CCU Theatre Department to perform 'Dance Nation'

Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Theatre will be preforming ‘Dance Nation’ from Thursday, Sept. 19 to Saturday, Sept. 21, then again from Wednesday, Sept. 25 to Friday, Sept. 27 all at 7:30 p.m. in the Edwards Theatre. On Saturday, Sept. 28, there will be two showings, one at 3 p.m. and another at 7:30 p.m.

This play was written by Clare Barron and was the winner of the 2017 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Barron is a playwright and performer from Washington.

The story is set in a small town in Ohio and tells the story of a middle school dance team.

“[The] female members [of the team] experience the emotional extremes of adolescence as the contend with themselves and one another to reach their goal: acceptance to the Boogie Down Grand Prix in Tampa Bay,” according to CCU’s cultural arts website. “Robin Edwards Russell, professor in the Department of Theatre, directs this fresh, unique take on the power and vulnerability of evolving young women.”

These 13-year-old girls are going through many changes and are trying to navigate their way through them. This story was written to describe the beginning of a girl’s teenage years as they truly are. Barron usually bases her work off her own experiences and this one was no exception.

“Because the play was first written in 2013 and again in 2015, she says the piece itself is a ‘collage’ of her past selves; there are moments when she can identify the younger playwright in her writing. In many ways, the play is also a tribute to Barron’s bygone preteen confidence,” said Playbill’s website.

Come support the Theatre Department by seeing their performance in the Edwards Theatre. Admission is regularly $17 so bring your student ID to the box office for a discount.