{"id":29994,"date":"2016-09-26T11:32:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T15:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=29994"},"modified":"2016-10-25T08:36:08","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T12:36:08","slug":"centennial-celebration-theater-production-team-asks-alumni-emu-community-share-memories-unforgettable-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/centennial-celebration-theater-production-team-asks-alumni-emu-community-share-memories-unforgettable-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"Centennial celebration theater production team asks alumni and EMU community to share memories, unforgettable moments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Eastern Mennonite University alumni Ingrid De Sanctis \u201888 and Ted Swartz \u201989, MACL \u201992, have collaborated as professional playwrights, actors and directors for more than 20 years. The friends and professional colleagues have been commissioned to create a Centennial celebration piece, debuting during Homecoming 2017.<\/p>\n<p>What might that play look like?<\/p>\n<p>Moving, surprising, \u201can evening during which people will laugh and cry and reflect on how their EMU years forever shaped their lives,\u201d says De Sanctis.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"highlight highlight-right\"> Learn more about EMU&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.emu.edu\/centennial\/\">Centennial: Serving, Leading, Transforming<\/a>. <\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI know it\u2019s going to be funny,\u201d Swartz adds. \u201cIt will tug at you a bit and you\u2019ll be surprised by things you thought you\u2019d forgotten. When you see a show with a group of people, you laugh for different reasons, because you\u2019re delighted or surprised or you recognize yourself or something you have in common. We\u2019re hoping all three of those things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To help build a cache of material, the playwrights hope that legions of EMU alumni will bombard them with memorable snippets and reflections to weave into a cohesive piece about their alma mater. Here\u2019s their pitch:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px\"><strong>When you think of your EMU experience \u2013 traditional residential undergrad, graduate, seminary, Lancaster, non-traditional student \u2013 what do you remember?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px\"><strong>Think of the space you were in, whether it was the Shenandoah Valley; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Washington D.C.; or in a cross-cultural setting near or far. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px\"><strong>Think of buildings, dorms, the dining hall, the EMU hill. Consider Lehman Auditorium, the \u201880s era Bard\u2019s Nest, the Discipleship Center, your orientation or graduation \u2026 what do you remember?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px\"><strong>Consider the professors, coaches, residence hall directors or staff members who shaped and challenged your personal formation. What about a class, a lab, a project, or a paper that was particularly memorable?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px\"><strong>Please share, in 100 words or less a moment, a memory (painful, poignant, uplifting, funny), a discovery that you have never forgotten about your time of transformation with Eastern Mennonite University\/Eastern Mennonite College.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 60px\"><strong>To share, visit <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.emustories.com\/submit-a-story\/\"><strong>http:\/\/www.emustories.com\/submit-a-story\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 60px\"><strong>Submissions will be accepted through Dec. 1. <\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_30013\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-30013\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/09\/centennial-celebration-theater-production-team-asks-alumni-emu-community-share-memories-unforgettable-moments\/ted-and-ingrid-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-30013\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-30013 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/emu.edu\/now\/is\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/Ted-and-Ingrid-2-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"ted-and-ingrid-2\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/Ted-and-Ingrid-2-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2016\/09\/Ted-and-Ingrid-2.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-30013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ted Swartz and Ingrid De Sanctis, portraying Abraham and Hagar in a 2008 production of &#8220;Excellent Trouble,&#8221; will use anecdotes submitted by EMU alumni and community members to create their Centennial celebration theater performance. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>De Sanctis and Swartz, both Harrisonburg residents, have long trod the stages at EMU while making their own national and international reputations.<\/p>\n<p>De Sanctis, an assistant professor at James Madison University, has returned to campus three times in an official capacity: to teach in 1996-97 and 1998-2001, and as a guest artist in 2008-2009.<\/p>\n<p>First with Lee Eshleman \u201986 in Ted &amp; Lee, and now with <a href=\"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2014\/10\/playwright-and-actor-ted-swartz-brings-music-comedy-and-storytelling-to-conversation-about-sexuality-faith-and-family\/www.tedandcompany.com\">Ted &amp; Company<\/a>, Swartz has written and produced more than a dozen plays, traveling extensively worldwide for performances. His plays, always laced with a generous dose of humor, explore difficult topics such as faith and theology, family, mental illness and sexuality.<\/p>\n<p>Louise Hostetter &#8217;79, chair of the Centennial committee, said that when it came to selecting alumni to contribute an artistic production, the proposal of De Sanctis and Swartz was a natural and clear choice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel confident that their considerable connections to the university will enable them to create theater which will appeal to many while honoring EMU&#8217;s story of transformation, both past and into the future,\u201d Hostetter said. \u201cThe arts have evolved over the past 100 years at EMU.\u00a0A significant number of students have been impacted by theater and visual art opportunities \u2013 both as an extra-curricular activity and as part of their academic experience. Many have pursued professional careers in theater and the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to seeing what members of the EMU community share with us,\u201d said DeSanctis. \u201cBy sharing your story, you&#8217;re giving permission to use it in any form in the drama. We&#8217;ll give all stories equal consideration for inclusion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>EMU alumni who are working in theater and\/or were significant in the formation of the arts at the university will join De Sanctis and Swartz in the performance. While no actors are named at present, Swartz says their goal is to create a troupe that includes \u201cactors of each EMU generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Centennial theater production will be part of activities throughout the academic year 2017-18 marking EMU&#8217;s &#8220;Centennial: Serving, Leading, Transforming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During the week of Oct. 11-18, 2017, EMU and Eastern Mennonite School <strong> \u2013 <\/strong> which share their early history <strong> \u2013 <\/strong>will have joint and individual activities. The theater production will take place during the weekend of Oct. 13-15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eastern Mennonite University alumni Ingrid De Sanctis \u201888 and Ted Swartz \u201989, MACL \u201992, have collaborated as professional playwrights, actors and directors for more than 20 years. The friends and <a href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/centennial-celebration-theater-production-team-asks-alumni-emu-community-share-memories-unforgettable-moments\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"more-link\">... read more <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">about Centennial celebration theater production team asks alumni and EMU community to share memories, unforgettable moments<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,7931,17562,8845,265,5147],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17426,17422],"class_list":["post-29994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-arts","category-digest","category-emu-at-lancaster","category-seminary","category-theater","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Centennial celebration theater production team asks alumni and EMU community to share memories, unforgettable moments - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/centennial-celebration-theater-production-team-asks-alumni-emu-community-share-memories-unforgettable-moments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Centennial celebration theater production team asks alumni and EMU community to share memories, unforgettable moments - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eastern Mennonite University alumni Ingrid De Sanctis \u201888 and Ted Swartz \u201989, MACL \u201992, have collaborated as professional playwrights, actors and directors for more than 20 years. 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