Common Experience presents play for incoming freshmen

By Alec Jennings
University News Service
September 18, 2009

The incoming freshman class at Texas State University-San Marcos will have the unique experience of seeing and discussing a play that was specifically written and performed just for them.

Performances will take place at the Alkek Teaching Theatre on the Texas State campus Sept. 20 and 27 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sept. 21, 23, 28 and 30 at 7 p.m. Attendance is free for students enrolled in University Seminar.

With collaboration between the Department of Theatre and Dance and the University Seminar Program, In the Company of Sinners and Saints will address the 2009-2010 Common Experience theme “A Whole New Mind.” All incoming freshmen will see the 90-minute production as a part of their University Seminar class. Related assignments and opportunities to post feedback on a specially created Facebook site will give students the opportunity to actively engage in an analysis of the play’s plot and themes.

“The students’ feedback will also serve the playwright in her final revision of the script before publication,” said John Fleming, chair, Department of Theatre and Dance. “This rare collaboration between artist and students is what makes this experience such a unique and powerful component of the students’ first year experience.”

In the Company of Sinners and Saints, written by Monica Michell, head of teacher education and certification in the Department of Theatre and Dance, focuses on a group of high school girls and the choices they make in an increasingly technological world. They are joined by an irreverent saint as they strive to understand and develop the rules and values by which they choose to live.

For more information, please contact the Department of Theatre and Dance box office at (512) 245-2204.