Lycoming College’s 2019-20 theater season has a new look. For the last several years, two shows are customarily presented in the fall semester, with another two set for the spring semester. That format has now been revamped.

Although two productions have been announced for the Fall semester, only one production is slated for the spring semester, according to the Chair of the Theater Department, Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian, who has been on the Lycoming College faculty since 2012.

All productions have an 8 p.m. curtain time, and will be staged in the Mary L. Welch Theatre.

“Dancing at Lughnasa” (Oct. 2-5)

Playwright Brian Friel’s drama tells the story of five unmarried sisters, eking out their lives in a small Irish village in 1936. The action of the play is told through the memory of the illegitimate son on one of the sisters, who remember the five women who raised him, his mother and four maiden aunts.

“Dancing At Lughnasa,” which won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Play, will be directed by C. Austin Hill. Hill said that the show, with a cast of five women and three men, will use the Irish and Welsh dialect common in the region of western Ireland, where the drama takes place.

“Reality” (Nov. 20-23)

This funny and fast-paced comedy revolves around a popular dating show “Looking For Love.” Meeting on the show, Annie and Matt’s fairytale romance takes some twists and turns, thanks to the ratings-obsessed producer, Josh, and the show’s runner-up Krisianna.

“Reality” has a relatively brief running time of approximately 90 minutes. The show’s playwright, Lia Romeo, describes her comedy as a “funny and disturbing exploration of what ‘reality’ really means. Directing the cast of two females and two males is student A’ Feyah Smith, as part of her Senior Project. She notes that the show “demands a fair amount of physical intimacy.”

“Shrek” (Mar. 25-28)

Although local and area high schools have produced this musical in the last few years, Lycoming College’s stage adaptation of the Disney movie is a marked departure. Instead of two shows to be presented in the spring, it is the only production of the Lycoming College’s Theatre Department slated for the 2020 spring semester.

“Shrek” will be directed by Lyco’s Theater Chair, often simply referred to as “Dr. B” by faculty and students alike. The family-friendly musical, however, is not geared toward small tykes, but features a script and songs which should appeal to all theatergoers, regardless of age.

If there is a moral to “Shrek,” it’s that even for big, lovable ogres, it’s not easy being green!