Northwestern Theatre Department

Northwestern Theatre Department Official account of the Northwestern University Department of Theatre
Links: https://linktr.ee/northwestern.theatre

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Danielle Bainbridge for the publication of her book, CURRENCIES OF CRUELTY: SLAVE...
06/01/2026

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Danielle Bainbridge for the publication of her book, CURRENCIES OF CRUELTY: SLAVERY, FREAK SHOWS, AND THE PERFORMANCE ARCHIVE, earlier this year.

"Currencies of Cruelty is a bold and incisive reconsideration of the relationship between enslavement, disability, and performance in 19th- and early 20th-century America. Danielle Bainbridge traces how the transition from slavery to legal freedom became entangled with the spectacle of the freak show stage, where disabled and racialized performers--often denied traditional labor opportunities--became highly lucrative attractions."

https://nyupress.org/9781479829569/currencies-of-cruelty/

Northwestern students and a cast of senior citizens have been working hard to prepare the beloved classic, Singing in th...
05/26/2026

Northwestern students and a cast of senior citizens have been working hard to prepare the beloved classic, Singing in the Rain!

The Music Theater for Vintage Performers is a City of Evanston program for adults ages 55+ to practice and showcase their skills in the performing arts. Wildcats are helping them bring the show to life, with director Brianna Borger (NU Assistant Professor of Instruction) as well as...

Henry Tate ('29) - Music Director
Seth Black-Diamond ('28) - Choreographer
Louise Sims ('27) - Props Coordinator
Callan Comeau ('28) - Costume Coordinator
Rachel Alvarez ('29), Ethan Chang ('29), Ani Lawit ('27), Sophia Xu ('29) - Additional Production Support

The final performance is currently sold out for this weekend, but standby tickets may be available.

📅 Sunday, May 31st
⏰ 5:00-6:30 PM
📍 Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St, Evanston, IL 60201

https://evanstonroundtable.com/2026/03/08/music-theater-for-vintage-performers-presents-spring-program-singing-in-the-rain/
https://app.amilia.com/store/en/cityofevanston/shop/products/26359348

There's still time to see FULL-ON CLEOPATRA at Stage Center Theatre (Northeastern Illinois University), co-produced with...
04/21/2026

There's still time to see FULL-ON CLEOPATRA at Stage Center Theatre (Northeastern Illinois University), co-produced with Silk Road Cultural Center! Several wildcats help bring this production to life, including...

PhD candidate:
Suzi Elnaggar (Dramaturg)

Alumni:
Adam Goldstein (Director and Artistic Director of Stage Center)
Sarah J. Fabian / Joonhee Park (Resident Scenic Designer and Technical
Director, Managing Director of Stage Center Theatre, Director of the CMT
Talent/Special Skills Scholarship)
Kotryna Hilko (Costume Designer)
Becca Jeffords (Resident Lighting Designer)

📅 April 15-25th
⏰ See schedule
📍 Stage Center Theatre, 3701 W. Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60625

Tickets at https://www.neiu.edu/student-life/current-students/stage-center-theatre/current-season

"A traveling soothsayer, Asim, wanders into the courtyard of Cleopatra’s palace and starts chatting with the queen’s handmaiden, Charmian. He promises to read her fortune. As the unhappy future of the court begins to unfold, this soothsayer soon becomes a witness, then finally a participant in the last days of Cleopatra and Antony. A bold, darkly comedic examination of the fleeting glory of power and the intimacy of those that share it in two of history’s great partnerships."

Congratulations Professor Masi Asare for winning the 2024-25 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism!From the Aw...
04/14/2026

Congratulations Professor Masi Asare for winning the 2024-25 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism!

From the Award Committee: “In her groundbreaking book, ‘Blues Mamas & Broadway Belters: Black Women, Voice, and the Musical Stage,’ Asare reveals the far-reaching influence of black women vocalists' foundational contributions to American musical theater as performers, teachers and students. Her meticulous, nuanced analysis of sound and vocal technique as well as of black women's historical voice pedagogy makes it possible for us to hear the reverberations of intersectional singing practices across American theater culture.”

