Oakton College announces Fall Performing Arts Program

As the days get shorter and colder, you do not have to rely only on streaming services for entertainment.

Enjoy a fully immersive storytelling experience during an upcoming event at Oakton College's Performing Arts Center. The September and October program offers something for everyone, from guitar concerts to shows that explore identity and representation, including the play "5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche" performed by a traveling theater troupe.

"Art and storytelling have the power to change someone's life by inspiring them to take action," said Robert Gynn, Oakton Performing Arts chairman.

"Our September and October program allows the audience to see someone's life and choices played out on stage and ask yourself, what would I do?"

The program features:

• "Smokefall" by Noah Haidle: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30; 2 p.m. Sept. 24 and Oct. 1.

"Smokefall" is a performance in which magical realism collides with manic vaudeville in a family drama unlike any you've ever seen. Twin fetuses swap philosophy while awaiting their birth, a daughter eats dirt and doesn't speak, a father is about to drive away and never return, and there's an apple tree growing through the wall of the house.

Whipping from astonishing tenderness to profound humor and back again, "Smokefall" explores the lives of a family in a lyrical treatise on the fragility of life and the power of love.

"'Smokefall' is a love letter to families - families lost and families found. It encourages us to find and nurture love in the family we create or the family we happen to find ourselves in," said play director Daniel Wirth.

• "Eleemosynary - A Staged Reading" by Lee Blessing: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7 and 2 p.m. Oct. 8.

This play focuses on three generations of intelligent women. Dorothea has suffered a stroke, and while her granddaughter Echo has reestablished contact with her mother, Artie, it is only through extended telephone conversations, during which real issues are skirted and their talk is mostly about the precocious Echo's single-minded domination of a national spelling contest.

But, in the end, both Artie and Echo come to accept their mutual need and summon the courage to try, at last, to build a life together despite the risks and terrors that this holds for both of them after so many years of estrangement.

• Guitar Festival: 3 p.m. free workshop, followed by the 8 p.m. concert Oct. 13; 11:30 a.m., 1, 2:30 and 4 p.m. free workshops; 8 p.m. concert Oct. 14.

Some of the world's great guitarists come to Oakton for the eighth annual celebration of guitar virtuosity. This year's festival features Margaret Slovak, Matthew Warnock, Kim Perlak and Peppino D'Agostino.

Before each concert, students and community members are invited to bring their own guitars and attend any of the free workshops offered by the guitarists and Oakton's music faculty.

• "5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche" by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27.

Oakton College is proud to present "5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche," brought to you by Mosaic Players, a traveling theater troupe whose work embraces authenticity, visibility and equality.

"5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche" is a scintillating satire of women's roles in the 1950s, enlisting its characters in a caricature of the sexism, heterosexism, consumerism and communism exuberant in the era.

"When it comes to queer representation in life and in art, visibility is both viable and valuable; and there's nothing more admirable than authenticity," said Allison Fradkin, Mosaic Players artistic director. "Comedy is a very effective way of exploring sensitive subjects, especially when the themes are satirized but the characters are portrayed with empathy, honesty and respect. Not only is 'Quiche' food for thought, but the audience will root for the characters and feel emboldened by their emerging empowerment."

Mosaic Players, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit company, is a traveling ensemble that creates and performs theater promoting dignity, equality, inclusion, understanding and respect.

For information about these events, including how to purchase tickets, go to the Performing Arts Center page on Oakton's website, www.oakton.edu/about/performing-arts-center.

Are you looking for a community of fellow artists, entertainers or musicians? Have you ever thought about performing on stage? Oakton College often hosts auditions for its various productions.

For information, visit www.oakton.edu/about/performing-arts-center.