February 26th - March 1st: Coker Theater to Present 'How We Got On'

The Coker College Theater Department will present “How We Got On,” a coming-of-age play written by playwright Idris Goodwin. The hip-hop infused play will debut in Coker’s Watson Theater at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27-March 2.

Tickets to the event are $10 for the general public, $5 for students and seniors, and free to Coker students and faculty.

“How We Got On” is a modern-day play originally produced in Louisville, Ky., in 2012. The play details the lives of three young adults during the time when rap was a new and unique movement that began a cultural phenomenon. In addition to its historical hip-hop storytelling, the play also highlights the importance of finding your unique voice and path and the crucial roles that friendship and community play in that quest.

“One of the things that appealed to me was the musicality of the piece; the inherent rhythms and the fact that much of the sound support is meant to be made onstage by the actors,” said Kindra Steenerson, assistant professor of theater. “Additionally, I felt our majors could really sink their teeth into this play because they were born after the birth of hip-hop and know nothing of the world before it. Hip-hop is as familiar to them as any other old-school musical genre. Because of that, it's given us some good research opportunities to discover the origins of hip-hop culture.”

“How We Got On” will star students Datra Cook, Sammie Reece, Keon Wilson and Terah Gamble. Before each performance, there will be a poetic cypher to welcome all attendees, which will star Tammaka Staley, Daché Green, Darrell Daney and Aubanita Kirk.

For more information on the event, contact Steenerson at ksteenerson@coker.edu .

Coker Theater to present The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Coker Theater to Present Shakespeare Comedy

The Theater Program at Coker College will present “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” a comedy by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, at 7:30 p.m. March 28, 29, 30 and 31 in the Black Box Theater in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

One of the world’s most frequently produced plays, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” has been translated into dozens of languages and has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as “wildly funny,” by the Montreal Gazette as “the funniest show you are likely to see in your entire lifetime” and by the New York Times as “irresistible.”

Produced through a special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing, the play “makes a dilly of poor Willy,” wrote theater critic Michael Musto of the New York Daily News. Musto described it as “a fantasia of zany energy that throws together Monty Python-ish drag and Mel Brook-ish anything-for-a-laugh gags.”

Directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Kindra Steenerson, the cast, whom Steenerson says “provides the sass” for her first production at Coker, includes students Cecil Ray Morrell III, Hartsville; Daniel Stevenson, Columbia, S.C.; Keon Wilson, Sumter, S.C.; Datra Cook, Sumter, S.C.; Dana Griffin, Kershaw, S.C.; and Ellen Skipper, Conway, S.C. 

Set and lighting design are provided by Assistant Professor of Theater David Dawson, and the sound design is provided by Facilities Manager and Assistant Technical Director Trevor Robinson.

Admission is free, and seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. For more information, call 383-8382 or contact Steenerson at ksteenerson@coker.edu.

“Hope to see you there,” invites Steenerson. “Until then, may The Bard be with you!”