Director Series
Director Series performances are directed by our senior undergraduate directing students and our first and second year graduate students in The John Wells Directing Program. Director Series works offer audiences opportunities to experience the visions of the next generation of leaders as well as bold new perspectives on 21st century theatre-making.
These productions partially fulfill the educational requirements of the School of Drama's BFA and MFA programs.
Director Series Times
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8 pm
Cost
Tickets are free and will be available at the box at the box office ON THE DAY OF PERFORMANCE.
Upcoming Performances
Past Performances
Barbarous Nights
FEDERICO GARCÍA LORCA
Based on the translation by Christopher Sawyer-Lauçanno,
A new adaptation by Sam Creely, Corinna Archer, and Miranda Steege
Directed by Sam Creely
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“At the rise of the moon the sea overspreads the land and the heart feels like an island in the infinite."
Written during the political and economic transitions of 1920s Spain, this reworking of a collection of short stories, poems, and playlets by Federico Garcia Lorca explores the performative nature of identity, gender, and sexuality by means of roosters, feather dusters, blind maidens locked in tall towers, talking trees that bear no fruit, and the play's protagonist, Buster Keaton
Lady Han
by ZEAMI MOTOKIYO
Directed by Katie Brook
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"His keepsake, this fan, has a front and a back, but now I know even more two-faced was his heart."
Obsessed by her lover's unrequited promise, Hanjo appeals to higher powers to cease her suffering and find personal fulfillment in this ancient and exquisite Japanese Noh play.
A Number
by Caryl Churchill
Directed by Lillian DeRitter
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"Don't they say you die if you meet yourself?"
Caryl Churchill gives us "the first true play of the 21st century," part psychological thriller, part scientific speculation, part exploration of the nature and responsibilities of fatherhood in an age when cloning is just as much a part of child-rearing as lullabies and bedtime stories.
Still Life with Iris
By Steven Dietz
Directed by Maggie Bridges
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“What our memory leaves unfinished, our heart completes with ache.”
Set in the fantastic world of Nocturno, Still Life with Iris is a sort of Coraline-meets-The Wizard of Oz. The play follows young Iris as she struggles to maintain her fragile memories in an inviting shadow-world. Her journey is one of hope, courage and the power of faith.
Lulu
by Frank Wedekind
Directed by Joshua William Gelb
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"When it gets dark she's my only thought - especially when it gets dark."
This 1894 German masterpiece was originally banned for its sexual content, questionable morality, and frank discussions of forbidden topics like lesbianism and prostitution. The play focuses on a young woman and her psychological downfall under oppressive, wealthy, and manipulative men.
The Learned Ladies
Molière Directed by Shannon Sindelar
"A learned fool is more foolish than an ignorant one."
The Learned Ladies examines a family divided over conflicting views of a woman’s place not only in a household but also in the world. This 90-minute version of Moliere’s popular comedy absurdly recontextualizes traditional power relationships with a modern twist - while at the same time articulating struggles that transcend its historical setting.
Hair
Book and Lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni
Music by Galt MacDermot
Directed by Christian Fleming
“Where will they lead me, and will I ever discover why I live and die?”
This new imagining of HAIR champions the tribal quest for love, lust and liberty that defined the 1960’s. Freed from nostalgia, this version will focus on the Aquarian odyssey through its formation and evolution to its cathartic evaporation.
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
Adapted from the poems of Michael Ondaatje
and directed by Sophia Schrank
A motive? Some reason we can give to explain all this violence? Was there a source for all this? Yup!
The Collected Works of Billy The Kid is a far cry from the dime novels that made the teenage outlaw into an American legend. This adaptation will explore the life of the Kid and those who surrounded him with humor, horror, and passion, reminding us that American history is stranger than fiction, full of dangerous, beautiful, hilarious and heartbreaking tales.
The Turn of the Screw
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the novella by Henry James
Directed by Olivia Lilley
“The details: a letter, a locket, a riddle, a name. The words are her own – written in her diary in faded ink on the pages of seven days.”
Miss Jessel’s job seemed like paradise; employed by a charming bachelor to be governess to two innocent children in the secluded English countryside. The only condition: she was not to contact her employer - no matter the eventuality. Miss Jessel is confident that her virtue will prepare her for anything. This gothic thriller confirms our fears that the scariest ghosts are those we conjure ourselves.
The Serpent Woman
Carlo Gozzi
Directed by Jessie Mills
“This last trial you can win only with a kiss. Didn’t I warn you that this was the hardest test of all?”
