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This page last updated: Friday, November 07, 2008


LUMINARIUM - A Play in Five Acts

November 07, 2008

Professor Lahaie completed the text for this fascinating history play about the life of Saint Gregory the Illuminator during the summer of 2008. It has sinced been translated into Armenian with real interest in seeing the play staged in the Armendian homeland.

GLORIA DEI Scheduled for Production at Gardner-Webb University in February

BOILING SPRINGS, NC - Gardner-Webb University Theater will produce GLORIA DEI in 2008. Professor Lahaie will be directing, while long-time collaborator Chritopher Keene will be design the production. Production dates are 20, 21, 22, 23 Februrary 2008 at 7:30 pm, and February 24 at 2:30 pm. This new drama explores the ethical choices surrounding the starvation of a young woman diagnosed as being in a Persistent Vegistative State or PVS. Although a fictional story, this play echoes the Terry Schaivo court case from 2005.

Poster


Gloria Dei Photo

Gloria Dei Photo


MARTYR! - A Christian Tragedy in Five Acts by Pierre Corneille in a new translation

December, 2007

Dr. Ute Lahaie and Professor Scot Lahaie recently translated Pierre Corneille's neo-classical tragedy POLYEUCTE from the french into 21st century english. With the new title MARTYR!, this tranlsation premiered on the stage at Gardner-Webb University in November 2007. Photographs from the production are below. Performance rights are now available for those seeking to produce the show.



Martyr!



Martyr Photo 1

Martyr Photo 2

Martyr Photo 3

Martyr Photo 4
Gardner-Webb University Theater Department Wins 4 Awards from 8 Nominations at Award Ceremony

BOILING SPRINGS, NC – The Gardner-Webb University Theater Department received some well-deserved recognition at this year’s Metrolina Theatre Award Ceremony. After being nominated for 8 awards in the categories of Outstanding Director, Outstanding Male Actor, Outstanding Supporting Actor, Outstanding Lighting Design, Outstanding Sound Design, Outstanding Set Design, and Outstanding Special Technical Effects, Gardner-Webb took home 4 crystal plaques from the ceremony.

GWU Director of Theater Scot Lahaie won the award for Outstanding Director while Technical Director of Theater Christopher Keene won Outstanding Set Design. Keene also won Outstanding Sound Design, and GWU senior Caleb Moore won the award for Best Lighting Design. The awards came from two Gardner-Webb productions: Waiting for Godot and Lear ReLoaded. Other exceptional performances that earned a nomination included Brian McGill for Outstanding Actor from his performance in
LEAR: Reloaded, Caleb Moore for Outstanding Supporting Actor from Waiting for Godot, Mark Houser for Outstanding Special Technical Effects in LEAR: ReLoaded, and Josh House for Outstanding Special Technical Effects in Waiting for Godot.

Ironically, it’s the story behind Waiting for Godot that’s most interesting. Lahaie had had a girl in his Modern Drama class who refused to finish the book after reading the first segment of Waiting for Godot. This wasn’t an unusual reaction, as both book and play have the potential to be “long, boring, and tedious,” and Lahaie acknowledges that it is quite possibly “the hardest play to produce and understand.” He also admits that he had wanted to produce this play for years and took his student’s statement as a direct challenge. So he decided to produce Waiting for Godot, making it shorter and more understandable, while emphasizing the humor. Needless to say, the student came to agree with the teacher on the plays greatness.

Lahaie understands that the Outstanding Director award wasn’t his honor alone, citing that “getting the award for best director is a referendum of how hard the actors work.” He was also proud of how hard Chris Keene and his stage crew had worked, ultimately highlighting one lesson about the theater: it consists of “collaborative artists,” whereby success or failure is measured by the shared efforts of all.

Located in Boiling Springs, NC, Gardner-Webb University is home to over 4000 students from 39 states and 21 foreign countries. Gardner-Webb seeks a higher ground in higher education – one that embraces faith and intellectual freedom, balances conviction with compassion, and inspires in students a love of learning, service and leadership.

(Text written by RJ Dowder)


Gloria Dei


GLORIA DEI - A Play in Two Acts

June 28, 2007

Professor Lahaie has just completed the text for an exciting new drama, which he has entitled GLORIA DEI. This new drama explores the ethical choices surrounding the starvation of a young woman diagnosed as being in a Persistent Vegistative State or PVS. Although a fictional story, this play echoes the Terry Schaivo court case from 2005. This script has been selected for production in the annual Playwrights Workshop at Gardner-Webb University, and will premiere in November 2007.


CUBICLE! The Office Musical!

May 24, 2007

The text for Professor Lahaie's very latest script is now complete. It is called CUBICLE! The Office Musical. The music for the show is being written by Roger Lowe. Check back for updates on this exciting show. The music should be complete by Christmas.


LEAR ReLoaded!

