Scene from Theatre UAB's 2014 production of "Clybourne Park" Theatre UAB continues to push the limits and its students to greater heights of performance with its newly announced 2015-2016 season.
Theatre UAB is the performance company of the University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences Department of Theatre. The new season will kick off with a free staged reading of the Theatre UAB-commissioned “A Butterfly Effect” on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The department’s season includes five main-stage productions: “Dancing at Lughnasa” from Oct. 14-18; “SFB” from Nov. 11-14 and 18-21; “Buried Child” from Feb. 24-28; the 13th annual Festival of 10-Minute Plays from March 13-17 and “Spring Awakening” from April 13-17.
Theatre UAB offers more than 500 opportunities each year for student writers, actors, technicians, running-crew members, stage managers, dramaturgs or directors, and more than 100 opportunities each year for students to design scenery, costumes, lighting or sound. The department has four touring companies of students who perform in venues all over the state, presenting new shows each season.
Each year, the department participates in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, at which they have won university theater’s highest honors. All plays in the season are performed in UAB’s own Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Theatre UAB 2015-2016 season of shows:
Saturday, Sept. 19
Theatre UAB presents a staged reading of “A Butterfly Effect,” 7 p.m., in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Odess Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Written by Robert Earl Price, directed by Karla Koskinen and Cheryl Hall. Imagine Sun Ra’s vamp on Birmingham and the signing of the Voting Rights Act, circa 1965. Award-winning playwright Price intricately weaves lyrical dialogue, jazz and movement to explore chaos theory, wherein a small change can bring about big differences. Sun Ra’s elaborate musings allow the audience to time travel through physical and sensual dimensions on a chariot ride powered by pride, plunging valves moving at light speed. “A Butterfly Effect” was commissioned by Theatre UAB and The Ruby Lloyd Apsey Playwright Award to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. A special talkback with the playwright will take place after the reading. This play contains adult language. Admission is free. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Festival of 10-Minute Plays
Wednesday, Oct. 14-Sunday, Oct. 18
Theatre UAB presents “Dancing at Lughnasa,” 7:30 p.m. nightly Oct. 14-17, with a 2 p.m. matinee Oct. 18, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Sirote Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Written by Brian Friel and directed by Jack Cannon. The Festival of Lughnasa heralds the harvest season of 1936 as the five unmarried Mundy sisters eke out a modest living in rural Donegal, Ireland. A newly acquired radio links them to the music, hope and romance of the outside world. That summer, the household revolves around the 7-year-old love child, Michael, and the return of the Mundy brother, Jack, who has served 25 years as a missionary in Uganda. When Michael’s father, a Welsh drifter, visits the little cottage, events are set in motion that crack the foundation of the family forever. Widely regarded as a masterpiece, Friel’s haunting memory play is a tribute to the spirit and valor of the past. Tickets are $12 and $15, student tickets are $6, and UAB employee and senior citizen tickets are $10. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Nov. 11-14, Nov. 18-21
Theatre UAB presents “SFB,” 7:30 p.m. nightly Nov. 11-14 and Nov. 18-20, with a 2 p.m. matinee Nov. 21, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Odess Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Written by Aaron Posner and directed by Dennis McLernon.
Described by some as Chekhov’s “The Seagull” on steroids, “SFB” wages a timeless battle between young and old, past and present, for the true meaning of it all. An aspiring young director rails against art created by his mother’s generation; a nubile young actress wrestles with an aging Hollywood star for the affections of a renowned novelist; and everyone discovers just how disappointing life, art and growing up can be. This irreverent, contemporary and very funny play has been a runaway success in theaters across the country. This play contains strong adult language and themes. Tickets are $15, student tickets are $6, and UAB employee and senior citizen tickets are $10. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Feb. 24-28, 2016
Theatre UAB presents “Buried Child,” 7:30 p.m. nightly Feb. 24-27, with a 2 p.m. matinee Feb. 28, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Sirote Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Written by Sam Shepard, directed by Karla Koskinen. “Buried Child” is Shepard’s 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winning dissection of a Midwestern family. When Vince brings his girlfriend home to visit, she at first likens the farmhouse to a Norman Rockwell painting. Things change as she meets the ranting, violent inhabitants, and gradually a dark secret emerges. Shepard’s radical, indeed macabre, treatment of the inescapability of the familial bond ranks “Buried Child” with “The Glass Menagerie” and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” as an evocative, haunting American masterpiece. This play contains strong adult language and themes. Tickets are $12 and $15, student tickets are $6, and UAB employee and senior citizen tickets are $10. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
Scene from Theatre UAB's 2015 production of "Avenue Q"March 13-17, 2016
Theatre UAB’s 13th Annual Festival of 10-Minute Plays, 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 13, and 7:30 p.m. nightly March 14-17, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Odess Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. This marks the UAB Department of Theatre’s “lucky 13th” year of original plays written, directed and acted by the department’s own students, staff and faculty. The enormously popular annual festival features new, super-short plays that are smart, edgy, shrewd, shocking and often hilarious. It’s a night of theater the audience discusses long after curtain. These plays often contain strong adult language and themes. All tickets are $5; arrive early, as shows nearly always sell out. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.
April 13-17, 2016
Theatre UAB presents “Spring Awakening,” 7:30 p.m. nightly April 13-16, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sunday, April 17, in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Sirote Theatre, 1200 10th Ave. South. Music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, directed by Valerie Accetta with musical direction by Carolyn Violi. Based upon the highly controversial 19th-century German play of the same name, “Spring Awakening” is the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. Faced with repression and an often unjust class of adults, these teenagers attempt to walk the difficult road to emotional and physical maturity as best they can. The Tony Award-winning musical features a beautiful alternative pop and folk-infused rock score. This play contains strong adult language and themes and explicit sexual content. Tickets are $12 and $15, student tickets are $6, and UAB employee and senior citizen tickets are $10. Call 205-934-3236 or visit the department online at www.uab.edu/cas/theatre.