Archive: Arts & Entertainment

The Hangar Theatre Company continues its 46th season with a virtual reimagined take on the classic story, Sense and Sensibility. This adaptation by Kate Hamill runs virtually at 7:30 PM EDT on Saturday, August 8th. It will be directed by Hangar's Shirley Serotsky. Hamill is a Lansing native and Ithaca College/Hangar alumna, and is one of the top five most-produced playwrights in the nation. Hangar patrons will recognize her writing from past productions Pride and Prejudice (2018) and Little Women (2019).

Sense and Sensibility is Kate Hamill's bold, boisterous, and timely take on Jane Austen's classic novel. The satirical novel became a classic after being published anonymously in three volumes in 1811. It offered a vivid depiction of 19th-century middle-class life, following the romantic relationships of sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. The play is written through a modern lens, but stays true to the source material and original time period. In this loving and innovative adaptation, you'll find new life in these familiar characters.

Raised in Lansing, NY, and an alumna of the Hangar's Next Generation School of Theatre and Ithaca College's Department of Theatre Arts, Hamill has crafted several adaptations of classic works for the stage including Vanity Fair, Pride and Prejudice, and Little Women, the latter two of which was presented at the Hangar in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Last spring, the Hangar Theatre Company hosted "An Evening With Kate Hamill," celebrating Kate's extraordinary artistic accomplishments through intimate conversations and an inside look at her work. Hamill has become known for her lively and spirited stage productions, and in the words of the Hangar Artistic Director Michael Barakiva, "with each new work she gets closer to the heart of the piece with fewer and fewer words from the source material."

Shirley Serotsky will direct Sense and Sensibility. Since 2019, Shirley has served as the Associate Artistic Director and Education Director for the Hangar Theatre.

"I'm so honored to work on Kate Hamill's joyful, endearing, and beautifully theatrical adaptation of Sense and Sensibility.", said Serotsky. "As I work through the text, I'm struck by something the character Edward Ferrars says, 'My ambition is to be happy, but I fear it must be in my own way.' This is such a contemporary reflection! As we all find ourselves in a moment of stasis during this pandemic, a lot of us are working through what it means to be happy in our own way. The play is about the kind of change and forward motion that can emerge from being tethered by life, lack of choices, and societal expectations, all of which resonate deeply with me in our current times."

In addition to direction by Serotsky, Sense And Sensibility features the work of costume coordinator Megan Rutherford, sound designer Lance Perl, video producer Chrissy Guest, equity production stage manager Mackenzie Trowbridge, assistant stage manager Kat Taylor, assistant director Hollyann Bucci, and dramaturg Jacob Ettkin. The cast includes a diverse ensemble of actors including Kayla Carter (Elinor Dashwood), Kimberly Chatterjee (Marianne Dashwood), Carman Lacivita, Erin Lockett (who appeared in Hangar's 2020 production of Uncommon Excepts and Others: The Wendy Chronicles) Rachel Ravel (who played Liz in Hangar's 2018 production of Chicago), Nandita Shenoy (who played Fermina in Hangar's 2010 production of Man of LaMancha), and Stephan Wolfert. Kate Hamill and actor/director Jason O'Connell will host and curate the show, with a pre-show chat at 7:15 PM EDT and a post-show talkback.

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