Recent News

Faculty, graduate students and alumni will play an integral role in Planet Texas 2050's annual symposium, where they will present, perform and participate in roundtable discussions with fellow scholars.

The College of Fine Arts and the Equitable Arts Infrastructure Research Group, co-led by UT Austin Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Charlotte Canning, University of Michigan Professor Paul Bonin-Rodriguez and Duke University Associate Professor of the Practice Sarah Wilbur, are hosting a national symposium focused on the enduring challenge of cultural, economic and racial equity in the nation’s performing arts sector.

Ph.D. candidate Aysha Upchurch has been selected as an incoming United States Artists Fellow. Upchurch is among 50 artists and collaboratives from across the country who were nominated and selected. The 2025 USA Fellows will receive funding and support to continue innovating in their respective fields.

Karen Maness, a faculty member in the UT Live Design and Production area, has been selected as an incoming Fellow of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. She will be honored on March 6, 2025 at USITT's Awards Awards Awards ceremony in Columbus, Ohio. 

Samantha Garcia (B.A. 2003) appears as one of the three actors in Oil Lamp Theater's witty, chaotic romp The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged]. The show runs from January 24-February 16, 2025 at the Glenview, Illinois theatre. 

The Equitable Arts Infrastructure Research Group, co-led by UT Austin Department of Theatre and Dance Professor Charlotte Canning and Associate Professor Paul Bonin-Rodriguez and Duke University Associate Professor of the Practice Sarah Wilbur, recently received a National Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.) grant to support a national symposium focused on the enduring challenge of cultural, economic and racial equity in the nation’s performing arts sector. 

Faculty member Annie Baker's film Janet Planet was awarded "Best First Film" at the 2024 New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Faculty, graduate students and alumni recently attended the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR) Conference, where they received awards, presented on plenary sessions and organized working sessions with fellow scholars nationwide.

The 2023/2024 B. Iden Payne Award winners were announced November 11 , 2024, honoring many artists in the Austin theatre community. The Texas Theatre and Dance productions of Ride the Cyclone (2023) and Romeo y Juliet (2024) were among this year's award winners, along with multiple UT Theatre and Dance artists working at theatres across Austin.