We Welcome You...

Production photo from Twelfth Night

University Theatre

Sweat

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by N. Emil Thomas

University Theatre

  • February 10-11, 14-18 at 7:30 pm
  • February 12 at 2:30 pm

Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, Sweat tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.

SWEAT is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)

Co-commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s American Revolutions: The United States History Cycle and Arena Stage World premiere produced by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
This production of SWEAT was first presented in New York by The Public Theater (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director)
Originally produced on Broadway by Stuart Thompson and Louise L. Gund

General Public: $18 in advance, $20 at the door  
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $15 in advance, $17 at the door 

The SpongeBob Musical

conceived by Tina Landau
book by Kyle Jarrow
with music and lyrics by various artists

Directed by Andy Waldron and Anne Beck
Musical Direction by Jay Schwandt
Choreographed by Anne Beck

University Theatre

  • March 24-25, 28-April 1 at 7:30 pm
  • March 26, April 2 at 2:30 pm

The stakes are higher than ever in this dynamic stage musical, as SpongeBob and all of Bikini Bottom face the total annihilation of their undersea world. Chaos erupts. Lives hang in the balance. And just when all hope seems lost, a most unexpected hero rises up and takes center stage. The power of optimism really can save the world!

General Public: $18 in advance, $20 at the door  
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $15 in advance, $17 at the door

Child (12 and under): $12 in advance, $14 at the door

THE SPONGEBOB MUSICAL is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com

A Taste of Broadway

Choreographed by Nina Kossler and Beverly Bautista

University Theatre

  • April 26-29 at 7:30 pm

From the theaters in Times Square all the way to Muncie, enjoy dance inspired by some of the most famous Broadway musicals! 

General Public: $18 in advance, $20 at the door  
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $15 in advance, $17 at the door 

Child (12 and under): $12 in advance, $14 at the door

Fall '22 performances

OUR TOWN

Written by Thorton Wilder

Directed by David Taylor Little

University Theatre

  • September 16-17, 20-24 at 7:30 pm
  • September 18 at 2:30 pm

Thorton Wilder's most frequently produced play, Our Town, is a timeless drama of life in the mythical village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, and has become an American classic with universal appeal. Our production brings the story to life using the cast, crew, and Muncie community member's memories and special objects to make the story uniquely ours.

General Public: $18 in advance, $20 at the door  
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $15 in advance, $17 at the door

INTO THE WOODS

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Directed by Dee Dee Batteast and Bill Jenkins

Musical Direction by Beth Truitt

Choreography by Dylan Cole Passman

University Theatre

  • November 4-5, 8-12 at 7:30 pm
  • November 6 at 2:30 pm

Currently on Broadway, this James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim classic takes everyone's favorite storybook characters and brings them together for a timeless, yet relevant, piece where each person's wish is granted, but the consequences of their actions return to haunt them later with disastrous results.

General Public: $18 in advance, $20 at the door 
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $15 in advance, $17 at the door

THE NUTCRACKER

Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Original choreography by Marius Petipa

Directed by Audra Sokol and Christie Zimmerman
Choreography by Mya Ajanku, Susan Koper, Audra Sokol, and Christie Zimmerman

Emens Auditorium

  • December 10 at 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm

Featuring live music by Ball State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gregory Robbins, the age-old tale of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker provides the setting for the return of the Department of Theatre and Dance and School of Music collaboration to the Emens Auditorium stage! Enjoy an unforgettable kickoff to the holiday season with the telling of the story of Clara, the Mouse King, and the Nutcracker Prince.

Please Note: ALL tickets are available for sale at the Emens Auditorium box office or by calling 765-285-1539/

All tickets: $10  

New Works Month Festival

Join the Department of Theatre and Dance for a series of new-play readings, works-in-progress, and experiments in performance and design. Featuring work by students, faculty, and guest artists!

All shows in Strother Theatre unless otherwise stated.

All events ticketed unless otherwise stated. 

Tickets are available through the College of Fine Arts Box Office and online.

March 25: I Carry Your Heart with Me by Jen Blackmer at 3:00 pm

March 26: Sisyphus Rots by Key Billman at 7:30 pm - FREE

March 27: An Investigation into the Inner Mechanisms of a Toaster by Sean Britton at 7:30 pm - FREE

April 2: Projection-design presentation at 7:30 pm - FREE
 
April 5-6: Short Play Series at 7:30 pm each day

April 8: Artists for Inclusivity Showcase: A Night of Vibrant Colors at 7:30 pm - FREE

April 14: The Body’s Rapture by Shannon Kearns at 7:30 pm

April 15: Shades of Gay by David Taylor Little at 2:00 pm

CANCELLED: I am SHE, she is ME curated by Star Gooch at 7:30 pm - FREE
 
April 17–19: Spring Choreography Projects in Korsgaard Dance Studio at 7:30 pm each day
 
April 23: 72-Hour TYA Festival at 10:00 am

 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Emily Tzucker

Strother Theatre

  • February 24-25, 27-March 2 at 7:30 pm
  • February 25-26 at 2:30 pm

A radical, joyful, and raucous adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that challenges the patriarchy in Shakespeare’s original play. Three groups- the lovers, the mechanicals, and the fairies—transform and reform social possibilities in the forest. A group of working-class actors (the mechanicals) prepare for the opportunity of a lifetime--a court performance.  Hermia, Lysander, Helena, and Demetrius seek to fulfill their forbidden desires.  The fairy king and queen vie for control of the natural world.  When they return to court for the mechanicals’ performance, theatre becomes the catalyst for change.