THE SERPENT WOMAN is an epic fairytale set to stage. When an immortal woman falls in love with a mortal prince, the powers that be demand balance. To win her mortality and live happily with her beloved, the woman must send her prince through a series of sadistic trials. Rooted in the grand tradition of Commedia Dell'Arte, this play has informed centuries of physical theatre. Through high physicality and riotous storytelling, this original adaptation of Gozzi's bittersweet classic will delight the eye and amaze the senses.
Master Harold...And The Boys
Athol Fugard
Directed by Elizabeth Nearing
“Lyrical in design, shattering in impact.” -Frank Rich
Set in Apartheid South Africa, Master Harold examines class and race through a microcosmic lens. Incendiary and sublime, Master Harold is a poignant portrait of the relationships between privilege and oppression. Bitter division polarizes three friends in a Port Elizabeth tea room with devastating consequences.
Slavs!
Tony Kushner
Directed by Miranda Steege
“Welcome to Nevermore.”
Slavs! captures the collapse of the Soviet Union in thrilling theatrical style. Part opera bouffe, part tragic satire, Slavs! holds the mirror up to the tyranny of the despot, the desperation of the voiceless, and the consequences of apathy. With the Middle East in turmoil, Slavs! is a prescient reminder that liberty may be delayed, but not denied.
Tickets are FREE and are available at the box office on the DAY OF PERFORMANCE
Request Concert
Franz Xaver Kroetz
Directed by Jamie Drutman
Location: Ellis Gallery, 3rd floor of College of Fine Arts Building
Request Concert is an experimental silent monodrama examining human behavior through the prism of a single woman living out her evening routine. On this particular night, she ceremoniously decides to alter her orderly existence.
SPECIAL NOTE: Running time will be approximately 45 minutes with no intermission. Performances will be in the Ellis Gallery, room 312 on the third floor in the College of Fine Arts Building. Tickets are limited (only 15 seats available per performance) and can be picked at noon on the day of the show at the box office in the Purnell Center for the Arts.
Performances:
Monday 10/8 at 7:30 pm, 9:00 pm and 10:45 pm
Tuesday 10/9 at 7:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Wednesday 10/10 at 7:30 pm, 9:00 pm and 10:45 pm
Thursday 10/11 at 7:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Friday 10/12 at 4:00 pm, 7:30 pm, 9:00 pm
Saturday 10/13 at 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm
A Murder of Crows
Mac Wellman
Directed by Stephen Tonti
A Murder of Crows is set in a surreal apocalyptic America that is part nuclear waste dump. Wellman holds a poetic and disturbing mirror up to the audience in this challenging and sexy play, showing us how we twist our own understanding of issues surrounding pollution, hypocrisy and heroics.
Antigone
Mac Wellman
Directed by Caleb Hammond
Mac Wellman re-imagines Sophocles' tale through language that meditates on death and memory. In a pre-history, the three Fates enact the story of Antigone, ushering the audience through time and space. Layers of sound and media convey the idea that the story repeats and repeats and repeats...
Antigone will be performed at Studio 201, located at 201 N. Braddock Ave, 15208
Oleanna
David Mamet | Directed by Lio Sigerson
Oleanna is a chilling modern parable of political correctness. A student seeks help from a teacher and the exchange turns into an accusation of sexual harassment - shattering all gender-biased convictions of right and wrong.
Four Saints in Three Acts
Gertrude Stein
Directed by Michelle Sutherland
Gertrude Stein's Four Saints in Three Acts revolutionized how the world viewed opera when it debuted in 1934. With an emphasis on language and rhythm, this production fuses hip-hop, rap, spoken word and gospel music.
DYO (or Please Take Care of Me)
Adapted from the works of Haruki Murakami by Tegan McDuffie with Emily Anne | Gibson Directed by Tegan McDuffie
DYO (or please take care of me) is a vivid new work which weaves together several of Japanese author Haruki Murakami's eclectic characters from various stories. As Murakami's characters try to reach beyond the edges of their reality, we are reminded there is more to our world than what we can see and touch.
1001
Jason Grote
Directed by Paige Kiliany
1001 interweaves the familiar myth of Scheherezade with a contemporary tale of mismatche dlove. As the lines between history and story become blurred, we are forced to question our own conceptions of how facts become legends.
Mud
Maria Irene Fornes | Directed by Asia Gagnon
Mud is the story of Mae and the two men who love, need and eventually destroy her. Set in a world of rural poverty and told with deft simplicity, this play is evocative of a disturbing still-life painting.
Fireface
Marius von Mayenburg
Translated by Maja Zade
Directed by Benjamin A. Viertel
Fireface reveals how two children, Kurt and Olga, engage in a violent struggle to be seen, heard, and break free in the confines of a stable family. Using the only weapons they possess - Kurt and Olga manipulate their sexual power and pyromaniac obsession in this provocative and chilling work.