Theater Studies
The Theater Studies department is ushering in the new school year with a new chair and new faculty! For the first time, we have a faculty designer taking the helm as chair of the department. Professor Torry Bend has big plans for building new alliances, bringing in new guest artists, and finding new ways to put our students first. Professor Bend is a scenic designer and puppet artist who has been designing and teaching for the department since 2010. Those curious about her creative process should look at… read more about Theater Studies welcomes new chair, new faculty »
This week’s final five performances of Manbites Dog Theater’s final show, directed by Professor Jeff Storer, mark the closing of a Triangle landmark in the theater community. Wakey, Wakey an existential tragicomedy by Will Eno, is a fitting tribute to this event which will transform the local cultural scene in ways that remain to be seen. As artistic director of the theater, along with his life partner, managing director Ed Hunt, Storer has stayed true to his mission of introducing regional… read more about Duke theater professor pulls the curtain on 31-year-old Durham theater »
Come see Medical Stories on Stage final performance! Students will be sharing stories that they have individually chosen and adapted, with the help of Professor Odendahl-James and Visiting Artist Kali Quinn, discussing how identity is transformed by illness experiences. Kali Quinn, a three-time visiting artist to Duke is bringing her Compassion Creativity work to the students of Professor Odendahl-James’s Medical Stories on Stage course. This work integrates the arts with healthcare in a way that allows… read more about Final Class Performance with Visiting Artist »
Please join us for two upcoming shows by Kāli Quinn, performance artist, violinist and educator. Through the transformation of familiar objects, montages and music, Kāli Quinn’s two performances share everyday stories that tap into themes of medicine and spirit, grief and gifts. Ultimately, they speak to how we better care for ourselves and each other through the generations. VAMPING: Aging, Memory Loss, & End-of-Life Ethics brings viewers into a… read more about Visiting Artist Performances »
Applications for our annual student awards are now open! The Theater Studies department is lucky to have a variety of awards with funding attached that is often used by students to help cover summer theater training. The deadline for applying for these awards is March 19, 2018. While some of the awards require a faculty nomination, there are five awards that students can nominate themselves for just by applying. Students taking theater classes are encouraged to read through the opportunites… read more about Student Award Application deadline announced »
We are pleased to announce the faculty directors for the Theater Studies 18/19 season will be Ellen Hemphill for Fall 2018 and Jody McAuliffe for Spring 2019. The fall mainstage show will be the Irish memory play Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel, and the spring production will be a new work from Ukranian playwright Natal’ya Vorozhbit entitled Bad Roads. Both directors are open to non-traditional casting; all students at Duke are welcome and encouraged to participate. As usual, the… read more about Announcing the 2018-19 Season »
The Jim Henson Foundation just awarded a workshop grant to faculty designer/director/puppeteer and Drama Desk award nominee Torry Bend for further development of her work-in-progress DREAMING, which features as this spring’s mainstage production class here at Duke (THEATRST 350). The Theater Studies department is very excited about this experiment, the first time that a faculty work-in-progress has been considered as a mainstage production, and also the first mainstage puppet show. The class has been conceived as a… read more about Jim Henson Foundation grant recipient teaches puppetry at Duke this spring »
Don DeLillo’s 2001 novella, The Body Artist, is at once a ghost story and a love story that takes its only two characters on a journey into a spare, seductive outpost of grief, time and love. DeLillo himself gave director/writer Jody McAuliffe permission to adapt The Body Artist for the stage. A full professor of the practice in Duke's Theater Studies department, McAuliiffe had connected with DeLillo previously when she adapted and directed Mao II for Theater… read more about New DeLillo Adaptation Gets World Premiere at Duke »
The department of Theater Studies is proud to announce a new project for Spring 2018. Theater Studies faculty designer/puppeteer Professor Torry Bend and award-winning playwright Howard L. Craft will be collaborating on the development of an original puppet show with the working title of DREAMING: Little Nemo In Slumberland revisited. The project will begin with a single source material, Winsor McCay's weekly comic Little Nemo in Slumberland (… read more about Daring to Dream: new faculty work-in-progress debuts for spring 2018 »
INFO SESSION JANUARY 10, 6:15p in Page 106 The department of Theater Studies is proud to announce a new project for Spring 2018. Theater Studies faculty designer/puppeteer Professor Torry Bend and award-winning playwright Howard L. Craft will be collaborating on the development of an original puppet show with the working title of DREAMING: Little Nemo In Slumberland revisited. The project will begin with a single source material, Winsor McCay's weekly comic … read more about Daring to Dream: new faculty work-in-progress debuts for spring 2018 »
