Theater and Dance

Department of Theater and Dance Production Season 2015-2016

Xfest

Artistic Director  Chuck Harper
September 23, 26 at 7:30 p.m. 
Dunham Hall Theater
September 24, 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Metcalf Theater

Join us for our terrific linup of shows for this year's Xfest

The Miss Firecracker Contest

by Beth Henley
Directed by Peter Cocuzza
October 21 – 24 at 7:30 p.m.
October 25 at 2:00 p.m.  
Dunham Hall Theater

"It's a comic volcano of a play, populated by offbeat, but vital, larger-than-life characters…" —The Hollywood Reporter.

The place is the small Mississippi town of Brookhaven, a few days before the Fourth of July. Carnelle Scott (known locally as "Miss Hot Tamale") is rehearsing furiously for the Miss Firecracker Contest—hoping that a victory will salvage her tarnished reputation and allow her to leave town in a blaze of glory. The unexpected arrival of her cousin Elain, a former Miss Firecracker winner, (who has walked out on her rich but boring husband and her two small children) complicates matters a bit, as does the repeated threat of Elain's eccentric brother, Delmount, (recently released from a mental institution) to sell the family homestead and decamp for New Orleans. But, aided by a touchingly awkward seamstress named Popeye (who is hopelessly smitten by Delmount) and several other cheerfully nutty characters, Carnelle perseveres—leading to a denouement of unparalleled hilarity, compassion and moving lyricism as all concerned finally escape their unhappy pasts and turn hopefully toward what must surely be a better future.

Dance in Concert 

Artistic Director Kristen Best-Kinscherff
November 11 – 14 at 7:30 p.m. November 15 at 2:00 p.m.  
Dunham Hall Theater

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” - Martha Graham. 

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” - Voltaire. 

“If you dance, you dance because you have to.” - Katherine Dunham. 

Join us for this years top notch performances highlighting the choreography of our professional dance faculty, local choreographers and our talented dance students.

Come see what the fuss is all about!

Since Africa

by Mia McCullogh
Directed by Kathryn Bentley
December 4– 5 at 7:30 p.m.
December 6 at 2:00 p.m.
December 9– 12 at 7:30 p.m.
December 13 at 2:00 p.m.
Metcalf Theater

"Since Africa" chronicles the relationship between a Dinka refugee from Southern Sudan and three Americans — a North Shore socialite, her daughter, and an African American Deacon — who help him acclimate to Chicago's unfamiliar urban surroundings.  "McCullough uses the characters' relationships with Ater to explore such big themes as cultural imperialism, the persistence of ritual and the human cost of both social isolation and the need to belong." - The Old Globe, San Diego, CA; James Hebert, San Diego Union Tribune.

A look at American culture through the eyes of an African, this play explores the tensions between blacks and whites, Africans and African-Americans, the devout and the non-religious.

Proof

by David Auburn
Directed by Peter Cocuzza
February 17 – 20 at 7:30 p.m.
February 21 at 2:00 p.m.  
Dunham Hall Theater

Winner of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play.

"…combines elements of mystery and surprise with old-fashioned storytelling to provide a compelling evening of theatre…[PROOF is a] smart and compassionate play of ideas." NY Daily News.

On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with her own volatile emotions; the arrival of her estranged sister, Claire; and the attentions of Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that her father left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—will she inherit?

The Trojan Women

by Euripides / Adapted by Caroline Bird
Directed by Chuck Harper
April 20 – 23 at 7:30 p.m.
April 24 at 2:00 p.m.  
Dunham Hall Theater

This is a new translation of the classic play. It combines a poet's translation with a scholar's introduction and notes.  Among surviving Greek tragedies only Euripides' "Trojan Women" shows us the extinction of a whole city, an entire people. Despite its grim theme, or more likely because of the centrality of that theme to the deepest fears of our own age, this is one of the relatively few Greek tragedies that regularly finds its way to the stage.  

Monday - Friday - 11:00 AM - 4:30 PM

On Performance Dates:
Wed. - Fri. - 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sat. 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Matinees 12:00 PM - 2:30 PM

SIUE students have FREE admission to the Department of Theater and Dance's main season and some student produced productions.