October 23, 2024
Tiffin University presents the regional premiere of “The Upstairs Department,” a new work by Chelsea Marcantel, October 25-27 in the Marion Center at Tiffin University.
Playwright Chelsea Marcantel channels the unexpected in an ethereal journey of familial love, the limits of cynicism and how to explain the unexplainable. After a serious illness, a young man wakes up with the power to communicate with the dead (or so he believes). Desperate for guidance and to connect with their late father, he and his skeptic sister set out to test his paranormal talent at the Lily Dale Spiritualist community where their discoveries summon more than the afterlife. The production originated at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia in 2022.
This production contains mature content and themes, such as grief, loss, death from illness, the COVID-19 pandemic, profanity, queerphobic language, faith and spirituality (or lack thereof) and mention of police brutality and racial injustice. A talkback with the cast, director and Erin Jensen Skeel, Director for Counseling & Wellness for Tiffin University, will follow the Saturday evening performance.
“I am thrilled and deeply honored to have directed the regional premiere of this hilarious and profoundly relevant work,” said Justin DeLong, Assistant Professor of Commercial Music at Tiffin University. “Two of TU’s Commercial Music students, Justin Ferstler and Spencer Solberg, created the transitional music you’ll hear as part of the performance. We also collaborated with Dr. Shannon De Clute’s death and dying course on activities to engage students and the community, including program materials and a tree of remembrance to honor loved ones,” he continued. “From writing to acting to serving on our backstage and technical crew, I’m very proud of all of the students involved in making this production happen.”
There will be evening performances at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, as well as a Sunday matinee at 1 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at tiffin.edu/arts/tickets or at the door.
