Colin McKenna (FCLC ’98), a New York playwright and director, returned to Fordham on Thursday, Feb. 22, to direct the Fordham Mainstage production of Bertolt Brecht’s Man Equals Man, at the Pope Auditorium, Lowenstein Center, Lincoln Center campus. McKenna is the first Fordham alumnus to direct a Mainstage production at Fordham.
Playwright Colin McKenna Photo by Michael Dames
McKenna, who was a 2006 Dramatist Guild Playwriting Fellow, studied in the Department of Theatre and Visual Arts under the late Lawrence Sacharow, former director of the department. He attended graduate school at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, and is currently participating in the Cherry Lane Theatre’s Mentor Project for aspiring playwrights, where his play,The Secret Agenda of Trees, will begin production in the spring. McKenna said that he and the student cast will dedicate the Fordham performances to his former teacher.
“Larry was an absolute mentor to me,” said McKenna, who also teaches an undergraduate course, Invitation to Theatre, as an adjunct professor in the department. “I have tried to embrace what he taught me in this production.”
Man Equals Man, one of Brecht’s earlier plays, tells the story of an Irish waterfront porter who is coerced into enlisting in the military. McKenna said the production would use the Brechtian tools of songs and signage to help tell the play’s story of man’s dual nature.
The production opened on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. and runs through Saturday, March 3. Ticket and schedule information can be found at the Fordham Theatre Company website.
– Janet Sassi
