Theatre Fairfield, Fairfield University’s resident production company, will begin the new year with four performances of British playwright Marina Carr’s dramatic play, Woman and Scarecrow. In compliance with state and local Covid-19 gathering restrictions, all four of the show’s entirely student-run performances will be livestreamed via YouTube on:

• Friday, January 29 at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, January 30 at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, January 30 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, January 31, at 2 p.m.

Tickets for the virtual production ($10 general admission and $5 for students) can be purchased online at quickcenter.com or by phone at 203-254-4010. After purchasing a ticket, patrons will receive YouTube link via email on the day of the performance.

A Faustian tale enriched with Carr's poetic dialogue and gothic atmosphere, Woman and Scarecrow tells the story of Woman, whose stained past has made her bitter at the world. As she lies patiently on her deathbed, a ghostly entity looms in her wardrobe, waiting to take her. Her only companion is Scarecrow, a spiritually connected being that has accompanied Woman her entire life and now sits with her until the end. As Woman and Scarecrow look back at their shared history, and bicker over the many choices they have made, they slowly come to terms with their identities. 

The New York Times called Woman and Scarecrow a “blistering beauty of a play that rages with regret and pitch-black humor at the wasted years of a misspent life." A foreboding story of regret and unfulfillment, the play warns all who watch it what an inactive and passive life amounts to when it is finally over.

Woman and Scarecrow is sponsored by the Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation and was chosen by students as Theatre Fairfield’s 2021 Independent Play Project, an annual University tradition in which theatre students have two weeks to produce a full-scale production — from start to finish — entirely on their own and without faculty assistance.

Directed by Park Lytle ’21, the play’s cast features Tracy Ferguson ’22 as “Woman” and Kierstin Jones ’21 as “Scarecrow,” with Kiersten Bjork ’21 as “Auntie Ah,” and guest artist Liam Bray as “Him.” The production’s artistic team includes costume, hair, and makeup designer Julianna Gentile ‘22, stage manager Meghan Dana ‘22, and co-producers Lytle and Jones.

A senior economics major and theatre minor, director and co-producer Park Lytle said he was drawn to the Woman and Scarecrow script by its surrealist presentation. “There’s a lot of fun symbolism and imagery throughout the whole story,” he said, “and I was instantly excited at how we could build on it.”

As far as creating the show remotely with actors rehearsing across the country in Florida and Washington state, Lytle said, “It’s been a serious paradigm shift for everyone involved. We essentially had to readjust our entire plan from start to finish.”

But the silver lining, he noted, “is that we’re able to create new solutions to problems no one has faced before, so the mistakes we make and solutions we find are going to be what future productions are going to look at and consult.”

Lytle recommends Woman and Scarecrow to “anyone who has felt some kind of fear this past year. Our show is dark, and it deals with some heavy themes. It’s not our goal to scare anyone or to remind them of how scary the world has become; instead we want to let them know these insecurities are valid.”

For more information, visit www.theatre-fairfield.org.