Are you interested in stage management? Would you like to gain practical experience? This is an excellent opportunity to work one-on-one with Director of Theater Thom Quintas on all aspects of stage management for the Spring Mainstage production of "Fefu and Her Friends." We are currently seeking 1-2 interested students. Thom Quintas is the Director of Theater for Theater Studies at Duke University, and will serve as stage manager in the spring production. He brings over 20 years of … read more about Assistant Stage Managers Needed for Spring Mainstage Production »
The Theater Studies Department is proud to announce our 2019/20 mainstage season, inaugurating a new play selection process featuring student input. A committee of faculty and students have determined the scripts for next year’s THEATRST 350 mainstage shows to be As You Like It by William Shakespeare and Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés. See Information on Auditions & Crew Calls for these productions. THEATRST 350 (ALP, CCI, R) gives Duke undergraduates the opportunity to work… read more about Theater Studies Marks 2019/20 Season with New Play Selection Process »
The Theater Studies department is proud to announce the reading of senior distinction candidate Morgan Fears' autobiographical screenplay Daddy Issued, Saturday March 2 at 7:00pm in Brody Theater (Branson building, East campus.) In the tradition of developing works-in-progress, the director Tara Maier and the cast members are handling Morgan's changes in the script as they rehearse. Hearing their script interpreted by actors creates important feedback for writers in terms of what reaches an audience… read more about Morgan Fears' original screenplay Daddy Issued on March 2, one night only! »
Do you have big plans for making theater this summer? Could you use some financial assistance? Applications for the Theater Studies annual student awards are now open! Students taking theater classes are encouraged to read through the opportunities listed here. The Theater Studies department is fortunate to have a variety of awards with funding attached that is often used by students to help cover summer theater training. This year's deadline to apply for departmental awards is Monday, March 18, 2019. Some… read more about 2019 Student Theater Awards now open for application! »
This December, for one night only, the Duke University Theater Studies department presents a developmental workshop of the groundbreaking Kurt Weill-Alan Jay Lerner musical Love Life directed by New York-based director and actor Victoria Clark (Light in the Piazza). More than thirty undergraduates have been working intensively on the show in a class with Clark, an artist-in-residence at Duke, and Professor Bradley Rogers as part of Duke Theater Studies’ musical theater… read more about Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark directs Love Life for Duke Theater Studies »
Exciting news for Theater Studies at Duke! Professor Darren Gobert (pictured) will be joining the faculty as a full tenured professor this spring. Professor Gobert, the editor of Modern Drama, specializes in comparative modern and contemporary Western drama, dramatic and performance theory, and the philosophy of theater. As a theater practitioner, he has written stage adaptations and directed plays by Albee, Beckett, Chekhov, and others. As a writer, his… read more about Theater Studies department continues to grow »
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 »