2021-2022 Season

The 26th Annual First Year Show 

October 7–9 | Hepburn Zoo
7:30pm each evening and 10pm on Friday

The 26th Annual First Year Show will feature select works from Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks’s 365 Days/365 Plays. Each short play has its own story line, but are connected through similar themes of love, politics, and the pursuit of human connection.

Directed by Ro Boddie

Orphan Muses by Michel Marc Bouchard

October 28–30 | Seeler Studio Theatre
7:30pm each evening and 2pm on Saturday

1965. A house on top of a hill. An isolated village in Québec, Canada. Three sisters and their brother are reunited for the first time in many years. The reason for the reunion: the imminent return of their mother, who abandoned them twenty years earlier, leaving the town in the amorous arms of her Spanish lover.  After her departure, the older siblings rewrote the family history to protect Isabelle, who was seven-years old at the time.  Fantasy replaced reality. But today, as the orphans await the mother’s return, Isabelle will demand to know the truth. A tragicomedy about loss, family secrets, love, and the power of the imagination.

Directed by Claudio Medeiros

No One is Forgotten by Winter Miller

November 11-13 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:30pm each evening and 2pm on Saturday

Lali and Beng are held captive. They don’t know for how long or if anyone is looking for them. Playwright Winter Miller writes a story about intimacy, surrender, and the will to live. Starring Meili Huang ‘23 and Gabrielle Martin ‘21.5. 

Gabrielle Martin’s 700 work in acting and Madison Middleton’s 500 work in directing. 

Directed by Madison Middleton ‘22.5.

Gidion’s Knot by Johnna Adams

November 18-20 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:30pm each evening and 10pm on Saturday

Over the course of a parent-teacher conference, a grieving mother and an emotionally unsteady elementary school teacher have a volatile interaction about the tragic suicide of the mother’s son, Gidion. As his story is slowly uncovered, the women deal with feelings of guilt and shock, culminating in a conclusion that neither want to face. This project is the final performance of Ryan Kirby’s 500 Independent Project in directing. Performed by Peyton Mader (‘24) and Sara Massey (‘23). 

Ryan Kirby’s 500 work in directing. 

Directed by Ryan Kirby ‘22.

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen

December 2-4 | Wright Memorial Theatre
7:30pm each evening

This fantastical comedy about the power of imagination takes us to Athens, Ohio in 1995 where we meet Agnes Evans, an “average” young woman who wishes her life was less boring. That wish opens the door to a world of adventure as Agnes discovers that her teenage sister Tilly has led a double life as Tillius the Paladin, Dungeons & Dragons healer of the wounded and the protector of lights! New Landia is unknown territory for Agnes, as is so much of Tilly’s too short life. Will Agnes cross the threshold to learn more about Tilly and herself? Will she take up the challenge to find and free the Lost Soul of Athens before it is devoured by the dark forces of darkness forever? Will the world ever embrace geeks not as outsiders but as awesome? Come find out!

Directed by Olga Sanchez Saltveit

Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel 

January 27-29 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:00pm each evening and 2:00pm on Friday

Dry Land is a visceral portrait of two competitive high school swimmers, Amy and Esther, who are stuck in suburban Florida. Amy is pregnant, and she needs Esther’s help. A story of female beauty and cruelty, Speigel shows us the gritty depths of what young women resort to when they feel they don’t have any other choices.

Becca Berlind’s 700 work in acting and Gabrielle Martin’s 500 work in directing. 

Directed by Gabrielle Martin ‘21.5.

Dinner with Friends by Donald Margulies

March 31-April 2 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:00pm each evening and 2:00pm on Friday

In this contemporary age when couples befriend other couples to find family companions with common ground, Dinner with Friends seeks to explore what happens when one of these romantic pairs breaks down, and the waves that can make across households.

Wynn McClenahan, Francis Price, and Gibson Grimm’s 700 work in acting and Caroline Armour’s 500 work in directing. 

Directed by Caroline Armour ‘24.

Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill

April 14-16 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:00pm each evening and 2:00pm on Friday

Queers take back history… and look damn hot while doing it. Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill, senior thesis work of Ryan Kirby ‘22 and Madison Middleton ‘22.5, is an extravagant and edgy queering of Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli and his iconic painting, The Birth of Venus. Tannahill creates a radical space where queers are no longer on the periphery of history but take center stage in a story that will leave you laughing, moaning, maybe even shedding a few tears. Featuring the Renaissance, 80s flair, and modern gay culture, this is college theatre as you’ve never seen it before. 

Madison Middleton and Ryan Kirby’s 700 works in acting and directing, and Katie Concannon’s 500 work in costume design. 

Directed by Ryan Kirby ‘22.

Ophelia Underwater by Janielle Kastner

April 21-23 | Hepburn Zoo Theatre
7:00pm each evening and 2:00pm on Friday

Ophelia had everything: the boyfriend, the plan, the dress. Her life was a comedy. Until it really, really wasn’t.
Set underwater in the mind of Hamlet’s forgotten, drowned heroine seconds after falling (or jumping?), Ophelia cross-examines her story, her existence, and most importantly - her ending. With the clock (literally) running out of time, Ophelia must decide how much she’s willing to pay to be the author of her own story. 

Bella Constantino-Carrigan’s 700 work in acting and costume design and Meili Huang’s 500 work in directing. 

Directed by Meili Huang ‘23.

Mr. Burns by Anne Washburn

May 5-7 | Wright Memorial Theatre
7:30pm each evening

After the collapse of civilization, a group of survivors share a campfire and begin to piece together the plot of The Simpsons episode “Cape Feare” entirely from memory. Seven years later, this and other snippets of pop culture (sitcom plots, commercials, jingles, and pop songs) have become the live entertainment of a post-apocalyptic society, sincerely trying to hold onto its past. Seventy-five years later, these are the myths and legends from which new forms of performance are created.

Directed by Alex Draper