A love triangle, the closing of a natural-history museum, and the protests over the metaphorically decaying museum are not events a dean of any university or institution enjoys dealing with. Dean Wreen, the protagonist of the Theatre Department Mainstage Series production Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, finds herself trapped between the old and the new, with current girlfriend Andromeda and ex-girlfriend Greer, while deciding whether to keep the museum or break ground for new freshman dorms.
Opening today, Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England will begin to wander the Theatre Building’s Thayer Theater at 8 p.m.
The cosmic sitcom’s conflict arises when Dean Wreen invites Greer (Elyse Fisher) into her home. All the circumstances of the move are shifted toward Greer’s cancer and the recent clinical trial she took part in. But when the protesters’ voices rise, the Dean begins to fiercely overwork herself.
While the play is set in a small, New England college town, the themes of precious life and values run throughout the globe. How can a dingy, old museum mean so much to the students and other citizens?
“What are our values and how are those reflected in our institutions? Is it just a given that the old go away?” said head of dramaturgy Art Borreca, who plays the Caretaker of the museum.
It’s maze of hallways and seven woolly mammoths tower above couples’ first kisses, breakups, and possible sexual activity. But overall, the museum serves more than just a place to hold artifacts, it serves as a meeting ground for people from all walks of life, whether they’re there to learn, to talk about their secrets, or to make out, the museum is the place in which those memories are held dear to them.
The old Caretaker, who makes the museum to be his “house” and home, follows the decision of the closing, or possible reopening of his beloved place, intently, and hopes the Dean makes the right decision.
Andromeda (Mackenzie Elsbecker), a young and spiritual graduate student, holds the museum in the same place she holds her best memories and continues the fight to keep the old building alive. Her flighty spirit and Greer’s mature one clash, but the pair become great friends underneath even greater circumstances.
“The play uses everyday moments to show how precious life is and brings round the cycles of life and death,” said Molly Winstead, the dramaturg and assistant director. “As things end, they are being given new life. Everything, our relationships, joys, and grief, all occur in cycles — nothing is ever truly lost.”
When: March 1-10 Wednesday-Saturday, 8p.m., Sunday 2p.m.
Where: Theatre Building Thayer Theater