows…it’s a great model for those in the arts who can think creatively about how to be entrepreneurial [and] to have a relevant voice in...

By Alysha Landis • October 14, 2009 • News

Goshen’s One Act plays will open this Friday with the recurring theme of “think-for-yourself.” The plays will be performed throughout Homecoming weekend; on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Umble Center. The One Acts are just what they sound like–single acts of a show–and they are usually student directed. They provide an opportunity for students to practice theater techniques outside of a classroom and they allow students not acting in a main stage play to be cast in larger roles. “Trifles,” the first play, is written by Susan Glaspell and will...

By Becca Kraybill • September 30, 2009 • Arts

This Friday evening at 8 p.m. Angie Noah, a theater major, will present her senior recital to the Goshen College community, revealing bits of herself on the Umble Center stage. Noah’s production, directed by recent GC graduates Emily Swora and Grace Eidmann, comprises three smaller plays that all center on the creative theme “as I am.” “As an actress,” says Noah, “I’ve often dealt with my size. I never get cast as the lead characters—I’m always the old grandmas or imaginary friends.” In this production, however, Noah will take center stage. The first portion of Noah’s recital comes from a...

By Sarah Rich • September 16, 2009 • Arts

Rosario played the role of Omar, a drug dealer whose bad influence led the wealthy main characters’ children into a world of drugs. In his last scene, the show shut down the stores and stopped traffic at a shopping district to film him robbing a store with his friends. “We got out of the car and everybody was watching–the best part was when everybody cheered,” said Rosario. He does not let the fans get to his head, though, because although people do recognize him on the street, he made sure to point out that, “It’s not like they recognize me...

By Sara Alvarez • September 16, 2009 • Features

As several senior recitals are slated to take place on the Umble Center stage and in Rieth Recital Hall over the coming days, a few students are utilizing a new performance space on campus. Yost room in Umble Center is traditionally only a classroom, but Alison “Darcy” Brookins, a sophomore, and Phil Stoesz, a first-year, are presenting independent shows in the space next Wednesday and Thursday. Prior to these performances, Jesse Landis-Eigsti, will premiere his short opera, “I Fratelli Mario,” on the Umble Center stage. Though he completed his senior recital and officially graduated in the fall semester, Landis-Eigsti is...

By Marlys Weaver • April 15, 2009 • Arts

Showcasing a wide spectrum of theater, Gina Stutzman and Grace Eidmann will present their senior theater recitals as the spring semester comes to a close. Stutzman will perform “Vera or the Nihilists” by Oscar Wilde, under the direction of Angie Noah, a junior. Since the piece was originally a five-part play, a lot of material had to be cut. Stutzman wrote monologues to summarize the removed portions to convey the entire story. “Vera or the Nihilists” is a melodramatic play about a group of conspirators in Russia who attempt to kill the czar. To complicate matters, the leader ends up...

By Alysha Landis • April 15, 2009 • Arts

New World Arts’ love-themed mainstage season turns to obsession this weekend as the theater opens Sam Shepard’s play “Fool for Love.” The show follows the romantic pursuits of a cowboy and film stuntman named Eddie, played by Bryan Falcon, a Goshen resident and 1995 Goshen College alumnus. Another man, Martin, stands in the way of Eddie’s love for May, while a mysterious Old Man holds a secret that keeps them from being together. “Shepard expertly weaves passion, obsession, betrayal and true love in a story that mirrors his own life in more ways than one,” New World teases in its...

By Ben Noll • April 8, 2009 • Arts

Two newlywed brides have only been married to their husbands for 30 minutes when they are hit with the news: one husband has actually been married to a foreign woman since he was an infant. To complicate matters, there is no way of knowing which one of the husbands has become this unintentional polygamist! On Friday, this spiraling plot will begin to unfold as the spring semester operetta, "The Gondoliers" opens at 8 p.m. The operetta – characterized by an operatic style dispersed with dialogue – by Gilbert and Sullivan, a 19th century duo best-known for such works as "Pirates of Penzance,"...

By Rachel Nafziger • March 25, 2009 • News

Spring break 2009 kicks off tomorrow. Those of you stuck in wintry Goshen will no doubt be searching for activities to occupy your sudden burst of free time. Fortunately, we here at the arts page have a list of suggestions to help stave off boredom and make for a memorable break. What to watch According to most projections, “Slumdog Millionaire” will take home the best picture prize at the Oscars ceremony on Sunday. You can catch “Slumdog,” the movie that everybody’s talking about, right here in Goshen at the newly-expanded Linway Plaza Cinema. But “Slumdog” is no “Departed.”  This is...

By Ben Noll • February 18, 2009 • Arts

Looking for something to do this weekend? Three theater events should be enough to keep anyone busy — and they’re all in one place. Umble Center will host Emily Swora’s senior theater recital on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Ben Noll’s senior theater recital on Saturday at 8 p.m. and a theater festival showcase on Sunday at 3 p.m. For her senior recital, Swora will perform seven scenes from four different plays about Orpheus and Eurydice. This Greek myth has been written and rewritten in various forms over time. The night will combine many playwrights’ contrasting versions of the story. The...

By Alysha Landis • January 28, 2009 • Arts

Laura Gouin is majorly involved in the cornerstones of Goshen's local theatre scene, including New World Arts and Center Stage Academy. Photo provided by Laura Gouin. Laura Gouin has acted in a movie with Mel Gibson and is one of very few Goshen residents to be listed on the Internet Movie Database, but before she ever walked on a stage, she was tripping over everything. “The only reason actually I’m in theater is because I’m clumsy,” Gouin said. “I mean, that’s really the reason. I used to trip on threads of the carpet, fall up stairs, run into walls. My...

By Marlys Weaver • January 28, 2009 • Features

Seven playwrights, chosen by New World Arts, will stretch their creativity skills to maximum capacity on Friday, Jan. 23 at the Electric Brew. At 11 p.m., the New World Arts’ 24/7 Theater Festival officially begins. The playwrights will be told the genders of their characters and be given the same opening line, chosen by the public via e-mail prior to the festival. The writing will cease at 6 a.m. the next morning. At this point, one director and two actors will be assigned to each of the seven scripts. Throughout the morning, the directors will have an hour to prepare...

By Alysha Landis • January 21, 2009 • Arts

After 20 years of attending the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (ACTF), Region III, the Goshen College theater department performed their fall mainstage, "The Saint Plays," last Friday for the first time as competitors in the festival. The festival took place Jan. 6-11 at Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Mich. The mainstage was selected from 41 productions from colleges and universities in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. The schools eligible to participate can be of any size, and some even had graduate students participating in their shows. “The Saint Plays” was judged against plays from seven other schools,...

By Tyler Falk • January 14, 2009 • News