For the 2019-2020 WATA seasons, Theater Arts Director Michael Towers is introducing new concepts to change up the year.

Unlike past years, Towers will open his fall season with a collection of ten-minute plays written by students.

“So we are going to have an original play festival with 10 minute plays produced that are written by the members of the playwriting honors classroom. So that’s going to go up in our traditional fall slot, and that will yield the third and fourth weekends of November,” Towers said.

Another innovation in the theater department is the introduction of  play lab honors. The course, comprised of 37 students, will read King Lear by William Shakespeare, People, Places, and Things by Duncan McMillan, and a Paula Vogel piece, Being Decent. From those three plays, the students will select a play to be entered as their festival production.

In addition to a new class, Towers is bringing back the winter slot, with a play directed by Dr. Luke Jorgenson.

“We have a January production […] because that meets the availability of our guest, director Dr. Luke Jorgensen. So he’ll be directing a play called the 39 steps, and that will go up on January 30th, 31st, and February 1st,” Towers said.

Despite these many changes to the theater department, its main stage production remains a staple of the WATA Spring season. With his spring musical as Beauty and the Beast, Towers is taking an approach similar to that of The Little Mermaid, putting an emphasis on family.

“We will settle on eight dates, including some exciting things like a breakfast with the characters for children, and maybe a Mother’s Day celebration,” Towers said.