Current Season
Theatre Arts
Our production program is an integral part of our overall educational process—co-curricular rather than extra-curricular—where students in all areas of the theatre get to test in practice what they are learning in the classroom. To provide our students with as many practical opportunities as we can and to focus on the learning experience of the process of creating theatre and dance as well as the product of performance, we have a wide range of performances, from the staged reading to the fully-realized production. Review the current season below.
THEATRE & DANCE 2024-2025 CALENDAR
FALL 2024 SCHEDULE
Fall 2024: Debut Set
The Debut Set is devoted to plays directed by students in the THEA 345 advanced directing class. This Immersive Experience provides Drew students with the opportunity to direct a short play for a public audience. These productions focus on theatre as a collaborative art form, as student directors are often working with peers who are first-time student stage managers, assistant stage managers, designers, and performers (those making their department debut are noted with an asterisk in the program). Like a lab, these shows enable students to learn through practice and creative problem-solving. The debut set celebrates team work, risk-taking, and artistic growth and prepares student directors for advanced work on campus and beyond.
Performances are September 26-27 @ 7:30PM; and Sept 28 at 2:00 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are $5 for Drew Community w/ ID or $10 for General Admission.
This year’s set includes:
Scary Play
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Seagulls
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Black Butterfly, Jaguar Girl, Piñata Woman and Other Superhero Girls, Like Me by Luis Alfaro |
Directed by: Andy Bentley |
Directed by: Cecilia Lomanno |
Directed by: Kristie Andino |
As June and Amelia pregame for a party, they drunkenly sing early 2000’s pop lyrics, argue about a boy, and teeter at the edge of sharing their “scariest” feelings; depression, anxiety, violence. The sudden presence of a mysterious third character reveals the undercurrent of humanity and love in this play.
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Amid 1970s potential warfare, Valery Clark publicly confirms that she is in possession of super-human powers. After revealing herself by stopping a shoplifter in her retail job in England, scientists are clamoring for the ability to run covert testing on her. Dark undertones in a conversation with a young American fan cast doubts into Valery’s mind; what will she be used for? Is it worth going through with this? What about her family? Morals and the political context of the 1970s begin to mix as Valery doubts everything, down to her value as a person. |
In 1990s east Los Angeles, five Latina girls share their experiences through various poems, monologues, and vignettes. Within their stories, they discuss what it’s like to be growing up in an urban neighborhood, girlhood dreams, and what the vulnerable honest meaning of blooming into young womanhood truly is. |
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Fall 2024: Varsity Set
With the Varsity set, student directors further their craft by focusing on character development, acting objectives, staging, and composition within a theatrical work. Directors will also work closely with student designers to think about how design choices (especially lights, sets, costumes, props, sound, etc.) convey theme, tone, atmosphere, context, and more to create a unified vision.
Our Dad is in Atlantis by Javier Malpica
Directed by Vicky Fuentes
An immigrant story, OUR DAD IS IN ATLANTIS, portrays how two young brothers navigate their world after their father’s immigration. Our nameless siblings itch as they await their father’s call from the US, hoping to hear of his well-being and new beginnings. On this journey, the pair begin to develop new concepts of love, family, and manhood.
Performances are October 17-18 @ 7:30PM; and October 19 at 2:00 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are $5 for Drew Community w/ ID or $15 for General Admission.
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The Musical: You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown
Childhood is hard – and hilarious! Join Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and their friends on an adventure through the consternations and joys of growing up. In this surprisingly existential comedy, the entire Peanuts gang seek to answer life’s great questions as only they can – through wit, humor, flying kites, playing baseball, and plenty of singing. Charles Schulz’s imaginative world shows us that happiness is morning and evening, daytime and nighttime too – and happiness is musical theater!
Performances are November 7-8 @ 7:30PM; and November 9 at 2:00 & 7:30 PM. Tickets are $5 for Drew Community w/ ID or $15 for General Admission.
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Dance Show: Through the Decades
Simply Dance focuses on choreography and the relationships between dancers, their space, and the audience in a raw and intimate performance run with little to no light design or technical elements.
Through the Decades directed by Kyle Marshall
Experience dance through the decades as choreographers represent a decade in history through dance. Come witness the brilliance of our Drew choreographers as they create historical magic…
Performances are November 21-22 @ 7:30PM; and November 23 at 2:00. Tickets are free but you need to make a reservation to be sure you get a seat.
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SPRING 2025 SCHEDULE
Mainstage NY Semester: Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play
Directed by Lisa Brenner & Kimani Fowlin
Guided by the renowned Tectonic Theater Project, Drew students present this innovative dark comedy by Anne Washburn. After an apocalypse, survivors entertain themselves by recounting a TV episode of the Simpsons. What happens to this tale over time speaks volumes about what stories become mythologized, and by whom.
Performances are February 27-28 @ 7:30PM; and March 1 at 2:00PM and 7:30PM. Tickets are $5 for Drew Community w/ ID or $15 for General Admission.
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Rodney M. Gilbert Salon and Lecture Series
The Department of Theatre & Dance presents Kyle Marshall Choreography in the world premiere of Femenine // Julius Eastman Trilogy as a part of the Rodney M. Gilbert Salon and Lecture Series.
Performance will be March 29th at 7:00 PM.
Tickets will be free for all Drew Students, Faculty and Staff. A suggested $5 donation is in effect for the general community. All funds will help support our production season.
Oxnam Award Playreading
We are proud to present staged readings of Drew Student award-winning plays produced by the Ensemble Studio Theatre, featuring professional actors.
Performance will be April 2nd at 7:30 PM.
Tickets will be free for all Drew Students, Faculty and Staff. A suggested $5 donation is in effect for the general community. All funds will help support our production season.
Spring 2025: Developmental Set
The developmental set is a playwright-driven process. A promising play is selected annually for further development as the playwright works with a mentor/dramaturg, a director, and a cast. The goal is to help clarify the play’s story and theme, and dramatic structure. The playwright is encouraged to revise throughout the process, even between performances. Two staged readings are performed with time in between to allow for further revision.
Angel Boy by Andy Bentley
Directed by Medina Purefoy-Craig
Performances are April 9th and 12th at 7:30 PM.
Tickets will be free for all Drew Students, Faculty and Staff. A suggested $5 donation is in effect for the general community. All funds will help support our production season.
Mainstage Dance Show
Performances are April 24-25 at 7:30PM; and April 26 at 2:00PM. Tickets are $5 for Drew Community w/ ID or $10 for General Admission.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are the show times?
All evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. and all matinees are at 2:00 p.m., except where noted.
How much do shows cost?
Tickets for live on-stage productions are $10-15 for the general public and $5 for Drew students with ID (unless otherwise noted). If you are using a credit card to pay, there is a 2.5% + $.90 per transaction fee.
How do I purchase tickets?
Ticket reservations can be made by visiting our Events Page or emailing keanboxoffice@drew.edu. Tickets purchased on our site will be emailed, otherwise your tickets will be available to pick up at the box office prior to the performance.
Reservations made after 5 p.m. on the day of your selected show are not guaranteed to be processed by showtime.
Where do the performances take place?
Most live performances are held in the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts, which houses The Concert Hall and the Thomas H. Kean theatre. Others may be held at the free-standing F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre. Learn more about our arts facilities.
A Look Back at Past Performances











