Recent News

New play Frozen Section by Lisa D'Amour (M.F.A. 1996) will have its world premiere at Houston's Catastrophic Theatre from April 4-19, 2025. Set in a post apocalyptic grocery store, Frozen Section is about a group of people who decide to find normalcy together reenacting the business of a defunct grocery store. 

An excerpt from Associate Professor of Playwriting and Directing KJ Sanchez's 2024 book The Radical Act of Listening: Making Documentary and Investigative Theatre has been published in a recent article in American Theatre. In the article, she discusses the pillars (or suggestions, as she calls them) of creating documentary theatre and her experience using them to write a play about a feud that impacted her own family.

Faculty member KJ Sanchez is directing the regional premiere of her play Walden (remix) at the Mary Moody Northern Theatre at St. Edward's University from April 3 - 13, 2025. Walden (remix) also features current B.F.A. in Acting student Chandler Collins and alum Megan Reilly (M.F.A. 2007) as prop designer.

The University of Texas at Austin Theatre and Dance department was well represented at USITT's Awards, Awards, Awards ceremony as part of their 65th Annual Conference & Stage Expo. Karen Maness, a faculty member in the UT Live Design and Production area, was honored as an incoming Fellow of the Institute and UT Live Design and Production M.F.A. candidates Daniel Ruiz Bustos, Matthew Smith and Zach Young were recognized for their excellent work in theatre design. Behind the scenes Katelyn Nguyen, an undergraduate student pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and Dance, was able to work on the conference and expo itself through USITT's Stage Management Mentorship Program.

Sadie Sink (Stranger Things, The Whale) talks to The New York Times about her starring role in the Broadway premiere of John Proctor is the Villain, written by playwriting alum Kimberly Belflower (M.F.A. 2017).

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.