Lower Depths Series Offers Two Contemporary Readings This Spring at Loyola University

The Department of Theatre Arts and Dance is pleased to present two new, contemporary offerings in its Lower Depths Series, set to take place March 15-16 and April 5-6 in the Lower Depths Theater at Loyola University.

Students will perform scripted readings of "Horse Girls," by Jenny Rachel Weiner, and "A New Saint for a New World," by Ryan Campbell, in the school's flexible, black-box theater, on the first floor of the Music/Communications Building.

"It's a priority to me that we give theater students the chance to do the work," said Helen Jaksch, professor of practice in theater arts, noting that not every student can be cast every time in one of the school's larger theater productions. "There's a role for everyone at Loyola. If you're hungry and want to act, design, stage manage - we have that here."

Emma Schillage, a Loyola alum who recently obtained her MFA from Columbia University, is set to direct "Horse Girls," which premiered in Chicago in 2013 and will run at Loyola from March 15-16. The one-act play centers 12-year-old Ashleigh, who runs the Lady Jean Ladies, an exclusive horse club in South Florida.

When Ashleigh's family decides to sell its stables and kill its horses for their meat, the Ladies fall into crisis in this "dark comedy of middle school lies and deception," according to Weiner's description of the play.

In "A New Saint for a New World," which will run April 5-6, God feels badly about what happened to Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake at age 19, so he makes her a deal. Joan can return to Earth but only under one condition: No more revolutions.

The play "takes an irreverent look at the current state of human nature, spirituality and the place of faith in a broken world," according to the Yale Cabaret, where the play premiered in 2014.

The readings begin each night at 7:30 p.m., and are free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary.

About the Lower Depths Series

The Lower Depths Series is an educational project that exposes student-artists to

exciting new plays that challenge them to grow as performers.

About the College of Music and Media

The College of Music and Media is comprised of two schools - the School of Music and Theatre Professions and the School of Communication and Design. Students who choose to study in the college prepare for careers in music, theatre, music industry, design, fine art, filmmaking, strategy, mass media and more.