MTSU Theater Presents "Sense and Sensibility"

MTSU Theatre students are bringing the beloved Dashwood sisters, their bravery, their beaux and their banknotes - or lack thereof -- to life Sept. 29-Oct. 2 and Oct. 4-7 with a unique, immersive staging of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility."

Tickets for the production, which will fit both the cast and the audience on the Tucker Theatre stage, are available now at https://tinyurl.com/MTSUSenseTickets.

Directed by Department of Theatre and Dance assistant professor Lauren Shouse, the "Sense and Sensibility" cast and crew will take audiences on a turn around the rooms of Regency society with Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, the siblings forced, with their mother and youngest sister, into genteel pre-19th-century poverty when their patriarch dies.

They navigate restrictive Regency society, finding and losing love while struggling with corsets and equally tight budgets. Not all is lost, however, especially the women's -- and their creator Austen's -- sense of humor.

Playwright/actor Kate Hamill, the Wall Street Journal's 2017 Playwright of the Year, devised this playful version of the Dashwood sisters' adventures. Her stage adaptations also include Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," "Emma" and "Mansfield Park"; William Thackeray's "Vanity Fair"; Bram Stoker's "Dracula"; and Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women."

Tickets are $10 general admission and $5 for K-12 students, with curtain times at 7:30 p.m. nightly and 2:30 p.m. for the Sunday, Oct. 2, matinee.

MTSU students, faculty and staff can attend free by presenting a current university ID at the box office for Tucker Theatre, located inside MTSU's Boutwell Dramatic Arts Auditorium at 615 Champion Way.


Seating will be limited for the shows, however, because of the production's staging choices. Putting the audience onstage with the cast, while making for snug accommodations, also helps reveal the actors' actions and reactions more easily.

Even with the revised seating, Tucker Theatre is fully accessible for people with disabilities, including hearing, vision and mobility needs.

More details about the show, including a digital program with a full cast and crew listing, are available at www.mtsu.edu/theatreanddance/senseandsensibility.php.

Shouse, who teaches theatre directing in MTSU's Department of Theatre and Dancein the College of Liberal Arts, also is a working freelance director with extensive credits and the former associate artistic director at Chicago's Northlight Theatre as well as an artistic associate at Nashville Repertory Theatre. She most recently directed MTSU Theatre's spring production of the multi-Tony-winning musical "Fun Home."

The 2022-23 MTSU Department Theatre and Dance schedule, which marks the 11th season of the College of Liberal Arts' "MTSU Arts" brand for the university's fine arts programs, will also feature productions of:

• Jerre Dye's Southern ghost story "Cicada," set Oct. 20-23.

• Rick Elice and Wayne Barker's Peter Pan-origins musical "Peter and the Starcatcher," planned Nov. 3-6.

• The MTSU Dance Theatre's acclaimed Fall Dance Concert, set Nov. 17-19.'s acclaimed Fall Dance Concert, set Nov. 17-19.

• "The Giver," Eric Coble's play based on the Lois Lowry novel, planned Feb. 16-19.

• Julia Cho's comic drama "The Language Archive," set March 23-26.

• The classic musical "Cabaret," by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb, planned April 6-8.

• The MTSU Dance Theatre's Spring Dance Concert, set April 20-22.
MTSU Theatre and Dance logo

For more details on the opening show and the other productions, visit www.mtsu.edu/theatreanddance/currentseason.php.

For more information about MTSU's Department of Theatre and Dance in the College of Liberal Arts, visit www.mtsu.edu/theatreanddance. For details on MTSU Arts events and supporting its student programs in the Patrons Society, visit https://mtsu.edu/mtsuarts.