What happens when you feel stuck in a town that doesn’t seem to understand you? When you and your friends are outcasts, trapped in a place that feels suffocating, but you’re not sure where to go next? When you’re young and full of dreams but have no idea how to make them real? Set in the 2010’s suburbs of New Jersey, Mothership is a one-act play that explores that feeling of being caught in a vortex of indecision, wanting to leave, and not knowing where to go. It’s about the confusion of emerging as an adult, searching for connection, and weighing the risks of stepping into the unknown. Mothership tells the story of two young people struggling to find their place in a world that feels too small and too limited while getting ready to get out and trying to figure out where. In this play, the audience is invited to explore the space between what is and what could be. It’s a story of self-discovery and the power of possibility.
The Senior Thesis Theater Production is a new work written and performed by Dani Brugger ’26 and Paige Merril ’26 as a senior project,
and directed by Eliza Bryson ’26 in partial fulfillment for Honors in Theater.
Tickets are free, and can be reserved two weeks in advance: https://bit.ly/WesMothership25
A timely parable that exposes the devastating consequences of mass hysteria and the erosion of justice. Amidst the infamous Salem witch trials, accusations fly, moral lines blur, and a tight-knit community finds itself on edge. Arthur Miller’s investigation of groupthink, betrayal, and morality offers a searing critique of McCarthyism, serving as a stark and urgent warning for our times.
This Mainstage production was selected by the team from Fall 2024 course THEA180: Reading Plays for Production—Conceiving for Performance. The WesTheater faculty thanks the students for their input and thorough choice consideration as part of this inaugural class offering.