BREVARD – “The secret of flight lies in the assurance that we are worthy of flying” (Dorothea, Eleemosynary).
Eleemosynary, written by Lee Blessing in 1985, explores the relationships among a teenage girl (Echo, played by Camile Bonnin ‘26)–an intelligent and sensitive soul with an extraordinary love for words and spelling, her mother (Artie, played by Abigail Reeves ‘27)–a researcher and scientist with a restless soul and desire for independence and her grandmother (Dorothea, played by Lyric Contarino, ‘26)–an eccentric and strong-willed woman determined to break boundaries and unpuzzle the mysteries of the world.
This play examines the desire to discover one’s identity while encountering the confines of family, and the power of acceptance within structures of motherhood and feminine roles and expectations. This play explores what it means to be generous with our love and our frameworks for growth. In working on this play, Brevard College Theatre students are asking what it means to find our flight, to truly be extraordinary, and to be eleemosynary with our loved ones through grace and seeing the beauty in others. As Dorothea says: “We all try to be just right, just what the next one needs. And we never come close. …We’re all talking, all the time–saying our thoughts, writing them down, sending them out like messages in a bottle. And we’re never sure which messages have been found and which haven’t. If you could…reassure some people…we all need forgiveness.”
All performances will take place in the Morrison Playhouse at The Paul Porter Center for Performing Arts on the Brevard College’s campus. Run time is about 90 minutes. Performance times are as follows:
Thursday, November 21, 7:00 p.m.
Friday, November 22, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 23, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 24, 2:30pm
Audiences are invited to join the cast and crew post-performance for Opening Night toast on Thursday and a closing toast on Sunday.
Tickets can be purchased online at https://our.show/brevard-college/eleemosynary or at the door. Ticket prices are $5 for students, faculty, staff and $10 for the general public.
Brevard College is located at 1 Brevard College Drive, Brevard, North Carolina. More information can be found at https://brevard.edu/theatre/ or by calling 828.641.0605.
Photography by Alecia Janeiro. Poster design by Scott Douglas.