Recent News

Chicago Tribune theatre critic Chris Jones profiles Texas Theatre and Dance alumnus Issac Gomez and his new play La Ruta, premiereing at Steppenwolf Theatre Company on December 20.

Associate Professor Charles O. Anderson, artistic director of Charles O. Anderson/dance theatre X, has been awarded a residency at the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC) to develop (Re)current Unrest, an evening-length immersive performance installation ‘ritual’. ​​

Senior Lecturer Rennie Harris's probing Lazarus premieres as part of a program celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.  

Andrew J. Friedenthal praises the work of director Adam L. Sussman to change The Merchant of Venice "from a painful reminder of historical stereotypes into an even more painful, desperately urgent exposé of our contemporary prejudices."

Burgess Byrd (Shylock), Bella Medina (Portia) and Adam L. Sussman (Director) sit down with Texas Theatre and Dance Marketing and Events Assistant Ryan Prendergast to discuss the challenges and rewards of one of Shakespeare’s most controversial and misunderstood plays. Part scathing social satire, part romantic comedy, part revenge thriller, The Merchant of Venice defies expectations and asks us to examine what hatred we hold in our hearts.

The works of Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fall For Dance explore embodiment, community, diversity and introductions. Dorothy O’Shea Overbey’s new work, Invention in Three Parts, features the work of faculty and students from the Department of Theatre and Dance and Radio-Television-Film in a collaborative performance blending virtual reality, motion capture technology and contemporary ballet.

Associate Professor Kirk Lynn, one of the five artistic directors of the Rude Mechs theatre collective, will perform in his own one-man show The Cold Record as part of the Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival in January 2019. 

Associate Professor Charles O. Anderson has been awarded a 2018-2019 Research & Creative Grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research for his project (Re)current Unrest. The evening-length piece is an immersive performance installation ‘ritual’ investigating legacy, authorship and the history of black art and protest through the lens of the erasure of the Africanist presence inside of Steve Reich’s compositions.

Assistant Professor Quetta Carpenter has been announced as the director the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's 2019 production of Julius Caesar. Her adaptation will offer a media-saturated, modern take on Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, set on the battlefields of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. 

Professor Susan Mickey recently received the Jeff Award in Costume Design for her work on The Taming of the Shrew at Chicago Shakespeare Theater (2017). The Jeff Awards honor outstanding theatre artists in the Chicago area and celebrate excellence through its recommendations, awards and honors.