National Print Exhibition: The Human Experience

February 08 - 5pm
University Gallery Opening - University Gallery in Ingram Hall

The human experience is as varied as the individuals who experience it. While the experience is uniquee to each of us, there are things that we all share and understand. Ultimately, even though our experiences are very different, we are essentially the same. This sameness and understanding instills in us a compassion for each other. The prints in this show, from all over the nation, will be as varied as the human experience.  There will also be many touchstones that will speak to us in different ways and tie one individual to another through the love of art and a broader understanding of each other. ---Print by Janet Ballwag

Overexposed: The Cost of Compassion

February 22 - 7pm
Original Documentary Screening at Lagerquist Concert Hall in Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Compassion, although a natural element of human life, can sometimes be costly. Those who provide care to others cannot help but feel empathy for those to whom they provide support and attention. But in some instances, when the need for help is too great, or caregivers stretch themselves too thin, empathy can take a toll on minds, bodies, and spirits. This can be true of those who perform in a wide variety of personal and professional roles.  For many of us, it’s easy to get roped into staying late at the office, or taking on another commitment, or assisting one more client. However, there comes a saturation point at which we are overwhelmed, and it is at this point we encounter “compassion fatigue,” the effects of which can include physical exhaustion, feeling emotionally drained, detached, irritable, and cynical, among many other possible symptoms. As human beings living in a complex and often stressful world, compassion fatigue is something we should understand and about which we should be aware. --- Photo by Courtney Walker

Rabbit Hole

March 09 - 7:30pm
A Studio Theater Production in Eastvold 

For more than two millennia, theatre artists have wrestled with how we, as human beings, cope with the unexpected and sometimes tragic events that impact our lives and the lives of those we love. Like the canonical playwrights who precede him, David Lindsay-Abaire depicts characters who survive life’s challenges through a mix of resilience, humor, and compassion. Ultimately, as Rabbit Hole so beautifully demonstrates, compassion for ourselves and for each other makes us stronger as individuals and wiser as a community. And theatre, as a communal form of art, is an ideal forum in which to experience and revel in the kind of shared compassion that not only helps us persevere in difficult times but also brings us closer together.

Rabbit Hole, which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, is a “transcendent and deeply affecting new play” that “shifts perfectly from hilarity to grief” (Entertainment Weekly). It’s a story of loss, heartbreak, and forgiveness as a family attempts to move on after a life-shattering accident. David Rooney (Variety) writes, “David Lindsay-Abaire has crafted a drama that’s not just a departure but a revelation – an intensely emotional examination of grief, laced with wit, insightfulness, compassion, and searing honesty.” Ben Brantley (New York Times) describes Rabbit Hole as “a beautifully observed new play blessed with David Lindsay-Abaire’s customary grace and wit.” And Howard Shapiro (Philadelphia Inquirer) describes the play as “a satisfyingly strange mix: a wrenching look into grief and healing, leavened with generous spoonfuls of humor. This is one smart play.”   --- SOME ADULT LANGUAGE

Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War

May 15 - 8pm
Vocal & Orchestral Performance at Lagerquist Concert Hall in Mary Baker Russell Music Center

Gregory Youtz, Composer 
Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, Conductor

Compassion for victims of injustice is often cited as a reason for war. Compassion for victims of war (including those who fought) is a frequent outcome, often spurring another cycle of conflict. 

Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War by Gregory Youtz composer is a 55 minute oratorio for four vocal soloists, mixed choir and orchestra. Four poems by Walt Whitman written during the United States' Civil War (1861-65) from his series Drum Taps, written during the Civil War, provide an evolving view of war from an American perspective: from excited anticipation of a quick and heroic experience, to a somber reflection on the human cost of war. Interspersed amongst these are five poems by writers from other lands and other times- perhaps not coincidentally places where the US has been involved in wars: Vietnam, China, the Middle East and Europe. 

University Symphony Orchestra, Choir of the West, University Chorale & Faculty Soloists perform.