Read more at https://as.cornell.edu/news/2024-25-nathan-award-dramatic-criticism-winners-announced

Congratulations to Northwestern Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz and research group SLIPPAGE for the new publication of BLAC...
03/13/2026

Congratulations to Northwestern Professor Thomas F. DeFrantz and research group SLIPPAGE for the new publication of BLACK SOCIAL DANCE: EMBODIED GEOGRAPHIES OF FREEDOM!

"This research output is a part of the Mellon Foundation-fundedproject Race, Black Dance, and Embodied Geographies of Freedom, a humanities-driven initiative that explored how we gather histories of social dancing as living documents of practice embedded within ever-emergent Black Life. The initial three-year project took on manifestations of social dance in six cities as a way to characterize and understand Black Thought through the practices of people engaged in embodied arts. The question of 'freedom' as a temporary possibility made manifest in dance acts as a grounding assumption available to researchers who joined into the project."

"SLIPPAGE is a think-tank, an interdisciplinary performance research group that explores connections between performance, history, theater, and emergent technology."

https://www.slippage.org/

Congratulations to faculty Tracy Davis for her work on The Cambridge Guide to Mixed Methods Research for Theatre and Per...
03/11/2026

Congratulations to faculty Tracy Davis for her work on The Cambridge Guide to Mixed Methods Research for Theatre and Performance Studies! She and co-editor Paul Rae (University of Melbourne) were awarded the Joanne Thompkins Prize for Excellence in Editing, from the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies.

"The Cambridge Guide to Mixed Methods Research for Theatre and Performance Studies edited by Tracy C. Davis and Paul Rae is a major methodological intervention in our field. The book comes out of sustained international leadership and collaboration over years, demonstrating innovation in assembling and integrating a wide range of research methods deployed across our field. The significance and scope of the essays that show a diversity of viewpoints and recognition are exceptionally strong. Editorially the book reorients theatre and performance studies to engage methodologically with the energy of cultural struggles, volatility, and social dramaturgy. There are already indications that it is being adopted widely. In addition to gathering methods across international and transcultural perspectives, the editors engaged a range of postgraduate and early career scholars as contributors to the volume. Among its achievement, the book represents a field-shaping methodological endeavour in generational transition. This will be an important resource for postgraduate students, early career researchers and those in academia training institutions."

Details at https://www.adsa.edu.au/dbpage.php?pg=tompkins


One month left to see the World Premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu's "The Monsters" at the Manhattan Theater Club, featuring set ...
02/25/2026

One month left to see the World Premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu's "The Monsters" at the Manhattan Theater Club, featuring set design by faculty Andrew Boyce!

"For a long time, LIL has been obsessed with fighting, and one fighter in particular: her older brother BIG, an aging but successful figure in the local Mixed Martial Arts circuit. But she’s been doing it all from afar… until one day when she decides to show up on his doorstep. Written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu (Good Grief, The Homecoming Queen, The Last of the Love Letters) this world premiere is a sibling love story about reunions, resentment, reconnection, and wrestling with demons."

Tickets at https://www.manhattantheatreclub.com/shows/2025-26-season/the-monsters/

The Skokie Theater will present Sondheim's "Company" this month, featuring faculty Aaron Godwin as well as three Northwe...
02/05/2026

The Skokie Theater will present Sondheim's "Company" this month, featuring faculty Aaron Godwin as well as three Northwestern SoC/Theatre alumni in the cast: Natalie Pearl Evans ('24), Kelly Killorin ('23), and Elijah Warfield ('19).

📅 February 6th - March 1st
⏰ 7:30PM (Fridays & Saturdays), 2:00PM (Sundays)
🌟 Feb 25 1:30PM Wednesday Matinee, Feb 28 2:00PM Extra Saturday Matinee
‼️ No performance Friday, Feb 27.
📍 7924 Lincoln Ave, Downtown Skokie, IL 60077

Tickets at https://gopher-halibut-ga77.squarespace.com/company
🎟️ Use the code "AARON" for a $5 discount on all tickets

"The groundbreaking musical that explores the complexities of modern relationships, commitment, and loneliness. On the night of his 35th birthday, confirmed bachelor Bobby contemplates his unmarried state. Over the course of a series of dinners, drinks and even a wedding, his friends explain the pros and cons of taking on a spouse. With Stephen Sondheim’s iconic score and witty lyrics, Company delivers a smart, poignant, and entertaining look at what it means to be truly connected."

Address

Evanston, IL

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+18474913170

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