News
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Mainstage
Student Play Fest
Directed by Emily Ritger
September 28 - October 8
Newhart Family Theatre
Much To Do About Valentine, The Familiar Perils of a Vacation Bible School Education, and Untitled Dream Girl are new one-act plays exploring what it is to be in relation with others and with oneself. Developed during the Spring 2023 Playwriting course, student playwrights Aimee Jaske, Annika Halonen, and Emm Socey are now seeing their scripts come to life through the professional direction of Emily Ritger and a team of student actors and designers. Presented as an evening of one-acts, the works in Student Play Fest tread the comedic riskiness of family history, revisit the centuries-old journey of unrequited love, and wonder about the fluidity of gender.
The Student Play Fest is an extension of the Theatre Program’s commitment to developing students’ creative voices. You can play a vital role in supporting this growth by attending a performance.
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faculty research
Theatre Faculty Publishes Anthology on Black Theatre and Performance
Assistant Professor of Theatre Dr. DeRon S. Williams recently co-edited Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance Acts of Rebellion, Activism, and Solidarity as part of the Methuen Drama Agitations: Text, Politics, and Performance series published by Bloomsbury Press.
Contemporary Black Theatre and Performance investigates these questions to illuminate the relationship between performance, identity, intersectionality, and activism in North America and beyond. It features contributions from scholars, artists, and activists from across disciplines who explore the nuances and varied forms of Black performance in the 21st century while incorporating performance-based methodologies and queer and black feminist theories.
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Careers
Different Journeys Through The Performing Arts Landscape
The League of Chicago Theatres, in collaboration with Loyola Career Services and the Loyola Theatre Program, recently hosted a Theatre Industry Career Fair on the Lake Shore campus with over 400 attendees and 37 participating organizations. The day began with a robust panel discussion on the varied career paths possible in today's theatre industry. Click to watch a recording of this insightful conversation.WATCH VIDEO -
Staff Spotlight
Staff Spotlight: April Browning
While Browning does not usually grace the stage herself, her behind-the-scenes work as the Managing Director and Producer of Public Programming has made her an essential pillar of the DFPA’s academic and production excellence. Browning touches nearly every off-stage aspect of the DFPA’s operations and its 80+ productions each year. But her presence is even more visible in the Theatre program, where she oversees the organization of the production program, supervises Theatre practicum, mentors stage and theatre management students, and teaches Theatre Operations.READ MORE -
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Faculty Spotlight
An Interview with Dr. DeRon S. Williams
We recently caught up with Dr. DeRon S. Williams, Assistant Professor of Theater, for a chat about his work in the Chicago theatre community, areas of expertise, and upcoming creative research with Loyola theatre students.WATCH VIDEO -
Student Research
Mainstage Dramaturgy: Woolf's Assemblage of Adapted Characters in Orlando
The characters of Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando shape a fantastical exploration of a young poet of the same name, Orlando. Drawing on a variety of sources to create these characters, Virginia Woolf took inspiration from both historical figures and her own life. The direct references to significant historical figures—like Queen Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, or Christopher Marlowe—ground the novel in a specific era, but the historical perspective provided by those “real-life” figures becomes even more complex when Orlando encounters people inspired by Virginia’s real life.
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Student Research
Mainstage Dramaturgy: Climate Refugees are not a Fiction
Student Dramaturg for the recent Loyola production of Somewhere, Grace Herman, reflects on the play's direct and imaginative engagement with the impact of climate change on human lives. "Theatre is an artistic forum: it creates a place to exchange ideas and views. Somewhere asks us to discuss the climate crisis and climate refugees and to share ideas and knowledge about how we can intervene to prevent the future that the play predicts."
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Alumni
Theatre alum LaNisa Frederick featured in Playbill
How Hashtag Booked's Danielle Pinnock and LaNisa Renee Frederick Are Using Comedy as Activism
While theatre has been on pause and auditions have been on Zoom, Danielle Pinnock and LaNisa Renee Frederick have taken their comedy-activism to new heights. Launched in 2018, Hashtag Booked is Pinnock and Frederick’s improvised sketch Instagram series that shares “a raw slice of the #actorslife,” diving into their experiences of being Black actors in show business.
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In the Media
Every Moment Is Magical When Venturing Into the Woods
The Theatre Program's production of Into the Woods received a rave review in the Loyola Phoenix.
In a poignant story about childhood, Loyola’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts makes a familiar story feel brand new with its spring musical, “Into the Woods.”
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Alumni
An Unexpected Calling
Bob Newhart's improbable journey from Loyola business student to American comedy iconREAD -
In the Media
"Vulnerable Yet Comedic, ‘Everybody’ Wows its Audience"
The Theatre Program's production of Everybody was enthusiastically reviewed in the Loyola Phoenix.
Loyola’s showing of “Everybody” successfully dazzles with an immersive show of stellar acting, sound effects, lighting and unique presentation of a morality play.
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Alumni
Black Ensemble Theatre awarded $5 million grant.
The MacKenzie Scott Foundation awards a $5 million grant to the Black Ensemble Theatre, founded by Loyola Theatre alumna Jackie Taylor ('68). The Black Ensemble Theatre along with the National Museum of Mexican Art are among the Chicago cultural institutions to receive sizable donations by the foundation.READ MORE -
Alumni
Art with Impact: Empathy on Stage
"The point of learning how to make theatre is to do it, and to do it in community, and to do it in service to the world"READ