Inspired by the startling results of the 2018 Tulane University Climate Survey on Sexual Misconduct revealing that 41% of female students and 19% of male students reported being sexually assaulted during their time on campus, a team of student performers and New Orleans artists have come together to address sexual violence on the University’s campus by creating Roleplay, a new theatrical work that explores student’s experiences with love, sex, power, and consent.

Roleplay Tulane University’s Lupin Theatre (150 Dixon Hall Annex) September 5 - 15 Thursday - Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 3 pm Tickets are free, but must be reserved at www.goatintheroadproductions.org.

Adjunct Professor Darci Fulcher, filmmaker Katie Mathews, Tulane Professor Jenny Mercein, and artists from local theatre company Goat in the Road Productions have worked with 15 Tulane students to create this 90-minute show that follows 11 students through their Sophomore year of college.

The show features a stand-out group of student creator/performers. The performing ensemble includes Aaron Avidon, Carl Briggs Jr., Ross Brill, Alexandra Elam, Hannah Gordon, Grace Graughnard, Robert Holmes-Acourt, Miranda Kramer, Nagelle LeBoyd, Hailey Mozzachio, and Lucy Sartor, and was also built by Annalise Harknett, Noah Hazzard, Hannah Kent, and James Weiss. The student group worked together for over a year, excavating their own experiences with sexual violence, racism, homophobia, addiction and mental health issues in order to generate material for an original theater piece aimed at spurring dialogue, healing, and culture change.

The professional theatre team is as follows: Tulane Assistant Professor and Head of Undergraduate Acting Jenny Mercein and Goat in the Road members Shannon Flaherty (GRP co-Artistic Director), Dr. Denise Frazier (Assistant Director of the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South at Tulane University), Darci Fulcher (Adjunct Professor at Tulane), and Chris Kaminstein (GRP co-Artistic Director). The design team includes Ellen Bull (costume), Owen Ever (properties), Kevin Griffith (set), Dylan Hunter (sound), Joan Long (lights), and Kit Sternberger (stage manager).

In addition, the Roleplay process is being followed by documentary filmmaker, and project co-originator Katie Mathews. Over the course of the 2018-2019 school year, a group of professional and student filmmakers documented the creation process in an attempt to portray the social issues that college students grapple with today, and how art can be transformational in confronting these issues. The Roleplay documentary film is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2021.