| Dear Iowa Theatre Alumni and Friends: | The semester is about to end, and we’ve enjoyed an abundance of engaging events and performances this fall!
We just wrapped up our fall mainstage season, during which I was delighted to direct Marie Antoinette, by Tony Award winner and Iowa Playwrights Workshop alum David Adjmi. We followed with Flashes: A Fantasy Play by second-year MFA playwright Adrian Antonio Enzastiga (2022 BA). Miguel puts on a fantasy play in the theatre of his mind to make sense of his tumultuous childhood. We also had a very successful production of the play by Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, a choreopoem that celebrates womanhood and discovery through an inimitable combination of storytelling, poetry, dance, and song.
Our alum Brian Quijada (2011 BA) returned to Iowa City for a visit culminating in a performance of Mexodus with collaborator Nygel D. Robinson on Hancher Auditorium’s Club Hancher Stage. Quijada also had the opportunity to inspire the students in our department and talk with them about cultural identity.
As always, we genuinely love staying connected with our alumni and we are eager to hear your updates. If you have news to share about your accomplishments or the work of a fellow Iowa Theatre grad, please let us know.
Warmly,
Mary Beth Easley
Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts
Associate Professor, Head of Directing | |
The Iowa Playwrights Workshop offers one of the top Playwriting MFA degrees in America, and we are currently in search a new faculty member. We are looking for someone to not only join the faculty, but to help formulate the future of the program and the profession, ultimately preparing to serve as head of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Click above for details and application, and please share the opportunity with talented playwrights you know! | | | Departmental News |
- This month's Performing Arts Journal, created by MFA Dramaturgs in our program, explores the theme of being rooted—examining theatre’s origins, language, social change, and personal influences. Highlights include articles about Flashes by Adrian Antonio Enzastiga (2022 BA) and about our department’s recent production of who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange, and a feature on Big Ball Extravaganza from the Borderless series. The issue also features an exclusive interview by UI Dramaturgy alum Connie Winston (2013 MFA) with Catherine Filloux, Jimmy Roberts, and John Daggett about their upcoming musical, Welcome to the Big Dipper, debuting next month off-Broadway at the York Theatre. Explore the issue HERE.
- During our recent staging of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, director Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates and choreographer Christine Catherine Wyatt were interviewed by Little Village magazine, reflecting on their interpretation of the famed production, its role in social justice, and why the play remains relevant in today’s tumultuous social climate a half-century later. Read the full interview here.
- A student reporter from The Daily Iowan wrote an opinion piece about the importance and benefits of attending University of Iowa theatre productions, including an assertion that engaging with the arts can boost not only your academic performance but also your understanding of the world around you. (Contrary to their lede, however, attendance at our productions has been robust overall, though we’d always love to see more students in our theatres!) Read the article HERE.
- UI International Programs published a profile about Ryan Lim, an undergrad Theatre Arts major from Singapore. Read the story here.
Find Department of Theatre Arts news and updates any time HERE. | | | Alumni News |
- Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe (1998 MFA) made her Shakespearean debut as Prospero in The Tempest, taking center stage at the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival in Summer 2024. Additionally, her dramaturgical and text work for Richard II was featured in a collaboration between PlayOn Shakespeare and Magic Theatre during the same season. Read more.
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Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, left, as Prospero in S.F. Shakes’ The Tempest.
- Aubrey Wilson (formerly Near, 2019 MFA) has been appointed as the Director of Theatre and Program Chair at Emporia State University. In this new role, Wilson will oversee the program’s vision and development, fostering creative and academic growth within the department. Read More.
- Brian Quijada’s (2011 BA) solo show Mexodus is a compelling exploration of identity, migration, and the intersection of culture and history. In a conversation with Theatre faculty member Kristy Hartsgrove Mooers in Little Village, Quijada shares his journey of creating the show, which blends humor, music, and storytelling to address the experiences of Latinx communities. As part of his ongoing work, Quijada held a residency at the University of Iowa, where he further developed Mexodus and engaged with students in meaningful discussions about cultural identity. The play offers a personal reflection on the complexities of immigration and belonging. Read the full article HERE
SUBMIT YOUR NEWS HERE | | | Faculty News |
- Associate Professor of Instruction Megan Gogerty’s (1997 BA) scholarly article, “Stand-up Comedy as an Erotic Art,” has been published in the journal Studies in American Humor. The article explores a unique reframing of stand-up comedy through the lens of eroticism, offering new perspectives on the art form’s dynamics and its relationship with audiences. The full article is available for those interested in this innovative research. Read the article HERE.
- Assistant Professor of Instruction Mark Bruckner (1999 MFA, Music) contributed original music and sound design for the World Premiere of People Vs. Nature by Kevin Augustine and Lone Wolf Tribe at the LaMama ETC International Puppetry Festival in November 2024. Additionally, Bruckner provided live music, sound, and foley for A Body in the Wild Grass by Kevin Lawler at the Great Plains Theatre Commons at Yates Illuminates in Omaha, NE. The project was directed by Associate Professor and DEO, Mary Beth Easley, and alumnus Stephanie Braun Jacobson (2003 MFA, Acting) designed and performed the puppets.
- Assistant Professor of Scenic Design Jason Simms, who joined our faculty this fall, has been actively involved in notable theatrical productions across the country: In September, The Gin Game opened at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Philadelphia, followed by the annual production of A Christmas Carol at Walnut Street Theatre, the oldest running theatre in the nation and Pennsylvania's official State Theatre. The set designed for this production will be stored and reused each year. Upcoming projects include Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, opening at Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City this February, with a subsequent transfer to The Geva Theatre in Rochester in May. Trouble In Mind and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf will both premiere at Pittsburgh Public Theatre this spring, and this summer, The Wizard Of Oz will debut at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Additionally, Simms’ ongoing Virtual Reality Project 1991, an immersive physical set design, will continue its development with a new workshopping home at ONYX in New York City.
- Assistant Professor of Directing Johanna Kasimow was featured in the latest “Meet the Researcher” series from the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In the article, she talks about the new, semi-autobiographical, experimental play she’s working on, called The Grüb. She says, “The piece employs theatrical and filmic idioms ... to meditate on how the stories of our families can take up residence in our own bodies." Read the article HERE.
| | | Coming Soon to Hancher | DEAR EVAN HANSEN
Broadway Show
December 6-December 8, 2024
Hancher Auditorium
HADESTOWN
Broadway Show
January 24- January 26, 2025
Hancher Auditorium | | | |
