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The Illusion is produced through special arrangement withBroadway Play Publishing Inc. The script to this play may bepurchased from BPPI at BroadwayPlayPubl.comOriginally produced by New York Theater Workshop inOctober 19882
CastPridamantJosh HarperThe AmanuensisEmma BrashearAlcandreErik MueterthiesCalisto/Clindor/TheogenesSkye NewcomMelibea/Isabelle/HippolytaMiranda JoslinElicia/Lyse/ClarinaLaila SahirPleribo/Adraste/Prince FlorilameWilliam Marroquin-HaslettMatamoreEmma WithersGeronteJesus LuceroMale Understudy/AttendantAndrew TiedeFemale Understudy/AttendantBarbara StierLuther College Theatre & Dance 2015-2016
Production StaffDirectorAssistant DirectorTechnical DirectorScenic DesignCostume DesignStage ManagerAssistant Stage ManagerWeb ContentMarketing and PublicityHouse ManagerGraphic DesignDr. Robert VrtisMim HarriesTom BergerJeff DintamanLisa LantzMeghan GaffneyBella NewmanElaena HoekstraKajsa JonesLaila SahirKajsa JonesKristin AndersonCrewLight Board OperatorSound Board OperatorStage CrewEhren KlugeAnna SteinhouseMikaela RethRyan PierceXavier ConzetMadeline GeierMakeup DesignTanner HuppertHair and Makeup/DresserTanner HuppertClaire FiraryWig DesignerAlison Mizerski HanksSpecialty Prop BuilderEthan Heller4
Emma Brashear is a sophomore Theatre major. She has previously appeared in Metamorphoses, Sunday in the Park with George, The ManWho, and The Vagina Monologues. She wouldlike to thank the entire cast for giving up oncoherence long ago.Meghan Gaffney is a sophomore Historymajor with English and Theatre minors. Shelast worked as an Assistant Stage Managerfor Sunday in the Park with George, and outside the CFA she is a Tech Executive for thePerforming Arts Committee. She would liketo thank the enthusiastic cast, crew, and Bellafor being patient with her. Enjoy the show!Josh Harper is a senior CommunicationsStudies major and Theatre minor who isready for his last performance here at Luther.He has participated in numerous Luthershows over his four years here, includingLove and Information and Metamorphoses. Asalways he would like to thank his supportivefamily, loving friends, and nurturing professors for allowing him to continue to do whathe loves.Mim Harries is a senior Computer Scienceand Statistics major with a minor in Theatre.She has previously been involved in manyLuther shows both onstage and backstage,including Love and Information (Stage Manager), Metamorphoses (Assistant Stage Manager),and In the Next Room (Annie). Thank you somuch to Dr. Bobby for this opportunity andto the wonderful cast and crew for their energy and playfulness!Luther College Theatre & Dance 2015-2016
Miranda Joslin is a junior Art major andSpanish and Museum Studies double minor.This is her first major production at LutherCollege (she previously performed in SPINTheatre’s 24 Hour Musical this past February). She is ecstatic to be able to share thisexperience with her friends and family andwould like to thank them for their endlesslove and support.Jesus Lucero is a senior this year and is absolutely elated to grace the stage for his firstand last play at Luther. He’s a Psychologymajor and a Music and Women’s and Gender Studies double minor. In the past, Jesushad the opportunity of moving alongsidesome fabulous dancers in Forgiveness Lunch.He’d like to thank the cast of The Illusion formaking him feel at home in theater and to hisgirls for supporting his erratic decisions thelast four years. Peace and love.William Marroquin-Haslett is a sophomoremajoring in International Studies and minoring in Theatre. His past productions includeLove and Information, The Laramie Project, AMidsummer Night’s Dream, and West Side Story. He would like to thank his grandparents,Jean and Bill Haslett, for their unwaveringsupport of his performances since the fifthgrade.Erik Mueterthies is in his sophomore year atLuther College, studying Theatre and Computer Science. He has previously appearedin Luther College’s theatrical productions asKing Ceyx in Metamorphoses and Jules in Sunday in the Park with George. Erik would like tothank the cast and crew of The Illusion for creating a memorable and enriching experiencefor him as both an actor and a person. Hewould also like to thank his parents for theirongoing support of his artistic endeavors andhis sister, Gina, for keeping it real.6
