By Shani Carrington ’18

Not everyone is a great swimmer. A forgivable offense for a human, but for a shark, being a bad swimmer is a daily annoyance.

The dark comedy Bite Me, one of four plays running through Nov. 22 in New Perspectives: Four Plays by Four Women, follows one shark’s attempts to overcome his poor swimming skills by enrolling in lessons at the local community pool.

Dealing with topics such as coming-of-age, prejudice, love, religion, and navigating life (or water), New Perspectives is the professional debut of four 10-minute plays, each by women playwrights and originally workshopped at the National Playwriting Program of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Mark Wade, director of the Theater Arts program, will direct two of the productions, while Damien Figueras ’16 and Dan D’Albis ’17 will direct Bite Me and Kicking, respectively.

“[Bite Me] is a play with a message that is important to our society now,” says Figueras of his production. “It takes a look at the way in which we view racism in today’s society. By making it about a shark and a human, it places it through a comedic lens and really asks the audience to look at the ways in which we treat others.”

An actor and playwright, Figueras is directing a MainStage production for the first time with Bite Me, though he has directed smaller productions as president of Under Siege, the student-run theater organization. A challenge of transitioning from actor to director, notes Figueras, is allowing actors to follow their instincts without interjecting his reading of the characters too much.

The plays in New Perspectives are:

“I think audiences can look forward to seeing plays that are written for and about our own younger generation,” said Figueras. “I feel that it’s about time we get to hear the younger voices in our community, and what better place to do it than a college campus where these stories and perspectives on life are so prevalent and resonate so much.”