Crossing Bryn Mawr

Crossing Bryn Mawr
Spring 2015

Directed by Adrienne Mackey
Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart Hall

What if the journey of college were abstracted into a myth?

Bryn Mawr and Haverford College students explore symbolism and magic realism.

The Bryn Mawr and Haverford College's Bi-Co Theater Department (Mark Lord, Chair) presents Crossing Bryn Mawr. Director Adrienne Mackey is a guest faculty member in the Theater Program and also serves as the artistic director of Swim Pony Performing Arts, a Philadelphia theater company. Mackey notes, “Crossing Bryn Mawr is a collaboratively generated piece—a process that has asked student actors to identify elements unique to the Bryn Mawr experience and then find exciting and theatrical ways to heighten these key ideas into fable components. Buildings, experiences, people and traditions from the long Bryn Mawr College history have been gleaned from students’ personal and collective journeys and abstracted.”

The production closes the Bi-Co Theater Departments 2014-2015 season, with 10 performances from April 10 through April 12 and April 16 through April 18 in the Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart Hall, at Bryn Mawr College. Opening night is Friday, April 10.

About Crossing Bryn Mawr

In Crossing Bryn Mawr the audience is invited to imagine the experience of a single Bryn Mawr College student from orientation to graduation transformed into a mythical tale. Using the inspiration of the hero’s journey in which a protagonist sets out on a fantastic adventure to overcome a series of obstacles in order to bring back a treasure to their homeland, this story follows the course of a young woman as she sets out in search of the knowledge she believes will unlock the future. She eventually returns four years later as a richer, wiser, and changed person.

The world is a bright, colorful and fantastic one, a timeless place that is both incredibly old but not rooted in any literal moment from the past. Told in four acts—each representing a year at Bryn Mawr—the main character travels to a different land, each with a distinct color, sound and texture, and interacts with the distinctive challenges and inhabitants of its landscape. Lanterns from the college’s lantern ceremony become a swarm of fireflies, flowing around the space as our heroine enters this new place. Complex and mysterious poems, songs and chants add to the heightened sense of exploration.

The Creative Team

Adrienne Mackey, Director
Maiko Matsushima, Scenic and Costume Designer
Jessica Wickes, Lighting Design
Sean Hoots, Sound Designer/Composer
Lucy Shaw (BMC ’15), Sound Assistant 
Amy Radbill, Production Manager and Props Designer
Justin McDaniel, Technical Director
Paige Toft (BMC ‘15),  Master Electrician
Maya Neville (BMC ’16), Stage Manager
Sam Wall (BMC ’17),  Assistant Stage Manager 
Heather Liang (BMC ’18), Running Crew
Briana Grenert (BMC ’18), Running Crew

Featuring
Abby Cox (HC '18)
Alex Wilson (BMC '17)
Amelia Couderc (BMC '16)
Bridget McJohn (BMC '17)
Camilla Dely (BMC '15)
Delia Bloom (BMC '15)
Ellen Cohn (BMC '17), Erica Rice (BMC '17)
Erin Romano (BMC '18)
Marisa Arellano (BMC '16)
Rayna Allonce (BMC '15)