Shae Styles, Special to the Chronicle
• September 10, 2024
As many students enter their first year at Hofstra University, they have seen information from GetInvolvedHU posted around the school campus, encouraging students to put themselves out there and join on-campus organizations and clubs. New Student Orientation and Welcome Week encouraged students to try new things, attend school-sanctioned events, such as the club fair, and get out of their comfort zones.
Sexuality can be an awkward topic to discuss over family dinners, and that is evident in the Department of Drama and Dance’s production of “Dike.” The show was performed across two weekends in April, portraying the story of two sisters reunited after two years of separation.
In celebration of the 73rd Annual Hofstra Shakespeare Festival, Hofstra’s Drama department performed “Macbeth.” Directed by drama department chair and professor Royston Coppenger on the Globe Stage at John C. Adams Playhouse, “Macbeth” tells the story of the self-titled Scottish war-hero who receives a prophetic message that he is destined to become king and secure the throne.
After over a year of Zoom performances and outdoor events, Hofstra drama students have finally returned to the Joan and Donald Schaeffer Black Box Theater to perform in their first production of the year, “Everybody.”
After two successful shows, “Barbecue” and “Working,” the Hofstra Drama Department closed out its spring semester with a production of “Phaedra,” written by Jean Racine and translated and directed by Royston Coppenger, the chair of the Drama Department. “Phaedra” played weekends starting on Friday, April 9 and closed on Sunday, April 18, with a bonus performance on Thursday, April 15; like “Barbecue,” performances were live streamed on Twitch.
After an amazing start to the semester with “Barefoot in the Park,” the Hofstra Drama Department continued its tradition of theatrical excellence with a production of the beloved Shakespeare comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Camryn Graves shines as bubbly protagonist Elle Woods. With powerful vocals and fantastic dance abilities, Graves carried the show with grace and kept the audience on the edge of their seats.
Hofstra’s performance of “Private Lives” in the Joan and Donald Schaeffer Black Box Theater was one you didn’t want to miss. The 1930s play by Noël Coward has many twists and turns that had viewers on the edges of their seats while also falling out of their chairs from laughter.
On Saturday, Hofstra’s Department of Drama and Dance opened Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s cult rock musical “Little Shop of Horrors.”
The show is about Seymour, played perfectly...
