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Every two years, The Cohen New Works Festival presents over 30 new works of theatre, dance, art and performance to over 7,000 attendees in five days. This festival, named after former playwriting faculty member David Mark Cohen, who our community lost too soon, is a celebration of creative disciplines spanning across the university to showcase the new work of students.. The 2017 Festival runs April 10 through 14.

Dr. Charlotte Canning and Dr. Paul Bonin-Rodriguez explore the damage cutting funding to the National Endowment for the Arts would do, asking the question "what would life be like without the NEA?" 

Faculty member KJ Sanchez is staging the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's mainstage production, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre which uses music, movement and choreography to creatively tell the Victorian story of love on the moors of Northern England. 

For one week, every other year, the Department of Theatre and Dance pauses, as the Cohen New Works Festival transforms nearly every imaginable space in the Winship Drama Building to host exhibitions of art. Enjoy a sneak peek of a sampling of projects to debut at the Festival, April 10 through 14.

We sat down with Megan Tabaque (playwright, Galactic Orphans), Graham Schmidt (director, Galactic Orphans), Elizabeth Doss (playwright, Slumber Party), Lirit Pendell (costume designer), Tucker Martin (“Simon Levinson,” The Bigot), Jade Jackson (“Amber,” Gondal) and Adam Sussman (director, Gondal) to learn more about the challenges and thrills of cultivating new works of theatre as they move from ideas to the stage.

Psychological trauma is the subject of most plays about service members. Does this represent most veterans' reality, or does it further complicate their reentry? Ph.D. candidate and military veteran Bart Pitchford explores the relationship between America's theatre and its veterans.

Meet six students who are leading the way on campus, including B.F.A. in Dance candidate Sofia Aranha. Recipient of the 2017 Texas Exes President’s Leadership Award, Aranha hopes to combine her passion for dance with her desire to serve her community after graduation.

Get to know the masterminds behind the moves of Dance Repertory Theatre’s Momentum (on stage through February 26, 2017). Featuring nationally renowned choreographers, these artists use movement to express what often cannot be put into words and bring to light important and powerful conversations present in today’s society.

"This program of dances informed by African American experiences and culture was highly physical and emotionally urgent." (Austin Chronicle) Dance Repertory Theatre's Momentum is on stage at the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre through February 26, 2017.