Southwestern College’s 93rd annual production of Eagerheart will be presented three times next month. Performances are set for Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 11 a.m., and Sunday, Dec. 7, at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in Messenger Recital Hall inside the Darbeth Fine Arts Building. Admission is free and open to the community.
The Southwestern College theatre department and the Campus Players present the show each year as a gift to the community. Director Terry McGonigle said this is the first time in 15 years the production will feature an all-student cast.
“We are proud and excited to bring Eagerheart home to the Southwestern campus this year with an all-student cast of 17,” McGonigle said. “Although the show will have a lot of the original elements created over the past nine decades, we are adding some new elements of magic as we bring the story to life in this year’s retelling.”
Eagerheart, written by early 20th-century English playwright A.M. Buckton, celebrates the legend that Christ and the Holy Family travel the earth each year and bless one deserving home where they rest on Christmas Eve. Characters including Eager Heart and sisters Eager Fame and Eager Sense, along with shepherds and the kings of Power, Wisdom, and Love, reveal their understanding of Christ and his teachings. The search for the Holy Family is tested by beggars seeking food and shelter, challenging audiences to live with charity throughout the year.
Southwestern College student Abbey Denly will perform the Prologue and Epilogue.
MaKaylin Kuchar will play Eager Heart. Saherena Williams has been cast as Eager Sense and Austin Fairbanks as Eager Fame.
Ethan Green will portray the Beggar Man. The kings will be played by Emerson Williams (Power), Jack Titgemeyer (Wisdom), and Colton Adams (Love). Adam Urich will perform as the Old Shepherd, and shepherds will be played by Vanessa Lopez, Andrew Porter, and Braden Osborne.
Taliana Corns, Hannah Brown, Kimberly Taundi, Izzy Ramires, and Jessica Talcott will play the angels.
An uncredited but honored woman traditionally plays the role of the beggar woman, later revealed as one of the Holy Family. Infants from the community are cast as the beggars’ child taken in by Eager Heart.
Technical staff includes McGonigle as director, Kalissa Ortega as lighting technician, and John Moberly as sound technician.
