Ambrose presents play in renovated Studio Theatre
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In St. Ambrose University’s new theater production, nine actors play 35 characters.
“The Secret in the Wings” by Mary Zimmerman (opening Friday, April 12), directed by Daniel Hale, with scenic/lighting design by Aaron Hook is described by the private school as “a visual feast, a delightful and disturbing theatrical spectacle that explores the creepier side of some lesser-known fairy tales.”
Nine actors portray 35 different kings, queens, princes and princesses, ogres, and ghosts throughout seven different stories that weave in and out of each other over the course of 75 minutes.
This is St. Ambrose University Theatre’s first time producing a Mary Zimmerman play, but her heightened theatrical style is exactly the kind of thing that director Hale and Hook have been drawn to in the past.
This unapologetically theatrical award-winning director/designer team have worked on many projects together over the years that involve either masks, puppets, or some form of magical realism and “The Secret in the Wings” is just the right fit for their unique approach, Hale (theater professor and department chair) said Wednesday.
Zimmerman is a 1998 MacArthur Foundation Fellow and earned a 2002 Tony Award for best direction of her adaptation of Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.”
SAU English professor Emily Kingery’s dramaturgical notes for the production say in part:
The scholar Marina Warner examines why some fairy tales are indelible in our culture while others languish in obscurity. She writes, “It is when fairy tales coincide with experience that they begin to suffer from censoring, rather than the other way around.”
In other words, we don’t want to face the terrible truths about who we really are. We bury those and keep alive the fantasy instead, because we value the fantasy– the easy resolution, the happily ever after. But you won’t find a hint of Disney in ‘The Secret in the Wings.’
Here, Mary Zimmerman unearths and weaves together obscure, unsavory tales, each one challenging what we think “fairy tale” means, each one seeming to ask what the remedy is for human wickedness, whether love really has enduring power, and how we might transform – or be transformed – by the stories we tell.
Kingery is teaching a class at Ambrose that examines fairy tales. Since this production includes seven lesser-known fairy tales, the theatre department invited the campus expert to join the team as dramaturg (dramatic advisor) for the show, Hale said.
SAU alums are involved — Zach Meyer is Props Design/Master Electrician, and Becky Meissen is Scenic Painter, as Peggy Hale did the costume design.
The cast is comprised of Bella Ruscitti, Calvin Vo (community member), David Weaver (SAU alum), Ebby Barber, Ella Schmidt, Maria Saucedo, Megan Rohn, Miranda Richards, and Zach Ulmer.
The production is in the newly renovated Studio Theatre at Galvin Fine Arts Center. Over the summer 2023, they knocked down walls, moved the stage management booth, installed new curtains and seating, and now have twice as many seats as before (75 seats with plenty of leg room), Hale said.
“The renovation also gave us extra lab space for our new design classes,” he said. “And we are still working to make it even better! We received an RDA grant to soundproof the ceiling this summer so in the future, the Galvin Fine Arts Center can offer simultaneous programming upstairs and downstairs — which means even more opportunities for our students and our community members.”
“Even though we don’t offer a theater major anymore, we still offer a variety of wonderful performance and technical opportunities here on campus at St. Ambrose University,” Hale added.
“In our upcoming production of ‘The Secret in the Wings’ for example, we have students from a variety of disciplines ranging from Psychology to Engineering to Elementary Education,” he said. “We’re still here providing meaningful theater for our students and the community.”
“The Secret in the Wings” performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (April 12-13, 19-20), and 3 p.m. Sundays, April 14 and 21.
Tickets are $15 general admission.
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