Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Preparations for Departure is a show like no other - unless, that is, you happened to catch last semester's performance of Macbeth. Like Macbeth, the show requires the audience to position themselves in relationship to the characters. The performance space has no clear stage, and while the action is often centered on one scene, the other characters were often spread throughout the space, still acting, allowing the audience to explore various characters and interactions at their leisure.
This similarity with Macbeth is not without reason; Matchbox Theater Company, the group behind Preparations, consists of Swarthmore '09 grads (Colin Aarons, Jessie Bear, Dan Perelstein, Sasha Shahidi, and Jackie Vitale) and Emma Ferguson (class of 2010), all of whom worked on or acted in Macbeth last May. (Full disclosure: This writer played in the MacBeth music ensemble.)
While it is never explicitly present - at least, this writer never found an explicit reference in the show or in the rich collection of papers and objects that decorated the space - the aesthetic of The Little Prince runs through Preparations for Departure as it tells the story of a real immigrant family, and expounds on that family in the realm of the maybe-magical.
On April 10, the South-Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) announced widespread service cuts and fare increases for the 2026 fiscal year. The cuts, which total a 45% reduction of service, are the culmination of several years of long-term deficits that have only
Under a new NCAA policy banning transgender and gender non-conforming athletes from participating in women’s sports, the status of potential Swarthmore student-athletes is in question. The policy, enacted Feb. 6, places no restrictions on who can participate in men’s teams, but bans
On April 10, the Division of Student Affairs notified students previously found responsible for violations of the Code of Conduct who had appealed of their final findings. The Phoenix has confirmed that all initial findings were upheld, rendering any appeals for a
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In January 2024, the Intercultural Center (IC) announced a change in leadership for the first time since 2019. Dr. Wade Manora Jr. is the new Assistant Dean and Director of the IC, succeeding Dr. Imaani El-Burki in the role. Manora was the
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