Drexel Student Fringe Piece Puts "Parts" on Display (For Immediate Release)

July 22, 2013

Drexel Student Fringe Piece Puts “Parts” on Display

L to R; John VanZelst, Alaina Beaver, Mikaila Kononchik, Jules Nawn, Mike Ambler, Jourdan Stein, Carl Roa.
Photo by: Julie Mercick

Philadelphia, PA - The Drexel Players are returning to the Philadelphia Fringe Festival with Parts: A Speed-Through, an immersive theatre experience conceived, produced, written, and performed solely by Drexel students and alum. The piece is a theatrical "undressing" about the unique, beautiful, and tragic relationships young theatre artists share with each other. Performances will take place in University City in Drexel’s brand new URBN Center Annex at 3401 Filbert Street on Friday, Sept. 6 @ 8pm, Saturday, Sept 7 @ 6pm, Sunday, Sept 8 @ 2pm, Friday, Sept 13 @ 8pm, and Saturday, Sept 14 @ 6pm. This production marks the first time a Fringe show has been performed in Drexel’s brand new Black Box Theater.

Parts: A Speed-Through invites its audience into the world of a fictional college theatre ensemble at a fictional university as they tech, open, close, and strike their production of the fictional stage classic, Town, by Gene Wilder. “We envisioned this piece to be a slightly skewed self-portrait of the Drexel Players,” says producer/co-director, James Haro (’13), a recent Entertainment and Arts Management graduate. The producing team also includes Drexel Players President Mike Ambler (’14), Vice-President John VanZelst (’15), and Entertainment and Arts Management major, Julie Mercik (’14).

The Drexel Players made their Philly Fringe debut last year with MONUMENT, a devised piece conceived by Laurel Hostak (’12) and directed by Cara Blouin. Hostak returns this year to co-direct the piece alongside Haro. Parts: A Speed-Through marks the second time the Players have devised an original piece of theatre on their own. The Players also collaborated with The Riot Group in 2012 to create “The Poet Laureate of Capitalism,” directed by Whit MacLaughlin, through Drexel’s Mandell Professionals in Residence Program run by Nick Anselmo.

Tickets are $7 and will be available at the door or through fringearts.ticketleap.com.

Sponsors for Parts: A Speed-Through include Flying Bulldog Productions, The Drexel Theatre Program, the Entertainment & Arts Management program of the Westphal College of Media Art and Design at Drexel University, and the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.

As the university's only undergraduate theatre organization, The Drexel Players apply foundations in art, science, and industry to engage students in the creation of fresh and thrilling ensemble work. Drawing from a core of artists and collaborators with interdisciplinary backgrounds, they strive to empower student theatre artists, to stimulate audiences, and to ignite a passion for theatre in all.

For more information, email James Haro at DrexelFringe@gmail.com.

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