Northampton, MA – The Smith College Department of Theatre presents an evening of student directed one-act plays on April 30 and May 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre in Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts. The 2026 Spring Studio Productions include The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage by David Ives directed by Amy Lu ’28 and Malefactions by Matt Minnicino directed by Kim Suarez-Villao ’28. One is a light-hearted comic take on the British murder mystery, the other is a raw look at performative activism. Tickets are free at smitharts.ludus.com.
In The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Dexter arrives at a country parsonage to investigate the murder of Jeremy Thumpington-Fffienes. As Jeremy’s wife, two lovers, and a suspiciously attractive sofa aid in the investigation, the crime crescendos into an uproarious parody of Masterpiece Theater, Sherlock Holmes, and all things British. Director Amy Lu ’28 is excited to bring a genre that isn’t often shown at Smith onto campus: “At Smith, where students are deeply engaged in critical and creative work, I see this as a chance to both meet that audience halfway—with something recognizable—and also invite them to question it: to notice the complexity within the characters, the social dynamics of the period, and the tension between surface appearances and underlying truths.”
David Ives has been active in the American theatre for 50 years. His shows include All In The Timing, Time Flies, Venus In Fur, New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza, and four verse adaptations of French comedies, as well as radio plays that are available online at PlayingOnAir.org. He collaborated with Stephen Sondheim on Sondheim’s last musical, Here We Are, which premiered off-Broadway at The Shed in September 2023.
Malefactions features the story of four women lost in the world until they unite. They attempt to tell their story through poetry, fire, and blood, but chaos ensues when an outsider is brought into their world. The girls are left facing these questions: Who is responsible? How culpable are all of us? What do we have the right to decide? Director Kim Suarez-Villao ’28 observes: “This play was written over 10 years ago, but takes place ‘now. recently. or soon.’ Fascinatingly (and tragically), its themes about the complexity of resistance and the ways it can be warped by personal interest is particularly relevant today, with the rise of performative activism post 2020.”
Matt Minnicino is a queer, Jewish playwright, adaptor, teacher, theatre-builder, and filmmaker. He received an M.F.A. in playwriting from Columbia University School of the Arts. Malefactions was first produced in 2016 at the Cradle Theatre Company, where director Lauren Z. Adleman was a semi-finalist at the 2017 New Play Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Readers and audience members of Malefactions recommend it for being “timely, provocative, and gripping on every level” and have praised Minnicino for “writing roles for women where they get to be unpredictable and authentic.”
Audiences should note that Malefactions contains strong language, onstage violence and kidnapping, descriptions of self-harm, terrorism, and abuse. The Mystery of Twicknam Vicarage has a gun appearance and gun shots. Full details are available by contacting boxoffice@smith.edu. Tickets are free, reservations are encouraged at smitharts.ludus.com.