Duke Players is taking a chance on Friday, getting out of the theater and into the Devil's Krafthouse. Playhouse Shorts, their night of new student work curated by Valerie Muensterman, will be taking the stage from 7:00 to 8:30p on December 1 (right before karaoke.) Following the success of the new works event last spring, which took place on the small stage at The Landing in the Bryan Center, Muensterman has gathered a new collection of short, ten-minute plays by Duke students. Several of the short… read more about Duke Players Boldy Goes to the Devil's Krafthouse »
Duke Players is taking a chance on Friday, getting out of the theater and into the Devil's Krafthouse. Playhouse Shorts, their night of new student work curated by Valerie Muensterman, will be taking the stage from 7:00 to 8:30p on December 1 (right before karaoke.) Following the success of the new works event last spring, which took place on the small stage at The Landing in the Bryan Center, Muensterman has gathered a new collection of short, ten-minute plays by Duke students. Several of the short… read more about Duke Players Boldy Goes to the Devil's Krafthouse »
Students looking for new paths to follow their passion on stage take note! For the spring mainstage production, Theater Studies welcomes a new director from Duke's Dance program and department of African and African American Studies, Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz. Professor DeFrantz, a performance studies scholar, dancer, writer and historian, brings his extensive background in American dance history (read about some of his research here) as well as his experience with the… read more about Off the Map: Auditions for Spring 2018 »
After working intensely on the show with director Jules Odendahl-James since September, the witches of Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom are ready to magically appear on stage tonight. The undergraduate cast will transform nightly starting November 9 through November 19, as they slide between time periods, flashing into 1670 and back to 2017. The narrative arc of the show takes place in the 17th century, but performers break out of their 1670s characters to comment through music on the themes of… read more about Witches Fly In for Vinegar Tom »
Duke Players presents their first musical production ever this semester with Once On This Island opening Saturday, October 21. It's a first in other ways too, with director Sophie Caplin's choice to keep the traditional all-black casting for the show. The Duke Chronicle highlights this in their recent article which includes interviews with the cast members who come from all areas of study at Duke. The Duke Players Facebook site has been running bio… read more about Duke Players musical opens October 21 »
Professor Jules Odendahl-James has made the hard choices and selected her cast of nine to fill the roles in Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom. The department mainstage starts as a class, so the talented group of actors will be studying the history and context of Churchill's script with Professor Odendahl-James (or Dr. OJ, as she is affectionately known!) Student dramaturg Meg Hancock is helping provide background for the large amount of historical research needed. Assistant stage manager Morgan… read more about Casting Announced for Fall Mainstage »
If you've ever wanted to wander backstage in the Bryan Center, here is your chance! The Theater Studies department is hosting a barbeque with backstage tours on Monday, August 28 from 5:30p to 7:00p. Students can grab a bite and pick up a free t-shirt while investigating the audition and class opportunities offered for fall and spring. Load-in doors will be open for a rare glance into the world of David Berberian, scene shop supervisor. Kay Webb will be on hand to lead visitors through the… read more about Theaters Open Up for BBQ & Games »
The Theater Studies department and Hoof'n'Horn welcome two very special guests to campus this week. Director Kay Matschullat arrives to begin her spring residency directing a brand new musical version of THE AENEID from Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening, American Psycho) as the spring production for Hoof'n'Horn. On Wednesday, February 15, Sheik himself will be on campus to meet the cast and attend a preliminary rehearsal. Matschullat works… read more about Duke welcomes director Kay Matschullat and composer Duncan Sheik to campus »
With any luck, you saw one of the sold-out performance of their groundbreaking show The Undertaking when the Obie-award-winning theater company The Civilians was on campus in September, 2016. This month, Duke students have the chance to observe The Civilians starting the devised theater process from scratch, and some students will get first-hand experience by participating in a special devised theater workshop on January 21 (scroll down for details.) The Brooklyn-based investigative theater company returns… read more about Devised theater pros The Civilians return to Duke »
The Theater Studies department notes with sorrow that a bright light in the world of arts education has passed. Dr. Anna Upchurch, who worked with the department as Director of Communications prior to moving to England to pursue her doctorate, died in hospital in Leeds, England on Wednesday November 23 after a short illness. Anna had joined the University of Leeds in 2009 as a lecturer in Cultural Policy and over the next seven years did much to raise the profile of cultural policy research… read more about Passing of arts educator Anna Upchurch »
