One of the images on the ceiling of the Mark and Stephanie Medoff Theatre in the ASNMSU Center for the Arts in Las Cruces is a little barefoot girl in pink.
That’s Ruth Cantrell, the one-time head of the NMSU Theatre Department, founding director of a Children’s Theatre Workshop at NMSU and award-winning playwright. Her play “Cassandra: An Ongoing Tragedy,” will have its world premiere performance in Montclair, New Jersey in October.
Cantrell, who moved to Tucson in 2012, sent the play to Mosaic Dance Theatre Company in 2023, and producing artistic director Morgiana Celeste Varricchio “saw such possibilities to add dance and music,” Cantrell said. “It all clicked. We began discussing how the addition of dance and movement would embody a vital physical emotional component to the piece. It all comes to fruition with the world premiere Oct. 16.”
Cantrell’s stories in the production include live spoken word and dance with an original musical score and choreography, under Varricchio’s direction.
“Comparing Greek myths to modern day horrors, this world premiere depicts the eternal existence of hate and the ongoing impact of the evils brought forth from Pandora’s Box,” is what Mosaic Dance Theatre Company said about “Cassandra: An Ongoing Tragedy” on its website.
The play was selected by Echo Theatre in Dallas for its 20th season reading series in 2017.
Cantrell’s plays have been produced in theatres and universities in the United States, Canada, Germany, Australia and the United Kingdom, including “The Dog Daze of Summer,” which debuted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. Her children’s plays are published by YouthPLAYS.
An emerita professor of theater arts at NMSU, Cantrell is an alumna of the Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive, recipient of the New Mexico’s Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (2002) and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
In addition to serving as founding director of a Children’s Theatre Workshop (1984-2012), Cantrell was director of southern New Mexico’s Theatre for Young Audiences (1985-2012), founding director of Playwriting and Performance Camp in Las Cruces (1985-91; alumni include Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris) and founding artistic director of Another Planet, Voices from Las Cruces (1992-98), a collaboration of Branigan Cultural Center and NMSU.
“Since theater in Las Cruces was part of my life for 27 years, it’s difficult to put into a few words,” Cantrell said her career at NMSU and with local theatre. “I have many fond memories as a performer, director, playwright and audience member.”
“Ruth was a prolific contributor to theatre not only at NMSU but within the community,” said NMSU Theatre Department Head Wil Kilroy. “I often run into current students and alums who rave about the children's theatre program that Ruth created and ran for so many years. I hear stories of how Ruth influenced not only their pursuit of theatre but uplifted their lives through her charismatic teaching.”
For more information, visit mosaicdancetheaterco.org, newplayexchange.org/users/3621/ruth-cantrell and youthplays.com/authors.php
