Arts in the News

A cast of eight actors, ranging from Class III to Class I, takes the stage in Wigg Hall for this fall’s 1212 Play, Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl.

The play reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father and struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters, ingenious plot twists, and breathtaking visual effects, the play is a fresh look at a timeless love story.

The tradition of Milton’s 1212 Plays began over 30 years ago in room 1212 of Warren Hall. The performances evolved from play readings to fully-staged productions under the direction of the late faculty member Nina Seidenman. When Warren Hall was renovated, and 1212 became an English classroom, the 1212 productions relocated to Wigg Hall. The space may have changed, but the philosophy is the same: intimate productions with small casts, minimal technical demands, and challenging material for both actors and audience.

Directed by performing arts faculty member Shane Fuller, Eurydice opens Thursday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m., and shows on Friday, December 5, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 6, at 7 p.m. For ticket information, email Shane_Fuller@milton.edu.

A new art installation hanging from the rafters in the Art and Media Center completes a circle that began with two inquisitive students in the late 1970s. David Rabkin ’79 and Justin Aborn ’79 were in their junior year when they built a large, recumbent tricycle called the “A-Rab.”

“Both of us were fiddlers,” says David, who is now the Farinon director for current science and technology at the Museum of Science in Boston. “We liked building, and we were always taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. The idea of the trike came about because we really wanted to learn how to weld. Welding is one of the great crafts, being able to work with metal and bond it in a way to make it really strong.”

They approached Michael Bentinck-Smith, who was the woodworking teacher in the Lower School at the time. He agreed to teach them to weld, but to count the work as an independent project, they needed a solid idea and design.

“Something that went fast with wheels made sense to our adolescent minds,” says David. “We decided that a human-powered vehicle would be much more elegant, so the design grew from that idea. Back then, you could go to the dump and find building materials. So much of the trike came from the old Milton dump!”

After 1,000 man-hours during the winter, the trike was ready to ride that spring. Ian Torney ‘82, chair of the visual arts department, says he remembers David and Jason riding the trike around campus. After they graduated, the trike sat in David’s mother’s garage until 1997, when they extensively refurbished it for an arts festival. This time it was stored more carefully, so when they took it out of the garage in 2013 to hang in the AMC, it was in much better shape.

“Seeing the trike hanging in the AMC is very satisfying,” says David. “It does my own and Justin’s heart good to know that it’s somewhere other people will enjoy it. It’s an interesting form. From where it is hung, you get to look at from all angles; it looks different from various directions, and you can appreciate a whole other dimension of it. Milton students are so bright and motivated, so if even a little inspiration is derived from looking at it, and that leads somewhere interesting, that is great. If it opens a door and shakes up someone’s mental model of something they were thinking about, then we’ve achieved our mission.”

To watch David Rabkin riding the bike, click here.

Charles Dickens’s story Nicholas Nickleby will unfold on the stage of King Theatre as more than 20 Class IV students bring to life the nineteenth-century adventures of a young boy traveling to London to seek his fortune. Performing arts faculty member Eleza Moyer, the play’s director, says although the story addresses serious issues, the light-hearted moments are many. Milton’s version of the story is slimmed-down from the original eight-hour adaptation.

Zachary Mustin plays Ralph Nickleby, the ruthless uncle who does everything he can to prevent Nicholas from succeeding. Zach says the Class IV Play is a great experience because it gives freshmen the chance to portray major roles and get to know one another. He is also relishing his part: “It’s fun to shout and sound evil! The whole experience is so different from plays I did when I was younger.”

Dorsey Glew plays Smike, an older boy whom Nicholas befriends and runs away with to London. “I performed roles in my middle school plays, but this character has so many layers, which is a cool challenge,” says Dorsey.

The Class IV Play, a long-standing performing arts tradition at Milton, is an all-inclusive and beloved class project. Class IV students not on stage are contributing behind the scenes, acting as ushers, poster designers, or joining the audience in support of their classmates. Nicholas Nickleby runs in King Theatre on Thursday, November 13, and Friday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m., and on Saturday, November 15 at 7 p.m.

This weekend, Milton’s Knights of the Round Table fill King Theatre with Broadway-style song and dance as they search the kingdom for the Holy Grail in Monty Python’s Spamalot. The quest begins Thursday, October 30, and Friday, October 31, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, November 1, at 7 p.m.

Click on the link below to try your hand at Spamalot trivia.

Begin Spamalot Trivia