The Theatre Department presents student and professional productions each semester at the Sullivan Studio Theatre and Modern Theatre.
The student-centered Theatre Department, has a particular focus on student-written, directed, and designed plays. Students work in classic, musical, and experimental genres with a special focus on new work.
Spring 2017 productions and events
Spring Showcase
Thursday, Feb. 9, through Sunday, Feb.12
Sullivan Studio Theatre
Sawyer Building, 8 Ashburton Place, 11th Floor
- The Lucid, written & directed by Matt Bittner
- ~~**2009**~~, written by Kevin J.P. Hanley and Claire Boyle, directed by Hanley
- Something Went Wrong with the Mystery Machine, by Ariana Messana, directed by Jessica Hickey
- 900 Mouths Versus the Black Box (A Parade of Fragments), by Theo Goodell, adapted & directed by Aria Lynn Sergany, assistant directed by Erica Lundin Alumni. Goodell, an alumnus and playwright, collaborated with student director Sergany to develop the play.
Free and open to the public. Reservations encouraged.
Spotlight Series of student work
One Last Night, written & directed by Keynessa Nazaire
4:40-6 p.m. Friday Feb. 17
Sullivan Studio Theatre
Sawyer Building, 8 Ashburton Place, 11th Floor
A pizza reception follows the presentation.
A Second Chance, written & directed by Ivan Cuevas
4:40-6 p.m. Friday March 24
Sullivan Studio Theatre
Sawyer Building, 8 Ashburton Place, 11th Floor
A pizza reception follows the presentation.
Orlando by Virginia Woolf, adapted by Sarah Ruhl
8 p.m. Thursday April 6 & Friday April 7
3 p.m. & 8 p.m. Saturday April 8
3 p.m. Sunday April 9
Modern Theatre, 525 Washington St,
After a night of debauchery, Duke Orlando wakes up as a duchess. During her/his/their frolic through 17th century Constantinople, Victorian and 20th century England, and places and selves in between, Orlando asks: "Who then am I?" This student production is directed by A. Nora Long, associate artistic director of the Lyric Stage Company.
Senior Maxine Buretta is designing all of the costumes for Orlando as her senior honors project
Ticket information to be announced
Trailer: Before The Trees Was Strange from Derek Burrows on Vimeo.
Before the Trees Was Strange, a documentary film by Derek Burrows
Tuesday, April 18
Modern Theatre, 525 Washington St,
Before the Trees Was Strange traces Burrows’ journey from the Bahamas, where he grew up "white," to the United States, where he was embraced as "black." Burrows is a master storyteller, modern troubadour, filmmaker, and photographer.
Sponsored by the Philosophy and Theatre departments
Time & ticket information to be announced
Student work
Playwright Linnea Rose and director Andrew John Bourque have collaborated to create the play Fractured Inferno as their senior honors project. The play, inspired by fairy tales and myths, will be performed at the Sullivan Studio Theatre in mid-April.
In other Theatre Department news, Xsenia Kamalova’s 10-minute play Full of Life has been chosen as the Region I finalist for the “Planet Earth Award” at the 2017 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Planet Earth plays are 10-minute pieces that address issues of climate change, the environment, and surrounding issues of urgent concern.
Past events of spring 2017
Steve Sweeney: Townie
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, Modern Theatre
Comedian/actor Steve Sweeney describes his journey from hardscrabble Charlestown and the old Boston Theater District to a career in film, television, radio, and stand-up comedy.
Sponsored by the History and Theatre departments & Office of External Affairs.
Post-performance discussion and Q&A with Professor Robert Allison of the History Department
Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa
7-9 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 26
Modern Theatre, 525 Washington St, Boston
Yusef Komunyakaa “takes on the most complex moral issues, the most harrowing ugly subjects of our American life. His voice, whether it embodies the specific experiences of a black man, a soldier in Vietnam, or a child in Bogalusa, Louisiana, is universal. It shows us in ever deeper ways what it is to be human,” writes poet Toi Derricotte in the Kenyon Review.
Sponsored by the English Department and Creative Writing Program. Free and open to the public
Spotlight Series of student work
Title TBA, written & directed by Erica Wisor
4:40-6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27
Sullivan Studio Theatre
Sawyer Building, 8 Ashburton Place, Boston, 11th Floor
A pizza reception follows the presentation.