Alumni Stories

Playwright Celeste Jennings '18 premieres "Citrus" at Northern Stage

Submitted by Milena Zuccotti on Mon, 03/02/2020 - 14:04

The White River Jct-based regional theater Northern Stage is currently mounting the professional premiere of Citrus, a a new work written by recent alumna Celeste Jennings '18. An original choreopoem, Citrus follows the emotional journeys of tribulation, struggle, and resilience among Black women from 1840 to present day; the play explores almost two hundred years of history through movement, costume, and poetry an a powerful and moving homage to Black women of the past, present, and future. 

Jennings originally developed Citrus over a two-year period during her time at Dartmouth; the play became the focus of a Senior Fellowship project that culminated with a spring 2018 performance in the Bentley Theater directed by JaMeeka Holloway-Burrell, who is also directing the current Northern Stage production. The Northern Stage cast includes current Dartmouth students Stella Asa '22 and Sam West '20 and recent alum Stephanie Everett '19; Celeste Jennings is also serving as the production's costume designer.

Spotlight on Carolyn Cantor '93 and the 2019 NYTW Residency

Submitted by f003bmh on Fri, 08/30/2019 - 15:56

Back at Dartmouth and in the Director’s Chair, Carolyn Cantor ’93 Comes Full Circle
By Molly McDonough
Wednesday, August 21, 2019

When theater director Carolyn Cantor ’93 returned to Dartmouth last week, she set foot in the Hop’s rehearsal rooms for the first time since graduation. The feeling was surreal. “So much of my college experience was spent in this building,” she tells me, as we sit in the Hop lobby between rehearsals. “It feels like five minutes ago, and also a lifetime ago.”

It’s been 26 years. In 1993, the young Dartmouth alumna—armed with an English degree, a few drama classes, and years of extracurricular theater experience—moved to New York to pursue acting. She spent several years dabbling in theater, film, and assisting before a mentor nudged her towards directing. Cantor has since gone on to direct dozens of plays, with a focus on new, Off-Broadway productions.

Stephanie Greenwood ’15 at Edinburgh Fringe 2019!

Submitted by f003bmh on Wed, 07/10/2019 - 00:00

Very Rascals Productions’ It’s Beautiful, Over There at Edinburgh Fringe 2019

Very Rascals Productions are pleased to announce It’s Beautiful, Over There, an original work of theatre about death, grief, and the kind of loss that changes our lives.

It’s Beautiful, Over There will be performed 3-24 August at 20:10 at Venue 13, Lochend Close EH8 8BL (next to Canongate Kirk). No performance on 7, 12, 21 August. Tickets £10, concs £8.

 

Stephanie’s been dealing with death all her life. This one’s different.

 

Writer-performer Stephanie Greenwood tells stories of deaths in her personal history — from kittens to grandparents to relatives she never met — as a means of avoiding the real topic: the loss of a dear friend to a mental illness as deadly as cancer. At the end of the hour, however, Stephanie looks her sorrow in the face and calls it by its name.

Recent graduates collaborate on innovative new web series

Submitted by Milena Zuccotti on Thu, 01/05/2017 - 10:32

After founding their own film production company, three of our recent alums have created a new web series mixing high-concept sci-fi with low-budget ingenuity.

Olivia Baptista ’12, Diane Chen ’14, and Amber H.H. Porter ’14 first collaborated as theater undergrads at Dartmouth. The trio recently reunited to found Multihyphenate, a film production company that promotes diversity while eschewing the traditional hierarchy of labor in the entertainment industry. In keeping with the company’s namesake, Baptista, Chen and Porter cover multiple roles behind the scenes and in front of the camera.

The first episodes of their new suspense-filled, genre-bending web series "Here We Wait" were released in November. A total of 20 episodes—each averaging seven minutes in length—will be released periodically online in the coming months. The trio was recently featured in an interview in the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, during which they talked at length about the project.