The Program in Theater & Music Theater will present a diverse season of productions in the 2024-25 academic year. The breadth of theatrical ideas proposed by students, faculty and guest artists offers a season invested in the creation of new dramatic forms, invention of new genres, investigation into identity and culture, and experimentation in reimagining community.
Upcoming Spring 2025 Productions
María Irene Fornés Institute Symposium
Conceived and organized by Associate Professor of Theater Brian Herrera in collaboration with the Fornés Institute and Latinx Theatre Commons
Performances and Events: Week of March 17
Symposium: March 22
DrKheal2 : One Big Thing
Featuring Brian Herrera and Kyle Berlin ’18
CoLab and Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex
March 21 at 5 PM
DrKheal2 offers a tandem encounter with María Irene Fornés’s 1968 play Dr. Kheal, in which a learned professor delivers a lecture about the meaning of all things. Professor Brian Herrera and alum Kyle Berlin, Class of 2018, each perform the role of Dr. Kheal simultaneously in different time periods in different venues (Wallace Theater and CoLab) for half the audience. The audiences then switch venues and experience the other Dr. Kheal. Immediately after their tandem performances, Herrera and Berlin will guide a lively, interactive conversation about the futures of higher education. Estimated total running time: 85 minutes. Presented in collaboration with the María Irene Fornés Symposium.
Act 3 of Vanya by Simon Stephens
Performed by Vincent Gerardi ’25
Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex
March 20 at 7:30 PM
Vincent Gerardi explores the challenge of bringing multiple characters to life in a one-person show, performing the third act of Vanya. Vanya is Tony Award-winner Simon Stephens’ (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) radical new version of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Comedic and tragic, Chekhov’s examination of our shared humanity—our hopes, dreams, regrets—is thrust into sharp focus in this work that was co-created by acclaimed director Sam Yates. Vanya explores the kaleidoscope of human emotions, harnessing the power of the intimate bond between actor and audience to delve deeper into the human psyche.
Macbeth in Stride: A Musical by Whitney White
Directed by Layla Williams ’25
Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center
April 4-5, 10-12 at 8 PM
Tickets: $10-20
What’s the story that framed you before you were even you? Macbeth in Stride, by Obie Award-winning theater artist Whitney White, employs the musical styles of rock, pop, gospel, and R&B to investigate some of the most familiar narratives of Shakespeare’s “Scottish play.” The musical preserves the madness, mystery, and macabre while infusing its own twist of irony, indulgence, and introspection, some so commonplace, we’ve forgotten to treat them as narratives at all. The show asks: What does it mean to be a woman? A Black woman? And what happens when the one thing she desires is power? At times inhabiting Lady MacB’s perspective, Woman interrogates love, ambition, and power in a high-energy and interactive concert-style performance. Joined by the Witches as singing collaborators, the work explores what it means to try to change a story whose end is already predetermined and has been lived a thousand times before. Directed by Princeton senior Layla Williams.
Ti-Jean and His Brothers by Derek Walcott
Directed by abigail jean-baptiste ’18
Dramaturgy and performance by Aleena Brown ’25
Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex
April 11-12, 17-19
Ti-jean and His Brothers (1958) by Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright Derek Walcott is a fable set in a forest that tells the story of three brothers, their individual weaknesses, and their quest to beat the Devil at his own games. Fables are generally intended to produce life-lessons in the form of fairy tales. This fable, which includes music and dance, draws on themes of pride versus humility, faith, colonialism, and capitalism. Featuring traditional characters like Papa Bois and the Bolom and a host of animal narrators, this work is a testament to how Caribbean people consolidate a painful history through the arts as Walcott threads tones of colonialism through a story of adventure.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Dramaturgical conception and performance by John Venegas Juarez ’25
Directed by Chesney Snow
Associate direction by Ava Kronman ’26
Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex
April 11-12 at 7:30 PM; April 13 at 2 PM
A queer reimagining of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that centers process and joy. This project aims to increase actors’ confidence as interpreters of Shakespeare by emphasizing physicality, voice, and energy.
Unshattered Matter by Kate Stewart ’25
A new solo play by Kate Stewart ’25
Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex
April 25 & 26 at 7:30 PM
Staged Reading of To Experience Encanto Negro by Oriana Nelson ’25
A new play written, directed, and read by Oriana Nelson ’25
Drapkin Studio, Lewis Arts complex
May 4 at 5 PM
Two best friends, Alana and Destiny, go to Puerto Rico to enjoy their final winter break as college seniors. During a wild night out in La Placita, Alana meets Gabriel who shows her that the island isn’t just about its beaches and reggaeton. Based on oral history archives, Afro-Puerto Ricans characters like Gabriel will expose Alana and Destiny to stories that showcase strength, resistance, and pride in one’s African heritage. These stories reveal a new perspective that makes the friends question their views about the Afro-diaspora. Directed by Nelson who will also read the role of Alana.
Reading of Damned to Marriage by Violet Prete ’25
A new play written by Violet Prete ’25
Godfrey Kerr Studio, Lewis Arts complex
May 7 at 7 PM
One-Night Only Music, Monologue & Dance Cabaret
Produced by Lev Ricanati ’25
Wallace Theater, Lewis Arts complex
May 1
