Department productions 2022-2023

FALL 2022

VOLTA Dance Collective - BITE II

Directed by Mamie Green & Megan Paradowski
Performances: Oct 14th, 2022

Redlands University and Los Angeles based dance theatre company Volta will present the world premiere of “BITE II,” an exploration of the prison of femininity, the beauty industrial complex, and rebellion. Drawing from classical mythologies, pop culture, and the performers’ own experiences, BITE II imagines a world where women are driven to madness, lose control, and set themselves free. What does it mean to be free in a world where we are our own surveillance? “BITE II” invites audiences to live out fantasies of liberation.

The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe

Directed by Allison Scarlet Jaye
Performances: Oct 27-30, 2022

Pulitzer Prize finalist The Wolves is a bold and moving play by Sarah DeLappe. Featuring female-presenting characters (comprised of nine adolescents and one briefly-seen adult), The Wolves chronicles six Saturday mornings in the lives of a soccer team somewhere in suburban America as they prepare for their games. The players, each only referred to by their team number, discuss everything from genocide to menstrual cycles to drugs to boys (and girls!) to literature to each other. This group of individuals seem indistinguishable at first but quickly become identifiable and different. Funny, shocking, and emotional, The Wolves is a ferocious look at a group of young people coming of age in society today.

Appropriate for high school age and older. Some content may be sensitive for younger people.

SPRING 2023

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler

Directed by Gregory Ramos
Musical Direction by Joe Modica
Performances:  March 10th-12th, 2023 & March 18th-19th, 2023

One of the darkest musicals ever written, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the unsettling tale of a Victorian-era barber who returns home to London after fifteen years of exile to take revenge on the corrupt judge who ruined his life. When revenge eludes him, Sweeney swears vengeance on the entire human race, murdering as many people as he can, while his business associate Mrs. Lovett bakes the bodies into meat pies and sells them to the unsuspecting public. Perhaps composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s most perfect score, Sweeney Todd is lush, operatic, and full of soaring beauty, pitch-black comedy and stunning terror. It’s one of the signal achievements of the American musical theater of the last fifty years, and the high-water mark of Sondheim’s remarkable contributions to the American Theatre. Appropriate for high school age and older. Please be advised the play contains theatrical depictions of murder and violence.

Spring Play Festival 2023

Created by graduating Senior Theatre and Theatre Business majors
Performances:  April 15th-16th, 2023

SAT 4/15

• 2pm - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)(revised)(again)
• 7:30pm - The Cake

SUN 4/16

• 2pm - The Cake
• 7:30pm - The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)(revised)(again)

The Cake By Bekah Brunstetter, Directed by Jay Arroyo

This follows the story of Jen and Macy who are getting married and want to get their wedding cake made by their family friend and small-town cake shop owner, Della. Della is extremely conservative and has religious beliefs that cause her to decide whether or not she can morally make their cake. The play explores themes of love, and acceptance as well as sexuality and living in two worlds at once. The Cake offers a poignant look at how people navigate their values and relationships in an ever-changing world.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)(revised)(again) By Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield, Directed by Lauren Witte

Three actors attempt one of the largest theatrical feats of all time—to perform all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in one performance. Full of chaos and comedy, Complete Works is a thrilling play that shows the fun and captivating art that is the writing of William Shakespeare.

MAY 2023

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and directed by Chris Beach

Directed by Chris Beach

Performances:  May 12th at 7:30pm, May 13th at 2pm & 7:30pm, May 14th at 2pm

After almost 30 years of teaching & directing plays at the U of R, Theatre Arts faculty member, Chris Beach directs his final production.

Considered Beckett’s masterwork, Waiting for Godot, is a meditation on the nature of existence. One of the most important and enigmatic plays of the 20th century, it shines a brilliant light on the times we are in today.

The production features seasoned performers, local luminaries Terry Donovan Smith, Steve Morics, Renata Quijada, Chad Sweeney—and introduces Liam Sweeney!

Please join us for an evening of unforgettable theatre. This remarkable production will stay with you forever!

We will have a post-show talkback with cast & creatives immediately following these performances:

• Friday, May 12th @7:30pm

• Sunday, May 14th @2pm