“The Theatre Department at Barnard changed my life and soul,” said Zuzanna Szadkowski ’01, a playwright and actor known for her role in the hit TV show Gossip Girl.
Producing the world premiere of Fox Toss, a riotous historical romp, with members of the College’s Theatre Department was a bit of a homecoming for Szadkowski. Written by Szadkowski and directed by Alice Reagan, the department’s professor of professional practice, this New Plays at Barnard commission delivered an unforgettable mix of absurdity, history, and biting wit that had audiences roaring with delight.
It was cool how they incorporated the actual show being set in the 1700s [with] inside jokes that the students know about.
For three nights (March 6-8), the audience was transported to the world of Augustus the Strong — a 17th-century Polish king known for his Herculean strength, endless list of mistresses, and, of course, his peculiar penchant for tossing foxes for sport. But beyond the king’s extravagant exploits, Fox Toss zeroed in on a fierce, fictional showdown between Augustus and his most determined illegitimate daughter, Anna, in a story packed with family feuds and feminist fire.
“In returning to Barnard after 25 years, I was thrown back to that scary, thrilling time when I was deciding what aspects of home I wanted to take with me into my solo adult life,” said Szadkowski. “At the same time, I discovered a historical figure, Poland’s worst dad, who sired hundreds of children and reveled in grotesque displays of strength, such as tossing live foxes for distance. My play is set in this king’s court and grapples with the difficulties of becoming who you want to be.”
Szadkowski found her way back to Barnard’s Theatre department after Reagan saw the play Fall River Fishing — written by Szadkowski, who was also an ensemble member — in February 2023. “I thought it was a fantastic, outrageous play, full of irreverent and ambitious ideas and copious design demands,” said Reagan, who learned Szadkowski was an alumna after approaching her about working with Barnard.
Fox Toss is the Theatre Department’s fifth show produced by New Plays at Barnard, a program founded in 2011 by Reagan. Every three years, New Plays solicits pitches from woman-identified playwrights that are voted on by the Season Planning Committee — three Theatre Department faculty and two theatre majors. The Theatre Department then commissions the script that the playwright will work on with director Reagan and Barnard-Columbia theatre students through the entire development process.
The set design, costuming, and all of the actors were fantastic. It’s really great to see alums coming back to give back to the Barnard community.
“It’s important to note that we are not choosing from full scripts; the plays are written and workshopped at Barnard in the fall semester and produced in the spring semester,” said Reagan. “Playwrights write with Barnard and our students in mind.”
“These students are extraordinary, inspired collaborators,” said Szadkowski. “They think critically, have access to a great deal of theatre knowledge, and have challenged me to make a better, funnier, more truthful play.”
From Fox Toss’s stage manager and other production staff to the cast, students on both sides of Broadway received practical theatrical experience while also playing a key role in how the final performance turns out.
“I’ve learned a lot about the curation of characters’ looks in a practical and sustainable way, and I also worked on the developmental workshops of the play as an actor,” said Isabel Tongson ’26, a theatre and English major. The wardrobe crew member helped to bring the performers’ visual representation to life by giving the character of Joey a beautifully long foxtail that curled around the actor’s body and by dressing Anna in pants to represent her rebellion against the monarchy, for example.
“I’ve always been passionate about developing new works, and I love the workshop setting, so being able to see the world premiere of Fox Toss all the way to performance with Zuzanna and Professor Reagan has been a very gratifying experience,” Tongson said.
Reagan — an award-winning theatre director — emphasized the importance of theatre students getting to participate in world-building during the workshop period and rehearsals, as well as experiencing the bright-stage-light applause from an audience for their work.
“For most of these students, this is their first time working on a new play with the playwright in the room, which made it exhilarating and challenging,” said Reagan. “We’ve had script changes up until a week before opening as Zuzanna fine-tuned the play, [which] meant that not only did actors learn new lines and hone their performances, but the student technicians were also learning how to roll with an art-making experience that required flexibility and ingenuity.”
While Tongson said that Fox Toss wasn’t her first time working on a theatre production or with theatre professionals, this was her introduction to working in wardrobe and developing the production — two invaluable experiences for any theatre professional. “I know my peers and I who were working on the show felt like we could really make [it] our own since it was the first time the play had ever been done,” said Tongson. “We feel we have left a lasting mark on what the play will be for any future productions, and we are so proud of our work.”
See images from Fox Toss’s dress rehearsal below:
fox toss dress rehearsal
Fox Toss’s Barnard-Columbia Crew
Artistic Staff
Writer Zuzanna Szadkowski ’01
Director Alice Reagan
Scenic Designer Amelia Lang ’25
Assistant Director Melañia Horowitz ’26CC
Assistant Costume Designer Laila Diaz ’25CC
Production Staff
Stage Management Keala Henry ’26
Assistant Stage Manager Ember Greene ’25
Props Assistant Ayah Fakhy ’25CC
Scenic Painter Caroline Adams ’25
Scenic Painter Zhamina Faulkner ’25
Lighting Technician Julia Cassinelli ’25
Wardrobe Sherlyn Rojas ’25
Wardrobe Alexa Goldfarb ’25
Wardrobe Isabel Tongson ’26
Light Board Operator Tess Inderbitzin ’25
Sound Board Operator Umer Naru ’27CC
Run Crew Huma Nayab ’25CC
Cast
Aurora Ibadah Adam ’25
Joey Emerson Antunes Black ’28
Fatima Mason Deas ’28CC
Anna Cai Dewrell ’28
Augustus the Strong Boti Ekler-Szabó ’25CC
Ursula Anaitzel Franco ’27
Jeremy Desislava Kremenlieva ’26GS
Johannes Eduardo Ramirez ’25CC
Elise Shea Rodriguez ’26CC
Angel Norah Vlas ’26
Barnard Staff
Theatre Department Chair W. B. Worthen
Department Administrator Kate Purdum
Director of Production Mike Banta
Technical Director Greg Winkler
Costume Shop Manager Kara Feely
— REPORTING BY TARA TERRANOVA ’25
