W&L Presents “The Dramatic Circle” Performances will occur Dec. 2-5 in the Keller Theatre on the W&L campus. Tickets are required.

Written originally by Veronika Kolosova’25
November 30, 2021

Washington and Lee University presents “The Dramatic Circle” Dec. 2 – 5 in the Keller Theatre on the W&L campus. Each performance begins at 7:30 p.m.

The performances are free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets can be reserved online or in-person at the Lenfest box office during open hours (Monday-Friday, 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m.).

All attendees are expected to be masked indoors in compliance with the university’s COVID-19 guidelines.

One missing husband, two related female writers of color, and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” are three inharmonious stories interwoven within “The Dramatic Circle.”

Stuck in London, writers Alice and Suzanne struggle with the sudden disappearance of Alice’s brother, David, and the mystery surrounding his dangerous journey to Ghana seeking a cure for the gravely ill controversial philosopher Frantz Fanon.

During this time, pregnant Suzanne’s health requires professional treatment. Her doctor recommends that both women join him in his Dramatic Circle – a unique book group reading “Dracula” – to take their minds off their worry for David. This decision sets the tone for a peculiar series of events with a mysterious man visiting their garden at night. Not even the diversion of their reading circle can ease their minds.

“The audience will leave the performance with a larger sense of what it is like to love somebody and what the effects of war are on a community,” said Nafeesa Monroe, the guest director. “‘The Dramatic Circle’ looks at historical cycles including war, mistreatment and oppression in different centuries and how a love story can be at the center of it all.”

For more information, call the Lenfest box office at 540-458-8000.