(Rohnert Park) — The Sonoma State Theatre Arts and Dance Department will kick off its 2019-20 season with a groundbreaking play from an award-winning playwright. Starting on Oct. 3, Sonoma State students will perform “Origin Story,” a contemporary look at the struggles of an overworked millennial trying to find meaning and connection in an impersonal world. Though technically a 'workshop production' and not a world premiere, this fully produced show is the first time the play will be performed anywhere.
The play is written by Nathan Alan Davis, a 2018 Whiting Award winner and a lecturer in theater at Princeton University. He has helped develop and rewrite the play with SSU’s Theatre Arts students this past month to produce a compelling story for the SSU community.
“This is a new way of portraying identity on stage for the American theater, and it feels completely relatable to the students on our campus and young people everywhere,” said Scott Horstein, faculty in the Sonoma State Theatre Arts and Dance Department and the director of the Theatre Studies program.
“I am thrilled that our students have the opportunity to bring newly written characters to life for the first time," said Hollis Robbins, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities.
“Origin Story” is directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenburg, founding artistic director of the Moxie Theatre in San Diego. Sonnenberg has received numerous awards and nominations, including the NAACP Theatre award and the Women’s International Center Living Legacy Award.
“Nathan Alan Davis and Delicia Turner Sonnenberg are both tremendously dynamic and talented artists and also vibrant African American voices in the theater who are pushing the cutting edge of racial representation on stage,” said Horstein. “Origin Story is a special opportunity to have this dynamic duo of longtime collaborators be a part of our campus and community life.”
The first three performances will be presented on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Evert B. Person Theater and will continue until Saturday, Oct. 5. The final two performances will be on Oct. 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. General admission prices range from $10 to $17 for the community. Tickets are free for Sonoma State University students. For more information on showtimes and to purchase tickets, visit the Center for Performing Arts Box Office in the Student center or online.
ABOUT US: With a student population of 9,200, Sonoma State is a regionally serving public university committed to educational access and excellence. Guided by our core values and driven by a commitment to the liberal arts and sciences, Sonoma State delivers high-quality education through innovative programs that leverage the economic, cultural and natural resources of the North Bay. See more news from SSU at http://news.sonoma.edu/