2023-24 Theater & Music Theater Season

The Programs in Theater and Music Theater will present a full, diverse season of productions in the 2023-24 academic year. The wealth of artistic and scholarly individuality in this season will create tremendous opportunity, community and connection!

Upcoming Spring 2024 Productions

She Loves Me

Book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
Production conceived by Casey Beidel ’24 and Madeleine LeBeau ’24
Music directed by Vince di Mura
Featuring Casey Beidel ’24, Madeleine LeBeau ’24 and Charlotte Kunesh ’24
Wallace Theater
March 29 + 30 and April 5 + 6 at 8 PM
Tickets & Details for She Loves Me

An updated portrayal of the Broadway classic She Loves Me will not only speak to the unique “virtual” realities of our class’s Princeton experience, but also will transform this golden-age Broadway musical into a modern commentary on our increasingly online world. Through updated staging, settings, and pre-show interactions, we hope to bring new life to this classic romantic comedy about connection, hard work, and vanilla ice cream.

 

El ritmo que nos libre

Conceived and created by Carrington Johnson ’24
Directed by Layla Williams ’25
CoLab
Performances: March 29 at 7 PM; March 30 at 3 + 7 PM
Exhibition: March 25-29, 10 AM – 6PM
Tickets & Details for El ritmo que nos libre

El ritmo que nos libre: Das almas assassinadas aos espíritos vivos (The Rhythm that Frees Us: From Murdered Souls to Living Spirits), is a new immersive theatrical installation focused on music, poetry and dance as mechanisms for political resistance and diasporic connection amongst Afro-Latinx communities.

 

Sisyphus, a new play

Written and directed by Jessica Lopez ’24
Drapkin Studio
April 4-6 at 7:30 PM
Tickets & Details for Sisyphus

Why do people need to die? Over two thousand years ago, Aeschylus grappled with this question in his two-part telling of the tragedy of Sisyphus. Unfortunately, those plays were all but entirely lost to time, leaving us to come up with our own answers. In this re-imagination of the classic myth, one man struggles against the inevitability of death. Sisyphus promised to make a difference in the world and is ready to throw hands with the gods to keep his word.

 

Theater&…math
A project explaining why 1+1 does not in fact equal 2

Written by Cooper Kofron ’24
Drapkin Studio
April 8 at 8 PM
Tickets & Details for Theater&…math

It’s 1903. Bertrand, Alfred, Alys, and Evelyn have just moved into a house together. Bertrand and Alfred are trying to prove that 1+1 is actually 2. Alys and Evelyn are trying to figure out why they married their husbands in the first place. Both of these tasks will ultimately take 10 years. Based on a true story. A reading of a play-in-progress about math, faith, and unfaithfulness.

 

Flight of a Legless Bird, a new play

Written and directed by Ethan Luk ’24
Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center
April 5, 11 + 12 at 8 PM; April 6 + 13 at 7:30 PM
Tickets & Details for Flight of a Legless Bird

Flight of a Legless Bird, written by Ethan Luk, follows and braids the lives of Robin and Leslie, two queer artists, from the 1980s to the 2000s. Robin, a filmmaker in New York’s West Village, confronts the reality of a HIV/AIDS diagnosis; Leslie, an accomplished Cantopop star and actor, grapples with his personal hurdles and newfound fame in Hong Kong. Robin and Leslie’s worlds collide by chance, establishing an emotional bond between the two men that defies time and space. Fusing multiple languages, geographies, and temporalities, the play’s fictional intertwining reflects a desire to forge new queer mythologies and connections, while probing the fraught relationship between art-making and times of societal crisis. Directed by Luk in collaboration with retired Program in Theater faculty member R.N. Sandberg.

Flight of a Legless Bird was developed in collaboration with New York Theater Workshop’s Mind the Gap Program, CHUANG Stage, PAO Arts Center, and Asian American Theater Artists of Boston (AATAB), and supported by the Douglas G. McGrath ’80 Fund for the Creative and Performing Arts.

 

Theater&…three generations of Bangladesh
Mukti and Meye-hood by Aneekah Uddin

Written by Aneekah Uddin ’24
Drapkin Studio
April 29 at 8 PM

After Nadia’s first semester at college, she clashes with her mother over values of womanhood and identity, rooted in generational trauma stemming from the Bangladeshi Liberation War (1971), a war her mother and grandmother both lived through. Maneuvering through fights over dinner, aunties gossiping, and hatching an escape plan, Nadia realizes she must reconcile rocky relationships with her tiger mom and her elderly grandmother to find self-love in her identity as a Bangladeshi-American.

This play dives into the Bangladeshi Liberation War’s impact on family, the Bangladeshi diaspora within South Asian communities, religious and cultural conflict, womanhood, and forming one’s identity.

 

Paivapo ’76, a new musical

Created by and featuring Tanaka Dunbar Ngwara ’24
Directed by Sabina Jafri ’24
Wallace Theater
May 3 + 4 at 8 PM
May 5 at 2 PM

Mirirai’s childhood best friend, Chamai, returns home from boarding school abroad to find his community much changed by the last few years of the war. While hiding in the forest during a raid on the village, it becomes clear that Mirirai’s spiritual beliefs clash with Chamai’s newfound view of the world. When he disregards important traditions and disappears at a sacred water site, Mirirai has to rally the community to perform the correct rituals to appease the spirits and win him back. This show is an exploration of the effects of the demonization and erasure of traditional practice during colonial rule in Zimbabwe, exploring themes of spirituality, community, first love and grief.