Skye Newcom is a junior at Luther College where he is studying Theatre and Art.Skye previously performed as Eros/Silenusin Metamorphoses, a Kit Kat Klub Dancer inCabaret, and also performed in Luther’s fallproduction of Caryl Churchill’s Love andInformation.Bella Newman is a sophomore EnglishEducation major. She is super excited to beinvolved in her second production at Luther.Bella would like to thank everyone involvedin the process, especially Meghan, for beingpatient and beautiful!Laila Sahir is a sophomore studying Theatre,Psychology, and Music. Here at Luther, shehas been involved in Sunday in the Park withGeorge as an Assistant Stage Manager and TheMan Who. She would like to thank the entirecast and crew for being generally amazingand her family for always being there.Barbara Stier is a sophomore Theatre majorwith Music and Sociology minors. This is herfirst role here at Luther, but she has done techfor In the Next Room and Love and Information.She wants to thank her cat for just.being acat.Luther College Theatre & Dance 2015-2016
Andrew Tiede is a first year studying Computer Science and Theatre. He has lovedtheatre since high school and is excited to bemaking it one of his majors here at Luther.He has been involved with one other production at Luther, The Man Who.Emma Withers is a sophomore studying inthe areas of Elementary Education, Art, andTheatre! She has previously been involved inthe productions of Metamorphoses and Sundayin the Park with George here at Luther. She isblessed by family and friends who help herfollow her passions and support her everystep of the way. She views the stage as a giantcanvas waiting to be painted.8
Set Construction CrewBritany ThorpeMatthew GuttormsonTyler DintamanNathan BaldwinColin BoyleEmma BrashearMadeline GeierMeghan GaffneyMim HarriesEthan HellerTanner HuppertLogan LarsonKarl NycklemoeBecca RyeSteffie SeaBarbara StierMaggie SulenticJosh WeisenburgerAndrew TiedeCostume CrewPedro Da Costa CadalakEmma KmochAnna BeckerVictoria YoungAbbey SymeLaura SchuelerNathaniel KochHannah HolstadKrysta ChroningerAlice McNamaraEvie IraluEmily Chlapik (Costume Storage Manager)Miranda Poncelet (Costume Storage Manager)Luther College Theatre & Dance 2015-2016
Director’s NoteFor all its comedic silliness, The Illusion engages with some veryweighty questions, exploring nothing less than the nature of reality. As our season’s last show in a season shaped by the theme ofimpermanence, this show specifically asks how we experience areality that is not fixed and permanent. For me, the play suggeststhat part of what it is to be human lies in our daily navigationbetween poles.BetweenPresence andAbsenceWhat we could call the “concrete reality” of presence, which ismade up of those things that we can sense with us now, is entirelyoverlaid with constructs that are absent (or are at least intangible).As the play shows, our experience of reality is largely that of onekind of blended space or another between presence and absence.Pridamant seeks out the magician Alcandre because he struggleswith a son who both is and is not present, who lives in the blended space of memory.The father’s experience is no less affecting because the memoryis as intangible as vapor.Love too, as Alcandre says, is really nothing at all – or rather nothing. Yet, our ability to be profoundly affected by our experienceof things that are not entirely shapes our experience of reality. Andthis is part of the power of theatre too. At its best theatre is anuneasy mix between presence and absence, truth and lies, realityand illusion.A blended space of imagination.Or Magic.After all, theatre is not unlike Alcandre’s magic: a profound effortto create an emotionally charged no thing. A weighty artificepainstakingly engineered to create something no more yieldingbut a dream.10
Luther Theatre and Dance2015-2016The Man WhoBy: Peter Brook and Marie Helene-EstienneJanuary 26, 2016A Splinter of Light for allConceived and Choreographed by Andrea Vazquez-AguirreJanuary 26, 2016The Invitation GameConceived and Choreographed by Jane HawleyMarch 10-12, 2016The IllusionBy Pierre Comeille and Tony KushnerApril 29-May 7, 2016Faculty and StaffTom BergerLisa LantzJeff DintamanJane HawleyAndre Vazquez-AguirrePaul RudeRobert J. LarsonDr. Bobby Vrtiswww.luther.edu/visualandperforming
theatre since high school and is excited to be making it one of his majors here at Luther. He has been involved with one other produc-tion at Luther, The Man Who. Emma Withers is a sophomore studying in the areas of Elementary Education, Art, and Theatre! She has previously been involved in the productions of Metamorphoses and Sunday
