ETSU’s 2026 Basler Chair of Excellence Steve Maurice Jones directs “Passage,” a contemporary exploration of power and perception running March 5-8 at the Martin Center.
When Steve Maurice Jones directs a play, he’s aiming for more than applause.
“Theater should not, necessarily, make you feel something,” Jones said, invoking German playwright Bertolt Brecht, “but rather do something.”
Jones, East Tennessee State University’s 2026 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence and a Broadway actor and director, brings that philosophy to “Passage,” running March 5-8 at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts.
A mirror to ourselves
Inspired by E.M. Forster’s “A Passage to India,” Christopher Chen’s “Passage” explores how power shifts between people and nations. The play centers on two fictional nations locked in conflict, and the people caught in between.
For Lillian Calhoun, who plays H in the production, the challenge has been unlike anything she's experienced onstage.
“It's incredibly honest, and it feels more like you're watching the news rather than a theatrical performance,” Calhoun said. “I think that is what makes it so difficult because all of these characters are very real and honest people, and the cast has to walk a very fine line of being actors and also being human.”
Theater as a call to attention
“The brilliance of Chen's play is in the way that its nameless, genderless, and racially undefined characters all adhere to and, at once, challenge our perceptions, biases, and allegiances,” Jones said.
Calhoun hopes audiences recognize the weight of what they're witnessing.
“This show is so much more than a play or a theatrical performance,” she said. “It is a call to pay attention to the world around you.”
Tickets and show information
“Passage” runs March 5-8 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. There will be a reception and Q&A session with Jones following Sunday’s performance. The production includes simulated gunfire, haze and strobe-like effects. Viewer discretion is advised.
The Bert C. Bach Theatre at the Martin Center offers an intimate setting where audiences experience the power of live performance up close, creating the kind of connection that defines great regional theater.
Tickets are available through the Martin Center. The Department of Theatre and Dance is part of the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, a vibrant center for cultural activity.
Learn more about the ways ETSU enriches the region at etsu.edu/our-region.
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