Join us for Intimate Encounters, a student production directed by Thomas Goodin featuring two one-act plays that explore the complexities, volatility, and humor of human relationships. Anton Chekhov’s The Bear, set in 1888, follows a stubborn widow in prolonged mourning who is confronted by a farmer demanding repayment of a debt owed by her late husband. What begins as a financial dispute quickly escalates into a battle of wills. Christopher Durang’s Wanda’s Visit, set in 1997, centers on Marsha and Jim, a couple settled into a comfortable, if somewhat boring, marriage. Their routine is disrupted when Wanda, Jim’s eccentric ex-girlfriend, unexpectedly arrives for a visit, bringing pandemonium in her wake. Though separated by more than a century, confrontation, consternation and humor are woven into the fabric of both plays, which showcase the unique way men and women communicate and how emotions such as passion, anger, love, and affection can surface unexpectedly.