2023-2024 Productions
Featuring three one-act plays from the Student Playwright Festival, As You Like It, Fairview, and Once
Student Playwright Fest
Directed by Emily Ritger
The production features:
Much to Do About Valentine by Aimee Jaske
The Familiar Perils of a Vacation Bible School by Annika Halonen
Untitled Dream Girl by Emm Socey
September 28 - October 8, 2023
Three student-written comedic one-act plays comprised our first Main Stage production kicking off the season. These plays were first developed in the Spring 2023 playwriting course led by instructor of theatre Sandra Delgado. The Student Playwright Festival is an extension of the Theatre Program's focus on developing students' creative voices.
Photography by Joe Mazza
As You Like It
By Wiliam Shakespeare
Directed by Mark E. Lococo
October 9-29, 2023
When a tyrant duke becomes jealous and a wrestling match sparks love, the pastoral Forest of Arden suddenly becomes a haven for banished cousins Rosalind and Celia, the noble Orlando, and a motley groups of shepherds, jesters, and courtiers. In the face of exile, Rosalind and Celia don male disguises and take matters into their own hands in the pursuit of love. All the world's a stage in this rollicking comedy, and its characters are the cleverest of players. Written over 400 years ago but still charming as ever, Shakespeare's As You Like It is jam-packed with mistaken identities, mysterious letters, witty banter, and a forest of lovers.
Photography by Joe Mazza
Fairview
By Jackie Sibblies Drury
Directed by DeRon S. Williams
February 15-25, 2024
Dinner is served in the Frasier household...or at least, it's cooking. With the clock ticking towards Mama's birthday party, Beverly frantically tries to corral her husband Dayton, daughter Keisha, and siblings Tyrone and Jasmine to throw the perfect party. But there are unseen presences in the Frasier home, and no one escapes their gaze. Under the surface of this searing family comedy simmers an inescapable racism that boils up in the most unsuspecting of ways.
Photography by Joe Mazza
Once
By Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, and Enda Walsh
Directed by Kelly Howe
April 4-14, 2024
"In the city of Dublin, music fills the streets and hearts yearn for connection. When Irish musician Guy meets Czech immigrant Girl, their surprising friendship turns heartbreak into hope as the flame of musical inspiration is rekindled. Told through folk music played by the actors, Guy and Girl's relationship blossoms into something that will change their lives forever. Based on the Oscar-winning film, Once unravels a simple and uplifting story of love, hope, and the power of music."
- Musical Theatre International
2023-2024 Second Stages
Life is a Cabaret
Led by Phoebe Ludwig
Mentored by Clare Roche
September 11-16, 2023
Life is a Cabaret explores the emotional journeys of young women (though applicable to any gender) through popular musical theater songs. The show takes on a cabaret-like structure with added dialogue, monologue, and choreography. As the show progresses, the audience gains an understanding of the relatability of musical theater in the modern era, specifically how this genre of music is applicable to everyone's own story, despite the context it may be written in. Part of this project is to communicate the idea that a tool as powerful as storytelling can be even stronger through music and performance. This piece takes all of these learning elements and varying themes to produce a "classic" piece of musical theater that anyone can enjoy!
Without Words
Led by Hemani Mehta
Mentored by Roger Ellis
October 30- November 4, 2023
The project will begin with a master class in which the project members will learn techniques from ancient Sanskrit theatre (specifically rasas). We will spend a few hours playing with the rasa boxes and improving the emotional and movement skills of the actors. Over the next couple of days, the project members will come up with a movement and choose music/poetry to create a story. This is what will be performed for the audience. The story will only be told through movement and accompanying music/poetry. There will not be any words. A lot of what we learn in our classes are western styles of performance. We discuss other types of performance in our Theatre History and Literature classes, but a lot of the time we never to get to experience or learn them.
Cafecito
Led by Grace Herman
Mentored by Kelly Howe
November 3-19, 2023
In their local coffee shop, creatives of all ages gather to work on, discuss, and perform art. Cafecito is a story about how the capitalist world constantly demands productivity and perfection from us, killing our creative joy. All in a desperate desire for profit in a not inherently profitable industry. Leading to extreme competition, self-doubt, and pressure. This original one-act play challenges the characters and the audience to reclaim their creative joy and reexamine how they operate as artists and humans within this capitalist society.
#Enought: Plays to End Gun Violence
Led by Katie Nowak
Mentored by Mark Lococo
January 22- February 18, 2024
With the rampant nature of gun violence in educational settings, it is essential to hear the voice of students affected by this epidemic. “#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence” is a 2020 series of seven 10-minute plays written by high school students about gun violence in schools. Project leader Katie Nowak will produce three of these plays - “Malcolm,” “Ms. Martin’s Malaise,” and “Guns in Dragonland” - in the Underground Theatre with a student-based cast to open a dialogue about this ubiquitous violence. Along with the production, we will partner with a Chicago-based gun-violence-centered group such as Students Demand Action or One Aim Illinois either do a talkback or fundraise. This project aims to produce theater that creates real change in the educational community.
ANAGNORISIS
Led by Grace Elizabeth Mealy
Mentored by Jess Thigpen
February 12-25, 2024
Dramatically bringing art to life, this project employs sophisticated tableaux vivants of Greek artwork to propel actors into scenes and monologues from Ancient Greek theatre. Animating artwork and telling the stories of female characters, such as Clytemnestra, Antigone, and Iphigenia, the Women in Theatre ensemble asks how we can challenge our preconceptions of women or of female characters by, quite literally, seeing ourselves in them. This physical embodiment draws on the Ancient Greek concept of "anagnorisis": the enlightening, revelatory moment of self-recognition. This project unites a passion for both the performing arts and visual fine arts, utilizing the visceral & instantly impactful emotions one feels when looking at a piece of artwork into performance — and vice versa, using one's experience & process as an actor to better understand figures depicted in art. With a variety of positions for performers and designers, this project hopes to ultimately culminate in collaboration with an art museum or gallery.
Girl, That's so Tragic
Led by Annika Halonen
Mentored by Tim Kane
March 11-24, 2024
Girl, That's so Tragic is a contemporary exploration of Aristotle’s Poetics with a goal of making the original text more accessible and developing an understanding of a highly valued theoretical text on performance. Following Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and the structure of ancient Greek tragedies, a small ensemble of students will brainstorm ideas of “contemporary tragedies” that could be applied with this form and structure. Throughout a devising process, these ideas would be tested and tweaked by the ensemble until everyone has a strong understanding of Greek Tragedy and all of its elements and how they function in performance. The ensemble will then choose one idea to turn into a fully realized contemporary tragedy, utilizing contemporary language and ideas while maintaining the balance explored in the workshop with elements from ancient Greece.