We do plays. We make dances.
Washington College theatre and dance students play many different roles onstage and off, while learning about the theatrical and dance arts and about themselves.
Whatever your interests, there is something for you in WC Theatre & Dance. Courses in dramatic literature, dance history, acting, directing, design, choreography, dramaturgy, movement, and management provide a broad base of knowledge across the theatre and dance fields. Departmental workshops, production opportunities, and field trips to nearby cities help prepare our students for internships, graduate work, and professional careers—both within and beyond the arts. Students majoring in theatre can write a script, perform, direct, stage manage, dramaturg, or design a show as their senior capstone experience.
Our department is open to all—not just majors and minors. Students from across campus are welcome to participate in our productions, and even take on significant leadership roles. Students are also encouraged to create interdisciplinary connections with other academic programs, from Business and Chemistry to Sociology and English.
In fall 2009, the renovated Gibson Center for the Arts became the centerpiece of the department, providing a state-of-the-art environment for performers, choreographers, directors, technicians, and audiences.
2019-2020 PRODUCTION SEASON
For ticket reservations, visit our departmental Eventbrite page.
Want to support the Department of Theatre & Dance? Become an Honorary Producer!
The CMS Speaker Series presents:
The Diva Saga:
The Legend of the Worst Drag Queen
Tawes Theatre
Sept 20 & 21, 2019 at 7:30pm
Recommended for audience members 18+.
A multi-channel video installation and live performance piece, The Diva Saga: The Legend of the Worst Drag Queen questions constructions of sexuality, gender, and identity in a digital age and examines how Veronica Bleaus became the self-proclaimed “worst drag queen.” Lampooning normative and restrictive constructions of sex, artistic judgment, and popular culture, The Diva Saga draws heavily from numerous visual and aural storytelling mediums like comic books, Japanese anime, video games, music videos, and high fantasy.
Or,
by Liz Duffy Adams
Directed by Prof. Brendon Fox
Tawes Theatre
Oct 3 & 4*, 2019 at 7:30pm
Oct 5, 2019 at 2:00pm
*Join us after the Friday performance for a panel discussion about the show, featuring dramaturg Sophie Grabiec ’20, director Prof. Brendon Fox, scenic designer John Leslie ’19, and English Prof. Courtney Rydel.
Honorary Producers: Kate ’90 and Joseph ’91 Van Name
Set in 1660, Or, takes place (mostly) during one night in the life of Aphra Behn, poet, spy, and soon to be the first professional female playwright in England. Sprung from debtors’ prison after a disastrous overseas mission, Aphra is desperate to get out of the spy trade. She has a shot at a production at one of only two London companies, if she can only finish her play by morning despite interruptions from sudden new love, actress Nell Gwynne; complicated royal love, King Charles II; and very dodgy ex-love, double-agent William Scot—who may be in on a plot to murder the king in the morning.
Small Mouth Sounds
by Bess Wohl
A Directing SCE from Kelly Young
A Stage Management SCE from Jackie Dulaff
Tawes Theatre
Oct 25 & 26, 2019 at 7:30pm
In the overwhelming quiet of the woods, six runaways from city life embark on a silent retreat. As these strangers confront internal demons both profound and absurd, their vows of silence collide with the achingly human need to connect. Filled with awkward and insightful humor, Small Mouth Sounds is the unique and compassionate new play that asks how we address life’s biggest questions when words fail us.
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, adapted by Kate Hamill
A Performance SCE from Abbey Kostecki
Decker Theatre
Nov 1 & 2, 2019 at 7:30pm
This isn’t your grandmother’s Austen! Blod, surprising, boisterous, and timely, this P&P for a new era explores the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life. the outspoken Lizzy Bennet is determined to never marry, despite mounting pressure from society. But can she resist love, especially when that vaguely handsome, mildly amusing, and impossibly aggravating Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?! Literature’s greatest tale of latent love has never felt so theatrical, or so full of life than it does in this effervescent adaptation. because what turns us into greater fools… than the high-stakes game of love?
The Foreigner
by Larry Shue
A Directing SCE from Megan Stagg
Decker Theatre
(Public performances cancelled)
Honorary Producers: Mr. and Mrs. Steve J. Narowanskie
In The Foreigner, Charlie Baker is going through a crisis. As an attempt to forget about his marital problems, he travels with his best friend Froggy to a fishing lodge in rural Georgia where Froggy tellstheowner that Charlie does not understand or speak English. Everyone believes it and because of this, Charlie discovers who the characters truly are as people.
