Theater opens the curtains on its fall play, The Sweet Science of Bruising Thursday in the auditorium at 7 p.m. with shows Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. 

For Technical Director Cecily Maucieri, the emphasis on women empowerment is a unique twist from other renditions of the fall play. 

“The Sweet Science of Bruising is about female boxers in the 1800’s trying to make their way through the world despite the expectations of women at that time,” Maucieri said. “We are incorporating elements of rock and roll and riot girl culture from the 90’s to set these women apart and show how contemporary their ideas are.”

Featuring complex characters, The Sweet Science of Bruising, is expanding the acting capability of junior Joe Skinnell. 

“It was really hard for me to figure out how to act like [my role], and get his character across to the audience that this is a horrible guy,” Skinnell said. “Playing a totally different role from my personality helped me open up more, acting wise, and strengthened my acting skills.”

For students such as freshman Maliha Nair, working on the production was challenging at first, but taught important lessons.

“A challenge I faced was getting to have a huge amount of responsibility [as a stage manager and] a freshman,” Nasir said. “Because I showed up all the time and showed I was committed to the show, having all of the responsibilities got easier over the course of this play…and I was able to apply the lessons that I learned in my intermediate theatre class.”