Missoula Oblongata

Release date: October 23, 2009 |

The Missoula Oblongata, a Baltimore-based experimental theater group, will perform The Moon, the Raccoon, and the Hot Air Balloon on Friday, October 23, and Saturday, October 24, at 7 p.m. in Goucher College’s Mildred Dunnock Theater.

Goucher faculty and students will perform original works created during a four-day workshop with the group on Sunday, October 25, at 6 p.m. in the Mildred Dunnock Theater.

All the performances are free, but tickets must be reserved  by calling the Mildred Dunnock box office at 410-337-6512. Tickets for the Sunday performance will be available at the box office 30 minutes prior to the show.

The Moon, the Raccoon, and the Hot Air Balloon tells the story of an obese raccoon, her trainer, and a Panamanian magician whose lives all collide at The World's Fair. The performance relies heavily on image, palindromes, shadow play, movement, and music.

Formed in 2005, the Missoula Oblongata is dedicated to creating original work. All of the group’s lights, sound, and sets are homemade, transportable, and operated by the performers themselves. This allows them to perform in smaller and cheaper venues – from a living room to neighborhood park – making them more accessible to the public at large.

During their four-day workshop, Missoula Oblongata will use its own collaborative artistic process to help 16 Goucher community members develop their writing, directing, acting, and stage-building skills. The participants will develop original works, along with the sets and costumes to accompany them, for the Sunday performance.

Workshop spaces are still available for Goucher faculty and staff. The workshop will be taught at Goucher on Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22, 7-11 p.m. and on Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Contact Allison Campbell, assistant professor of theatre, at acampbel@goucher.edu to attend the workshop or for more information.

The workshop and performances were sponsored by the Theatre Department, the Student Government Association, and the Robert N. and Frances Dulkerian Schmidt '49 Visiting Artist Fund.

Frances Dulkerin Schmidt '49 established the fund in memory of her late husband Robert N. Schmidt, Sr. to enrich and support Goucher College's theatre program.