Recent News

Alumnus Andrew Hinderaker's (M.F.A. 2013) new 10-episode drama Away, which follows an astronaut who must leave her family behind to lead a treacherous, three-year mission to Mars, premiered on Netflix on September 4, 2020. 

Revisit the brilliant work of Department of Theatre and Dance and School of Design and Creative Technologies students with this collection of select performances from this year’s Evolution (Virtual Edition) showcase, which exhibited the resilience and adaptability of our students, as well as insight into the process of remote collaboration.

Faculty member Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is one of the first commissioned playwrights selected for Lincoln Center Theater's new initiative, The Beaumont New Play Commission Program. As a commissioned playwright, Jacobs-Jenkins will create work for the Broadway and Tony-eligible Vivian Beaumont Theater.

In lieu of a ceremony, this year's Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award recipients, including faculty member and associate department chair Charles O. Anderson, were honored with a video celebrating their success as dedicated educators who continue to go above and beyond, enriching the education of their students.

To celebrate the start of a new academic year, the Theatre and Dance Undergraduate Advisory Council has developed unique online events that will help welcome incoming students to the department. From a game night to virtual Convocation, they are ensuring that our new Longhorns have a chance to make connections and meet their peers as the semester starts.

Undergraduate student Libby Carr recently spoke about their experience attending the National New Play Network's M.F.A. Playwrights' Workshop for their play sad girl hours. Carr shared their inspiration and goals for the play as well as the lessons they learned from working within a collaborative theatre community.

Texas Performing Arts has teamed up with Fusebox Festival to launch a new residency program for Austin-based performing artists. This year's artists consist of faculty members Gesel Mason and Charles O. Anderson, alum Rudy Ramirez and the artists of Frank Wo/Men Collective, many of whom are alumni or current students at the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Graduate students Jasmine Games and Yasmin Zacaria Mikhaiel have been selected as the two recipients of the 2020 Texas Educational Theatre Association's Founders' Scholarship for Upper Division/Graduate Theatre Students.