A reception at 1:00 p.m., followed by a reading at 2:00 p.m. by Ella Talerico '25, the 26th recipient of the Marilyn Swartz Seven '69 Annual Playwriting award for the play alien(E).

About the play: Eighty year-old Elaine is sitting on a beach and is obsessed with protecting a nest of unhatched sea turtle eggs. Over the course of three days, Elaine relives the loss of her child, the birth of her second, and her subsequent psychotic break. The play follows Elaine as she struggles to subdue the unrelenting ghosts of her past, maintain a loose grip on the present, and run away from the ever-escaping and utterly terrifying "future." What do we do when the equal and opposite forces of love and fear are constantly at odds within us? How do we heal the unhealable? How do we fight the unbeatable? Where is hope in an unraveling world? Where is truth in an unraveling reality? And most importantly, how do we truthfully remember that which has been lost? How do we reconcile our love and our mourning?

Open to the public.

Reservations required. Email boxoffice@vassar.edu or call (845) 437-5599.

Sponsored by the Drama Department and the Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 fund.