One doesn’t have to wait for closing hours to enjoy the antics of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art’s inhabitants. Grayson College’s theatre students help paintings, sculptures, antiquities, drawings and fertility gods emerge from their frames, molds and displays during Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies April 26-29.

Written by playwright Luigi Jannuzzi, the production is a fast-paced series of seven comedic plays and six monologues based on more than 50 works of art at the Met as well as the artists, guards, critics, lovers and curators who work with them. The comedy, which includes mature content, explores life from the perspective of the museum pieces as well as the impact they have on the people around them.

“It is art appreciation with a comedic twist, and the majority of Exhibit This! is student-designed and student-directed,” said Robin Robinson, GCC’s theatre director and professor of theatre and speech.  “The multiple sub-plays make this a challenging piece for our students, but it’s fun to watch them grow creatively as they prepare to make this a production the audience will enjoy and remember.”

While Robinson directed three of the sub-plays, most feature student directors. Tenna Matthews, GC professor of theatre and technical director, designed the set. Painted in an impressionist style but with more vivid colors familiar to works from the Renaissance era, the set also incorporates the various art pieces featured in each sub-play.

Rachel Schroeder, Blake Rice and Andrew Steele take the stage in Grayson College’s production of Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies for mature audiences. Performances are scheduled for April 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 29 at 2:30 p.m.

Costumes for the entire production were designed last fall by students in the costume class taught by Thea Albert, GC professor of theatre. J.J. Battles, Tom Bean sophomore, is costume design coordinator. Other student production staff members include: Skylar Fulton, Tom Bean sophomore, make-up designer, master carpenter and projections designer; Fabian Garcia, Nevada sophomore, stage manager; Blake Rice, Savoy freshman, sound designer; and Justin Roberts, Bells sophomore, prop master. As lighting design coordinator, Cumby freshman Andrew Steele works with the sub-play lighting designers and Lexi Lehberg, Frisco sophomore, who is master electrician.

Most of the Exhibit This! cast and crew appear in more than one of the sub-plays. Cast and crew are listed by sub-play, and sub-plays are noted in order of presentation.

“1-555-HELP-ART” includes cast members: Judson Wall, Whitewright sophomore; Jessica Huffstetler, Whitesboro sophomore; and Dillon Wooten, Trenton freshman. Crew members are: Kasy Poindexter, Whitewright freshman, director; and Maggie Bergener, Denton sophomore, light designer.

“Love Among the Impressionists” includes cast members: Rebecca Carter, Sherman freshman; Rice; Rachel Schroeder, Denison freshman; and Steele. Crew members are: Levi Hardin, Denton freshman, director; and Lehberg, light design.

“Dating in the Planetarium” is a monologue featuring Lori Stewart, Whitesboro sophomore. Crew members are Albanie Knight, Denison sophomore, director; and Hardin, light design.

“The Forgery or Boating with the Spanish Singer, a Woman with a Parrot, and Manet” includes cast members: Wes Hayes, Howe freshman; Knight; Leah Maxson, Denison freshman; Roberts; Wayne Ryan, Bells freshman; and Noah Scheibmeir, Sherman sophomore. Crew members are: Huffstetler, director; and Steele, light design.

“The Penitent Magdalen” is a monologue featuring Carter. Crew members are: Elizabeth Holland, Trenton sophomore, director; and Bergener, light design.

“The Curator” includes cast members: Mason Butler, Leonard freshman; and Wooten. Crew members are: Roberts, director; and Holland, light design.

“Fertility God Fugue” includes cast members: Bergener; Amber Patrick, Colbert sophomore; Hayes; Ryan; Schroeder; Stewart; and Wall. Crew members are: Huffstetler, director; and Steele, light design.

“Oh, Those Antiquities!” includes cast members: Butler; Rodney Hudson, Sherman sophomore; Huffstetler; and Scheibmeir. Crew members include: Battles, director; and Roberts, light design.

“The Self-Portrait” is a monologue featuring Wall. Crew members are Scheibmeir, director; and Garcia, light design.

“Hanging with the Tapestries” includes cast members: Maxson, Patrick, Rice, Roberts and Stewart. Crew members are Scheibmeir, director; and Steele, light design.

“The Drawing Room Guard’s Big Lie” is a monologue featuring Wall. Crew members are: Robinson, director; and Huffstetler, light design.

“Misguided Tour” is a monologue featuring Huffstetler. Crew members are Robinson, director; and Garcia, light design.

“Framed” includes cast members: Rice and Scheibmeir. Crew members are Robinson, director; and Poindexter, light design.

Evening performances of “Exhibit This!” begin at 7:30 p.m. on April 26-28; a matinee performance on April 29 begins at 2:30 p.m. All performances are in the Black Box Theatre in GC’s Arts & Communications Center on the college’s Main Campus in Denison.

Tickets are $3 or free with college ID for the 90-minute production, which includes mature content. Reservations are strongly recommended since the Black Box is configured to accommodate 90 audience members. For reservations or more information about Exhibit This! contact the GC Theatre Department at 903-463-8609 or theatre@grayson.edu . 

Grayson College students Rodney Hudson and Jessica Huffstetler make museum items come to life in the Theatre Department production of Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies for mature audiences. Performances are scheduled for April 26-28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 29 at 2:30 p.m.