The Illinois State University School of Theatre and Dance has announced the productions planned for spring 2021. Spring 2021 productions will be streamed via an online platform and made available at no cost thanks to the generosity of donors who regularly support the School of Theatre and Dance.
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde
By Moisés Kaufman
Directed by Paul Christopher
March 4-6 at 7:30 p.m.
Live performance hosted via Zoom Webinar. Registration is required.
Register now:
Thursday, March 4
Friday, March 5
Saturday, March 6
Gross Indecency uses trial transcripts, personal correspondence, interviews, and other source materials to tell the story of the downfall of the great man of letters whose artistic genius has long been overshadowed by the scandal surrounding his imprisonment.
Roe
By Lisa Loomer
Directed by Britannia Howe
April 8-10 at 7:30 p.m.
Live performance hosted via Zoom Webinar
Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that legalized abortion, is still fiercely debated over 40 years later. In this incisive play, acclaimed writer Lisa Loomer cuts through the headlines and rhetoric to reveal the divergent personal journeys of lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) in the years following the fateful decision. In turns shocking, humorous, and poignant, Roe reflects the polarization in America today while illuminating the heart and passion each side has for its cause.
Barbeque
By Robert O’Hara
Directed by Tyrone Phillips, Guest Artist
April 22-24 at 7:30 p.m.
Staged performance hosted via Zoom Webinar
In this hilarious and devastating comedy by Robert O’Hara (Bootycandy, Antebellum), the pill-popping, chain-smoking, whiskey-swilling, and foul-mouthed O’Mallerys have gathered in their local park to share some barbecue and straight talk with their trainwreck of a sister Barbara, whose spiral of drugs and recklessness has forced her siblings to stage an open-air intervention. When the story twists to reveal two parallel families—one white, one black—the event becomes raucous and unpredictable. Racial politics collide with family stereotypes, survival, and America’s fascination with self-destruction as entertainment.
Spring Dance Concert
Artistic Director: Laina Carney
In collaboration with the Creative Technologies Program
April 29-30 and May 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Staged performance hosted via Zoom Webinar
Radio operas: Gallantry and The Old Maid and The Thief
Gallantry music by Douglas Moore and libretto by Arnold Sundgaard
The Old Maid and The Thief, composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti
A collaboration between the School of Theatre and Dance and the School of Music
Director: Maggie Marlin-Hess
Music Director: Justin Vickers
April 30 at 8 p.m.
Recorded radio presentation hosted by WGLT
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