Author / The Collegian

The department of theater arts is ready for this fall semester and coming spring semester with its jam-packed line-up of plays.

Budget cuts hit every department this semester, theater notwithstanding, but the show must go on. The theater arts department puts on more performances than almost any other school in the country.

This year, the performances will be dynamic and fantastical with a wide range of emotion that seemingly every fan of theater wouldn’t want to miss.

Beginning in October, the play season kicks off with “Wonder of the World,” by David Lindsay-Abaire. It’s a story of a woman leaving her husband to live the life she thinks she missed out on.

The play originally premiered at the Manhattan Theater Club, starring Sarah Jessica Parker. “Wonder of the World” comes to the John Wright Theater on Oct. 5-13.

“The Sty of the Blind Pig” fills the Dennis and Cheryl Woods Theater Nov. 2-10 with a saga of a 1950s black woman and her old-fashioned, religiously inclined mother. Together, they experience a wealth of emotion and struggles dealing with a mysterious stranger searching for a woman that he once knew.

The fall semester closes with “The Elephant Man,” a popular broadway play from 1977, by Bernard Pomerance.

“The Elephant Man” is likely the most powerful production of the year and is certainly not to be missed.

Based on the true story of John Merrick, the play is about a man with a repulsive deformity who is exploited as a freak for a carnival.

The story follows Merrick’s journey through London and his battle with his physical disabilities versus his desire to have friendships in his life.

While the other five big performances are all plays, another production by the Contemporary Dance Ensemble, is narrowed to just the dancing. The Contemporary Dance Ensemble performs Feb. 15-23

“I’m tremendously excited and I think we have a great program here,” said Kenneth Balint, artistic director of the Contemporary Dance Ensemble. “The students always work hard and there are so any people behind the scenes that really put it all together.”

“Frozen,” by Bryony Lavery tells the story of a 10-year-old girl, who disappeared, and unravels as the child’s mother and killer are connected by a doctor who studies what could cause someone to commit such devious crimes.

“Frozen” is directed by Kathleen McKinley and will be running March 15-17, 2013.

If more fantastical stories are more your speed, “The Arabian Night” plays May 3-11 and is based on the “Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night,” which is where the story of Aladdin and Sinbad the Sailor were derived from as well.

This play follows an ancient king and his wife-to-be, who prolongs her life by telling amusing stories to avoid the sharp end of the king’s blade.

For the 2012-2013 academic year, theater appears to be shaping up well with big-name plays.