December 5, 2006


LEAR ReLoaded is a deconstruction of Shakespeare's KING LEAR, is now complete. This retelling of the King Lear myth explores the weak dualities of god/man and blessing/cursing in order to underline the medieval mindset of the original work and reposition the narrative as a post-modern dramatic event. Although the play is a derivative work, it preserves much of the Bard’s original language.


The following photographs are from the recent Gardner-Webb University production of LEAR ReLoaded.











WAITING FOR GODOT a rewarding production for audience and actors

October 18, 2006


Beckett's modern classic played the campus of Gardner-Webb University this month to rave revues. The following photograph of the production gives you an idea of what the visual look of the show was all about. Notice the large hand holding up the platform upon which the actors are playing.

Waiting for Godot

PURGING MARY staged at Gardner-Webb University

Professor Lahaie's latest play, PURGING MARY, was staged at Gardner-Webb University in November 2005 as part of their annual Playwright's Workshop. This play is about religious hypocrisy and abortion. Professor Lahaie directed the play with an eye for rewrites and development. The photo below is of that production. PURGING MARY was also Gardner-Webb University's entry into the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) for 2005/06.

Producers interested in working on this brand new play should contact the author directly to request a perusal manuscript. For more details about the play, see the Plays Page.



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DOGFALL published in Southern Theatre Magazine!

Southern Theatre--SETC's quarterly magazine--published DOGFALL in its fall 2005 issue. We are also excited to announce that a production photo of the Gardner-Webb University production of DOGFALL graced the cover of that same issue. A very nice article (written by Dr. Alan Litsey) about the play also appeared. The photo below is from the workshop produciton of DOGFALL at Gardner-Webb University in 2004.


Dogfall at GWU


Dogfall at GWU

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Greensboro (NC) Playwrights' Forum stages DOGFALL

DOGFALL was Greensboro Playwrights' Forum selection for their annual NC New Play Project 2005. The Forum presented the play from 29 April - 9 May 2005 in the City Arts Studio Theatre in Greensboro.

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DOGFALL wins Mark Gilbert Award!

The Greensboro Playwrights' Forum in Greensboro, North Carolina selected DOGFALL as the 2005 winner of the Mark Gilbert New Play Award. The award carries a $500 cash prize. Further, the Forum will produced the play in their annual North Carolina New Play Project--a program that provides opportunities to living playwrights across North Carolina to produce their plays in a workshop environment. DOGFALL opened 5 May 2005 in Greensboro.


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DOGFALL wins SETC New Play Award!

The Southeastern Theater Conference (SETC) recently announced that Professor Lahaie's play DOGFALL has been awarded the Getchel NEW PLAY AWARD for 2004/05. The honor carries with it a $1,000 prize, a staged reading at the SETC annual convention, and consideration for publication in SETC's Southern Theatre Magazine.


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SIX SOLDIER JUNCTION produced in Missouri

Six Soldier Junction: A Soldiers' Anthology is being produced at Missouri State University in February 2005. We hope to post some photographs of the production once it is completed.

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DOGFALL wins NCTC New Play Award!

March 29, 2004

Charlotte, NC: This past weekend, an elite group of theater professionals gathered in the Actor’s Theater in downtown Charlotte to announce the winner of the North Carolina Theater Conference (NCTC) 2004 New Play Award, which was presented to Scot Lahaie for his play “Dogfall,” a drama about doctor-assisted suicide and the right-to-die movement. Cleveland County residents will recognize Lahaie as Director of Theater at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs.

“Dogfall” was the inaugural production in Gardner-Webb’s new Playwrights’ Workshop—an initiative in bringing new plays to the stage— which premiered in November 2003. “The focus of the workshop is not on the finished product so much as on development,” comments Lahaie. “We explore the script—rewriting and cutting as needed—as we bring it to the stage. It is very rewarding to see my play receive so much attention. It validates the hard work we put into the development of this play.”

According to Lahaie, the conflict in the play arises from the political divide separating the two main characters. “The dialectical structure of the play exposes the nasty underbelly of both arguments in the right-to-die debate—from the left and the right—thereby forcing us as an audience to seek compromise in the center.”

The NCTC New Play Award carries with it a $500 cash prize, a production grant of $500 gifted to the first full production of the play by a NCTC member theater, and a staged reading at the 2004 NCTC state convention. Additional staged readings are being arranged across the state, some as early as April 21.

Click here to learn more about NCTC New Play Award.

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DOGFALL Selected as Semi-Finalist in the Last Frontier Theatre Conference 2004

May 1, 2004

Valdez, Alaska: The 2004 selection committee for Edward Albee's Last Frontier Theatre Conference recently announced their play selections for their 2004 conference held annually in Valdez, Alaska. Professor Lahaie's play Dogfall was honored as a semi-finalist for this prestigious conference.


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North Carolina Weslyan College reads DOGFALL

NCWC presented a staged reading of Dogfall at Dunn Center for the Performing Arts (Powers Recital Hall) for one night only on April 21 2004 at 7:30 pm. The play was subsequently included in the drama curriculum for students of directing. Many thanks to Professor David Blakely for his kind support and interest.


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