Bridgewater, Va. -The Pinion Players, Bridgewater College’s student theatre group, has many events planned throughout the fall semester and into the spring semester — including multiple performances and club activities. Bridgewater’s theatre department has its first major production scheduled in late October.

During the first meeting of the Pinion Players on Sept. 8, Kylee Lorio, club president, began with a presentation regarding the club’s involvement in BC’s theatre community. The presentation was followed by games, including improvisation and ice breakers, to welcome new members. 

Club officers in attendance also included Vice President Carlos Allen, Treasurer Selena Deleon-Cifuentes, Historian Mateo Tucker and Social Media Coordinator Elysia Gomez.

“My favorite thing about the Pinion Players is how our advisor, Dr. Cole, allows us the space to pursue our intellectual and academic interests,” said Lorio. “For example, I only recently became a theatre major. Despite this, Dr. Cole allowed me to direct the Fall 2020 production, “The Shape of Things” by Neil LaBute, through the Pinion Players for my honors project.”

After not holding performances in 2020-2021 due to COVID, the BC theatre is planning live performances once more. 

The next event in Cole Hall will be performances of “Today is My Birthday” by Susan Soon He Stanton from Oct. 27-30 at 8 p.m., directed by Associate Professor Communication Studies and Theatre Dr. Scott Cole.

In November, auditions will be held for the Pinion Players’ performances of “Death of a Salesman.” The show will take place in early April and will be directed by Lorio and senior Kylie Chisnell. Set development for this production will begin in January and some work will be completed during winter break.

The Pinion Players also have plans to get involved in the wider community. Around the end of September, they will be painting a photo stand-in for Habitat for Humanity’s new store in Harrisonburg.

Further into the spring semester, there will also be performances for Lorio and Gomez’s capstone projects. Additionally, there will be another performance put on by BC’s theatre department, but there is no information yet on what this performance will be.

Senior Kai Bowman, current member of the Pinion Players, will soon be casting for his two act play, possibly for the spring semester. Bowman will hold a read-through with his cast in the black box room in Cole Hall, but all Pinion Players and others are invited to watch.