Content Warning: This play features portrayals of xenophobia and prejudice.
I and You
by Lauren Gunderson
A Directing SCE from Hannah Sauer
Tawes Theatre
Nov 15 & 16, 2019 at 7:30pm
Honorary Producers: Sarah Curnoles ’05, John Beck ’05 & Carol Landis ’06, Liam Daley ’07, Cindy Orndorf Adams ’06 & Greg Adams ’04
One afternoon, Anthony arrives unexpectedly at classmate Caroline’s door bearing a beat-up copy of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, an urgent assignment from their English teacher. Homebound due to illness, Caroline hasn’t been to school in months, but she is as quick and sardonic as Anthony is athletic, sensitive, and popular. As these two let down their guards and share their secrets, this seemingly mundane poetry project unlocks a much deeper mystery that has brought them together. I and You is an ode to youth, life, love, and the strange beauty of human connectedness.
Dancescape 2019
Directed by Prof. A.T. Moffett
Decker Theatre
Nov 22, 2019 at 7:30pm
Nov 23, 2019 at 2:00pm
Dancescape features original choreography by students, faculty, and guest artists. This year’s concert includes Musical Theater, Capoeira, Ballet, West African, Contemporary, and Modern Dance.
8 x 10
Directed by Prof. Dale Daigle & Jackie Dulaff ’20
Tawes Theatre
Feb 13-15, 2020 at 7:30pm
An evening of short plays that explore love in a variety of forms, including:
Phillip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread,
by David Ives
English Made Simple, by David Ives
The Jane Austen Expressway,
by Erik Christian Hanson
The Trapped Language of Love,
by Ronan Colfer
The Incompleteness Theorum,
by Arlene Hutton
No Love, Please, by Marissa Smith
The New Client, by Paul Donnelly
The Effect
by Lucy Prebble
Directed by Erin Coffman ’17
A Performance SCE from Lexy Ricketts
Tawes Theatre
March 27 & 28, 2020 at 7:30pm
Honorary Producers: Mr. Michael P. Golze ’09 and Ms. Carin E. Golze ’09
Performances cancelled due to COVID-19.
“I can tell the difference between who I am and a side effect.” But could you? The Effect is a clinical romance. Two young volunteers agree to take part in a clinical drug trial. To their surprise participants Tristan and Connie give into the pull of immediate attraction and possibility of new love. This manages to throw the trial completely off-course, much to the frustration of the clinicians Dr. Lorna James and Dr. Toby Sealey. But is this romance just another symptom? Filled with ups and downs, celebrations and side effects both patients and doctors strive to understand not just what they feel, but why they feel it.
Antigone
by Jean Anouilh, translated by Christopher Nixon
Directed by Rosie Alger ’18
A Performance SCE from Chris Hanna
Tawes Theatre
April 3 & 4, 2020 at 7:30pm
Honorary Producers: Ryder Daniels ’90 and Deborah Lack
Performances cancelled due to COVID-19.
Jean Anouilh and translator Christopher Nixon explore purpose, identity, and the true nature of right and wrong in this modern adaptation of the classic Sophocles drama.
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A comedy of manners, set in a single dining room where 18 scenes from different households overlap and intertwine. Presumably, each story is focused around a different family during different time periods throughout the 20th
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These Shining Lives chronicles the strength and determination of women considered expendable in their day, exploring their true story and its continued resonance. Catherine and her friends are dying, it’s true; but theirs
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In Dreaming, Brave and True seven high school students grapple with life, love, and identity in a modern companion piece to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. -
The Elephant Man is based on the life of John Merrick, who lived in London during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Merrick, young and horribly deformed, has earned a living as... -
Mace is a professional wrestler. He’s a really good professional wrestler. He’s not the champion though – that’s the impossibly charismatic Chad Deity. When Mace discovers a young Indian-American Brooklyn kid whose charisma
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Kalidasa’s Shakuntala is an ancient Indian myth about found, lost and found love. When two lovers, King Dushyanta and Shakuntala, are torn away from each other after a series of encounters with bad... -
Callie is a New York City traffic reporter that has spent her entire life avoiding confrontation and limiting change. Sara is a courageous school teacher that chose to quit her job teaching at...
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A new minor in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship supports students in the creative arts disciplines.
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Most people start conversations with a word. Mark Christie starts them with a character, a stage, and questions that aren’t always easy to answer. -
This resourceful pair of alumni are raising the curtain on opportunities for graduating fellow theatre majors.
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