General Public: $15 in advance, $17 at the door 
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $12 in advance, $14 at the door  

Fall '22 performances

THE SECRET IN THE WINGS

Written by Mary Zimmerman

Directed by Drew Vidal

Strother Theatre

  • October 14, 19, 21-22, 25, 27 at 7:30 pm
  • October 16, 23 at 2:30 pm

“Once upon a time” is the password to a spellbinding netherworld of rarely told fairy tales – including Three Blind Queens and The Princess Who Wouldn’t Laugh – framed by a unique twist on the beloved classic Beauty and the Beast.

General Public: $15 in advance, $17 at the door 
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $12 in advance, $14 at the door

THE MOORS

Written by Jen Silverman

Directed by Karen Kessler

Strother Theatre

  • October15-16, 18, 20, 24, 26, 28 at 7:30 pm
  • October 22 at 2:30 pm

Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, dreaming of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.

General Public: $15 in advance, $17 at the door 
Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $12 in advance, $14 at the door 

Please note: For the 2022-2023 season, all productions usually produced in the Cave Theatre, AC 007, will be performed in Recital Hall, AR 217, across the hall from the David Owsley Museum of Art. Please use the Riverside Avenue entrance; an elevator is available to access the second floor.

The Spring Cave Theatre Series will include 4 one-acts running in rep. See below for specific dates and times each one-act will be performed.

Fine Arts Building, Recital Hall, AR 217

  • February 11-18 at 7:30 pm
  • February 12 at 2:30 pm

Home Free!

Written by Lanford Wilson

Directed by Payten Romig

  • February 11-13, 15-16, 18 at 7:30 pm

Isolating themselves from the outside world, siblings Lawrence and Joanna live in a crowded apartment with their two imaginary companions in a world of fantasy. But what once felt like home now begins to feel suffocating... When playing pretend is all they know, what happens when reality can no longer be ignored?

A Nightingale

Written by Horton Foote

Directed by Morigan Vermilya

  • February 12, 14-15, 17-18 at 7:30 pm
  • February 12 at 2:30 pm

Neighbors, and best friends, Vonnie and Mabel attempt to navigate the unexpected visit of Mabel's childhood friend, Annie. When it becomes clear that Annie's traumatic past is slowly dragging her towards insanity, what will Vonnie and Mabel do?

Springtime

Written by María Irene Fornés

Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen

Written by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Matthew Reeder

  • February 11, 13-14, 16-17 at 7:30 pm
  • February 12 at 2:30 pm

Springtime

A heartbreaking story of two marginalized voices in love and crisis. Beautiful, lyrical theatre.

Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen

Two unnamed characters, Man and Woman, live in a crumbling flat on the Lower East Side. He is a drunk, and she is purposefully wasting away - but between them there is an intimacy of desperation.

Fall '22 Performances

Trifles

Written by Susan Glaspell

Directed by Alaina Moore

  • November 5-7, 9-10, 12 at 7:30 pm

Trifles is unusually powerful and effective, and gives fine roles for two good actresses. The wife of a strangled farmer is arrested on suspicion. While officers and neighbors are searching the old farmhouse for evidence, two women friends discover a slain canary and a broken cage. This evidence can prove the wife guilty, but by keeping her secret, they free her. An American classic by one of the original members of the Provincetown Playhouse, where this play was premiered.

Ludlow Fair

Written by Lanford Wilson
Directed by Erin Takahashi

  • November 5, 7-8, 10-11 at 7:30 pm
  • November 6 at 2:30 pm

In the words of the Village Voice, this “…is a bedtime story about two girl roommates. Rachel is glamorous, fast-living, sometimes lost in her own self-dramatizations; Agnes is plain, matter-of-fact, her shyness masked by a kooky personality. The play is ostensibly about Rachel: She turned her latest boyfriend in to the police when he stole from her, and now she is remorseful—now she decides she is in love with him. Agnes tries to cheer her up with wisecracks, then tries to rekindle her self-awareness, and finally Rachael goes to sleep. Agnes is left alone, thinking about her lunch date with the boss’ disappointing son tomorrow. And suddenly it is her play, the realist is the true romantic. Agnes’ unprepossessing but real emotions outweigh Rachel’s trumped-up, self-indulgent flourishes, and suddenly the play is simple and moving.”

Three More Sleepless Nights

Written by Caryl Churchill

Directed by Lily Weidenbach

  • November 6, 8-9, 11-12 at 7:30 pm
  • November 6 at 2:30 pm

Content warning: suicide, miscarriage & abuse

Using what is now Caryl Churchill's famous devise of overlapping dialogue, this one act focuses on relationships and happy endings....or can there be a happy ending?

General Public/Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $6 in advance, $8 at the door

Contemporary Collaborations

Choreography by Audra Sokol and Susan Koper

Korsgaard Dance Studio

  • February 25, 27 at 7:30 pm
  • February 26 at 2:30 pm

This contemporary dance concert will be an experiment to showcase choreography created by student and teacher--the possibility to lead and learn, engage and implement movement and phrases, all while utilizing original music by local musician Adam Crawley. Share an evening immersed in the language of dance revealing forgotten and hidden images of women throughout history. 

General Public/Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $6 in advance, $8 at the door

Spring Choreography Projects

Choreography by BFA and BA/BS Dance Majors 

Korsgaard Dance Studio

  • April 17-19 at 7:30 pm

Selected works from dance majors highlighting the best in original dances that vary in style and form. 

General Public/Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $6 in advance, $8 at the door 

fall '22 performances

FALL CHOREOGRAPHY PROJECTS

Choreography by BFA and BA/BS Dance Majors 

Korsgaard Dance Studio (BG 213), Ball Gym

  • October 4-6 at 7:30 pm

Selected works from dance majors highlighting the best in original dances that vary in style and form. 

General Public/Faculty/Staff/Students/Seniors: $6 in advance, $8 at the door