New season begins at Robsham Theater
The fall season of theater at Boston College begins with a production of Caryl Churchill鈥檚 鈥淭op Girls,鈥� touted as one of the best plays of the 20th century by, among others, Entertainment Weekly, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, and The Guardian theater critic Michael Billington, who included it in his book The 101 Greatest Plays.
Directed by Theatre Department Associate Professor of the Practice Patricia Riggin, the play will run from October 2-5 on Robsham鈥檚 main stage.
Written by Churchill during the Margaret Thatcher era in England, 鈥淭op Girls鈥� explores the choices modern women face in the workforce. Opening with a dinner party where each guest is a historical, fictional, or mythical woman who faced adversity and suffered bitterly to attain her goals鈥攊ncluding Pope Joan, a Japanese courtesan turned Buddhist nun, and Dull Gret, a subject of a Flemish renaissance painting鈥攖he play culminates in a blistering and timely dispute over the politics of the right vs. left. 鈥淭op Girls鈥� questions whether it is possible for women in society to combine a successful career with a thriving family life.
The Robsham main stage will be the venue from December 4-7 for one of the most beloved Christmas stories, Charles Dickens鈥� 鈥淎 Christmas Carol.鈥�
The production, directed by Associate Professor Courtney Elkin Mohler, will feature live music and dance, as well as the timeless tale of miserly and humorless Ebenezer Scrooge鈥檚 redemption and transformation鈥攚ith the help of three spirits鈥攐n one Christmas Eve.
For more on Theatre Department/Robsham main stage productions, including performance times and ticket prices, visit听. For tickets, see or call ext.2-4002.
Pascale Florestal
The Theatre Department also has welcomed Pascale Florestal as the Rev. J. Donald Monan, S.J., Professor in Theatre Arts for the 2025-2026 academic year.听 Established in 2007 by a generous gift to the University, the Monan Professorship鈥攏amed for the former University president and chancellor鈥攂rings regionally and nationally renowned theatre artists to work and teach at Boston College on an annual basis.
Florestal is a four-time Elliot Norton Award-nominated director, educator, dramaturg, writer, and collaborator based in Boston.听 She is the associate artistic director of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theater company committed to advancing racial equity in Boston through theater, and an assistant professor of theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. She also created and manages the Young Critics and Apprenticeship Program and is associate producer of 鈥淭he Reading Series,鈥� 鈥淏lack Out Events,鈥� and other productions.
Her directing credits include 鈥淭o the People Like Us鈥� (Strand Theater), 鈥淣o Child鈥� (Gloucester Stage Company), 鈥淚s This America?鈥� (White Snake Projects), 鈥淥ur Town鈥� and 鈥淣ext to Normal鈥� (Central Square Theater). As an assistant to the director, Florestal has worked with Kimberly Senior, Liesl Tommy, Billy Porter, Paul Daigneault, and M. Bevin O鈥橤ara; as associate director, her collaborations have included Gil Rose (鈥淴: The Life and Times of Malcolm X鈥�) and Kimberly Senior (鈥淥ur Daughters, Like Pillars鈥�). She served as associate director for the Broadway national tour of 鈥淛agged Little Pill.鈥�
In 2021, Florestal was named one of the WBUR ARTery 25 Artists of Color Transforming the Cultural Landscape in Boston. In 2020, she won the inaugural Greg Ferrell Award for her excellence in teaching and supporting young people. 听
Read more about Florestal in her Theatre Department profile.
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