Recent News

Alumnus Rudy Ramirez (M.A. 2012) has led the charge for more visibility of Latinx voices on the Austin stage, culminating in Futurx Festival, a multi-day showcase of forward-thinking, Latinx-penned performances, including solo shows, plays, improv and a host of avant-garde work.

Faculty member Adriana Serrano (Department of Theatre and Dance and Radio-Television-Film) served as the production designer for The Obituary of Tunde Johnson, which opened the 2019 Austin Film Festival last week. Written by Stanley Kalu and directed by Ali LeRoi, The Obituary of Tunde Johnson tells the story of a gay African American Teenager who is forced to relive, over and over again, the day he is shot and killed at the hands of the police. 

Former student Keith Machekanyanga is set to play "Little Mo," a recurring character in Showtime's limited series Your Honor. This legal thriller is based on an Israeli drama and also features Bryan Cranston, Tony Curran and Lamar Johnson. 

Though it premiered over a decade ago, [12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs)] has new resonance in a year when women worldwide are seeking a reckoning of their power via #MeToo and other movements. Under Jess Shoemaker's direction, the show is a moving, mysterious production that frees Ophelia at last from Hamlet's shadow.

Radio-Television-Film faculty Ben Bays and Deepak Chetty worked with Department of Theatre and Dance lecturers J.E. Johnson and Karen Maness to interconnect three courses. Bays taught advanced visual effects, while Chetty led a course on three-dimensional animation, both of which are seen as special effects in the subgenre of visual effects.

Will Brittain (attended) plays "Trey" in Josh Harmon's SKINTIGHT, which receives its West Coast premiere at The Geffen Playhouse later this month. Brittain recently sat down with Broadway World to discuss his work on SKINTIGHT alongside original stars of the Broadway production Idina Menzel and Eli Gelb. 

Playwriting and Directing faculty member KJ Sanchez was recently named a recipient of the University Co-op Hamilton Book Author Awards for her record of creative research, including three world premieres at three different renown venues: (dis)placed (Guthrie Theatre), Grandma’s Empanadas (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), Cincinnati King (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), as well as her directorial role in Quixote Nuevo (Alley Theatre) and the world premiere of Knyum (Merrimack Repertory Theatre).