 

A new English translation of a French play

Translated by Lana Gaige ’24
In collaboration with L’Avant-Scène
TBA

 

Past 2023-24 Productions

 

 

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

"City Council Meeting" is a participatory work of theater created by lecturer Aaron Landsman that draws on events from real city council meetings in the Princeton area. This is senior Bethany Villaruz’s reflection on her involvement in the project as a student, stage manager, audience member, and now teaching assistant. Four years, four roles, and four City Council Meetings later, Villaruz speaks on what the project has taught her and what it aims to teach others. Open to University community.

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Rose, a demure dimestore sales girl who weaves a life of reveries and daydreams, invites Cliff, a hardworking, hard-drinking truck driver, into her small Philadelphia apartment. In William Mastrosimone’s delicate play, the two struggle with how much love requires giving and how much each of them would rather take. Featuring seniors Sarah Duntley & Jay White; directed by faculty member Elena Araoz. Tickets required.

Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center · Presented by: Program in TheaterDepartment of Music

This musical celebration will unite music theater storytelling, performance, composition, arranging, direction, and choreography while featuring the work and leadership of current Princeton students and alumni. The Playhouse Ensembles will be joined by several Broadway performers and musicians, including the viral, genre-bending Broadway ensemble Third Reprise. Free tickets required.

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Theater&...AI predicting a successful show features a presentation by Princeton senior Kira Kitzgerald entitled "Shaping the Stage: A Data-Driven Revolution in American Theater." Fitzgerald explores the intersection of big data, predictive modeling, and machine learning in the American theater industry. Open to University community.

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Sandra Chen '24 presents a staged reading of her new English translation of Nick Rongjun Yu’s (喻荣军 ) contemporary play, House Guest (家客), in which a man suddenly returns after a 40-year disappearance and becomes a guest in the house of his past wife and her new husband… at least in one timeline. This is a story that honors an elder generation of contemporary Chinese intellectuals, that interrogates individual fate and societal legacy, that contemplates how we are shaped by the choices we make. Directed by Icey Siyi Ai '25. Free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

This partly immersive new play explores Black women and femmes’ relationships with different types of love, based on interviews with Black women within their circle of family, friends and acquaintances. The audience begins this journey together in a hospital room and then moves in smaller groups through a vignette of scenes, some of which encourage voluntary participation by the audience. Free tickets required.

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

In the holly and jolly North Pole town of Christmastown, Mrs. Claus is in charge of making sure that Christmas operations run smoothly. Christmastown is a place where everything is perfect, and nobody ever wants to leave… until now. Mrs. Claus’s daughter Clara starts to dream about moving to California, and Christmastown is thrown upside down. With music inspired by carols, jazz, pop, and more, "Christmastown" is about family, friends, love, and the true meaning of Christmas. Staged reading of this new musical with book, music, and lyrics by Princeton senior Sydney Hwang. Free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

In this new musical set in 19th-century Argentina, a young gaucho named Mateo struggles to break free from his family’s dying way of life to become a writer. As modernity takes shape, Mateo is torn between dichotomies: his family or the one he could create, his culture or the movements of the world, his duty or his dreams. Advance tickets suggested.

Donald G. Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Grief Work is an original choreopoem conceived, written, and directed by Princeton senior Kenza Benazzouz, that asks: What is grief? Through poetic monologues, scenes, and movements, Grief Work examines how we experience loss throughout our lives. Free tickets encouraged in advance through University Ticketing.

Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center

This original Public Works adaptation of The Winter's Tale, with music and new lyrics by Todd Almond, was originally conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet based on the play by William Shakespeare. Directed at Princeton by faculty member Shariffa Ali, our musical, set in dystopian Sicilia and utopian Bohemia and inspired by Afrofuturism, centers community participation through a story of love, betrayal and redemption. Featuring Princeton student actors alongside a local community ensemble cast. Tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Bodywork is a new dark comedy, written and performed by Juliette Carbonnier '24 and directed by Sabina Jafri '24, about chronic pain, women's bodies, and the connection between physical and emotional health. Bodywork follows the story of Maia, a young woman who suffers from inexplicable chronic pain, who becomes a test patient for a radical new surgery that would switch out her current body for a healthy, “pain-free” body. Open to public; free tickets required.

Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex · Presented by: Program in Theater

Conceived and written by senior Chloe Satenberg, Not Your Buddyfollows four female counselors at a Jewish summer camp as they navigate their friendships and confront their history during the interstitial time between high school and college. Via monologues and dreamscapes, the play immerses audiences in the tormented mental state of protagonist Buddy—a 17-year-old counselor undergoing a crisis of identity. Open to public; advance tickets encouraged.

Details Coming Soon

Dates, times and venues will be published as available to our events calendar. Inquiries may be directed to lewiscenter@princeton.edu.

Programs for Theater Productions

Digital programs are available for most productions. Browse our list of all LCA productions to find digital programs listing artistic and production information and more.