The Wild Duck opened to last weekend to rave reviews from other faculty members. Department chair Jeff Storer called it "a wonderful collaboration", saying that "performances were strong and the story told with clarity and passion." By careful staging and elimination of unnecessary business, director Jody McAuliffe has pared Ibsen's classic drama down to a very tight 90 minutes of intense emotions. Playwright Neal Bell had this to say after viewing the Sunday performance: "Theater Studies at Duke… read more about The Wild Duck Has Wings »
What does playwright August Wilson have in common with Marvel's Black superhero Luke Cage? Find out this spring when the department of Theater Studies offers Duke students a special opportunity this spring to study and create Black Theater with a local playwright on his way up. Howard L. Craft is an accomplished writer/arts educator and a past collaborator with faculty in the department. His N.C. Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship and a Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant lead to his most recent… read more about Craft Mastering His Art, Sharing With Duke Students »
What does playwright August Wilson have in common with Marvel's Black superhero Luke Cage? Find out this spring when the department of Theater Studies offers Duke students a special opportunity to study and create Black Theater with a local playwright on his way up. Howard L. Craft is an accomplished writer/arts educator and a past collaborator with faculty in the department. His N.C. Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship and a Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant lead to his most recent script, … read more about Craft Mastering His Art, Sharing With Duke Students »
It is unusual for a freshman to arrive at Duke with enough confidence to jump in to directing, but Sonali Mehta is a first-year student whose background already includes acting, directing and working tech. Sometimes the hardest part of directing is getting people excited about your vision so that you can pull a team together to put on a show. Sonali brings experience with the two of the biggest challenges that a director faces: creative problem-solving and community building. She got to work with an ensemble in… read more about New Faces for Duke Players Fall Show »
Award-winning playwright Neal Bell recently saw the just-released, controversial show The Trump Card, as directed by Duke Theater Studies department chair Jeff Storer for regional playhouse Manbites Dog Theater. Created by master storyteller Mike Daisey, The Trump Card dramatically analyzes one of America’s biggest mysteries. Fresh from seeing the opening performance, here are some of Bell’s thoughts on the show: “Saw an amazing magic show this weekend - which pulled off the impossible feat of making me… read more about Theatrically Investigating What Makes Trump Tick »
***OPEN CASTING CALL*** for the Duke Players fall show: The Dining Room by A. R. Gurney, directed by freshman Sonali Mehta. We're looking for versatile actors, as well as people interested in stage management, lights, and/or sound. To sign up and learn more about auditions, visit http://tinyurl.com/dukediningroom. About the Play: "The play is set in the dining room of a typical well-to-do household, the place where the family assembled daily for breakfast and dinner and for any and… read more about 1st-yr Director casting Nov. Show »
Duke students have several first-hand opportunities to engage with Obie award-winning theater artists The Civilians this month. The Civilians, a Brooklyn-based investigative theater company, begin the first installment of a unique three-part residency with performances of their latest piece of work, The Undertaking, on September 29, 30 and October 1. The Undertaking, which uses transcripts of actual conversations with shamans, morticians, philosophers, and mystics as the… read more about Close Encounters with The Civilians »
NY Times theater critic Ben Brantley has designated Duke Theater Studies faculty member Torry Bend’s mixed-media puppet show The Paper Hat Game as a NYT Critics’ Pick, calling it “enchanting” and “an unexpected mitzvah that shakes the urban blinders off our eyes and forces us to see the uncanny beauty and terror of where we live.” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/27/theater/review-urban-nightmares-as-puppets-in-the-paper-hat-game.html Bend, a set designer, puppet artist and associate… read more about NY Times Rave Review for Duke Faculty Torry Bend's Show »
The Louis Sudler Prize in the Creative and Performing Arts is presented annually by the Duke University Council for the Arts to the graduating senior with the most exceptional record of artistic achievement throughout his or her undergraduate years. We are delighted to announce that graduating senior in Theater Studies and Political Science, Kari Barclay, is the well-deserved recipient of the 2016 award! You’ve probably seen Kari in one of his many roles on campus and in the… read more about Theater Studies major Kari Barclay receives Sudler Prize in the Arts! »
Ellen Hemphill, director of Archipelago Theatre and Duke faculty member, has chosen a wide-open comedy for this spring’s mainstage production, BOB: a life in five acts by San Francisco playwright Peter Sinn Nachtrieb. In Nachtrieb’s words, “BOB chronicles the highly unusual life of Bob and his lifelong quest to become a ‘Great Man. BOB is a comedic exploration of American mythology and values, the treacherous pursuit of happiness, and discovering what it means to be truly… read more about Bringing BOB to Duke: an amazing exchange of energy »