Theater
The fall term’s production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth transformed the main stage of The David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance into a striking tableau of light and shadow. Guided by technical director Jake Josef and lighting designer Anthony Reed, the evocative set design and atmospheric effects created a haunting environment that underscored the play’s central themes of ambition, betrayal and guilt.
Dance
The fall dance concert, Masterful Movers, embraced the theme of the creative process, celebrating artistry as a journey rather than a destination. The program featured guest choreographers, including alumnus Curtis Thomas ’09, who returned to campus for an intensive residency. Students collaborated with Thomas to bring his work, Yesterday and Then Tomorrow, to life on stage. In the production playbill, the directors, Dance Instructors Amberlee Darling and Allison Sarage, wrote, “As a program, we are deeply interested in returning to and exploring process over product — valuing the discoveries, growth and creativity that emerge along the way as much as the final performance itself.”
On Tuesday evenings, Powell Hall fills with the voices of Exeter’s new faculty-student choir. Founded by Music Instructor Kris Johnson, the Tuesday Society for Singing brings together 13 adults and faculty members from across departments — including history, theater, English and art — and 15 students chosen by audition from the 51 members of the concert choir. Such a balanced mix of adults and students is unusual, Johnson says. While a good deal of mentorship happens, he says, the adults and students are basically working shoulder-to-shoulder on the music. After 13 years of teaching at Exeter, Johnson calls it his “most interesting and fun” project yet.
