Theatre Events
Announcing the 2009-2010 Theatre Season
The Sugar Wife
by Elizabeth Kuti, directed by Siiri Scott
Decio Mainstage Theatre
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Friday, November 13, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 14, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 15, 2009 - 2:30 pm
Elizabeth Kuti's The Sugar Wife premiered in 2005 in Dublin, Ireland. Set in 1851 in a Quaker community, the drama revolves around the moral dilemmas facing Hanna and Samuel Tewkley. The couple struggles to reconcile the simple ethics of their faith while running a successful business against the backdrop of poverty. When Hanna insists they invite a former slave and an abolitionist into their home, an unavoidable collision of culture, class and values ensues.
The New Playwright's Workshop presents First Harvest
Performed stage readings of selected scenes from 10 new plays by playwriting students and under Artistic Director, Anton Juan.
The following plays will be featured:
Tuesday, November 17 - Ringtones, Time Yet for a Hundred Indecisions, Both Sides, The Red Beret
Wednesday, November 18 - Coffee Bean, Their American Decision, Shine On
Thursday, November 19 - A Rose by any Other Still Reeks of Deceit, Committed, Widow's Seeds
The three shows will begin at 7:30 pm each evening in the Philbin Studio Theatre at the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts.
This is a free but ticketed event. For tickets, contact the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts box office at 574-631-2800 or performingarts.nd.edu
Natural Selection
by Eric Coble, directed by Tim Hardy
Philbin Studio Theatre
Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Friday, February 26, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 2:30 pm
Eric Coble’s ironic comedy depicts a future where technology rules supreme: everything is cooked in a microwave, blogging has replaced conversation, school has become virtual and the coca-cola flavor of the week is vanilla-cherry-lime. In Natural Selection (2006) Henry Carson, a curator at Cultural Fiesta Theme Park, is forced to travel the country in order to restock the Native American Pavilion. He soon finds that “native” can no longer be strictly defined. Technology has a decided disadvantage against mythology and, after years spent making the world artificial, the world begins to fight.
Blithe Spirit
by Noel Coward, directed by Jay Paul Skelton
Decio Mainstage Theatre
Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Friday, April 16, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 17, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 2:30 pm
Charles and his charming second wife, Ruth, live comfortably in the country, but all of that is about to change. Charles plans an amusing evening with the Bradmans by inviting Madame Arcati, a medium, to their home to hold a séance. The event turns into a nightmare of hilarity, however, when a very jealous Elvira, Charles’s first wife, returns from the hereafter and attempts to take matters into her own ethereal hands. Noel Coward’s "improbable farce in three acts," Blithe Spirit (1941), takes the audience on an amusing journey through this world and the next in one of the theatre's most enduring comedy classics.
Special Presentations:
New Playwrights Workshop presents Cargo and Scattered Voices
Works by student authors, directed by Anton Juan
Philbin Studio Theatre
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, October 8, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Friday, October 9, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 11, 2009 - 2:30 pm
This year, we continue last year’s precedent of opening the season with a Student Driven project as a bonus production. This year’s plays emerged from theatre courses taught by Professor Juan.
Cargo- At The World’s Fair, migrants are sealed inside crates to be exhibited; the seals break and migrants reveal their memories that lurk within. The production is a dialogic presentation of migrant issues.
Scattered Voices- Forced to grow up quickly within the harsh judicial system, incarcerated adolescents try not to be just their rap sheets, but intensely struggle to find their identities and futures. This devised theatre work is based on communications with young men from the regional correctional facilities.
Actors From the London Stage presents King Lear and Romeo and Juliet
King Lear
by William Shakespeare
Washington Hall
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, September 10, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Friday, September 11, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Saturday, September 12, 2009 - 7:30 pm
Romeo & Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Washington Hall
Tuesday, January 27, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Wednesday, January 28, 2010 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, January 29, 2010 - 7:30 pm
2009-2010 THEATRE SUBSCRIPTIONS
WHY SUBSCRIBE? An FTT Theatre Subscription consists of one ticket for each of the three mainstage productions, The Sugar Wife, Natural Selection, and Blithe Spirit but at the same price as a single admission for two plays. The subscription also gives you maximum flexibility by allowing you to change your performance dates over the phone.
When you subscribe you may choose your performance dates; if you would prefer to wait until closer to the production to make your selection, that will be very easy to accomplish. All Subscriptions that do not specify performance dates will be entered as Opening Night tickets. At any point up to the day of the ticketed performance you may simply call the box office to request a different performance. Remember that the earlier you make this request the more choices you will have in seat locations.
No tickets will be mailed out this year, simplifying the process of changing performance nights. With no physical ticket to exchange, all transactions can be made over the phone, and you will simply collect your tickets at the box office at least 15 minutes before curtain on the day of the performance.
This Subscription also entitles you to discounts to the Special Presentations: an approximate 50% discount for the New Playwrights Workshop featuring Cargo and Scattered Voices and an approximate 25% discount to each of the Actors From The London Stage Shakespeare productions of King Lear and Romeo & Juliet.
TICKET INFORMATION
Theatre Subscription Ticket Prices
Theatre Subscription ticket prices for the three mainstage productions, The Sugar Wife, Natural Selection, and Blithe Spirit are: $30 general public, $24 Seniors/ND faculty and staff, and $21 students.
Special Presentations ticket prices are:
- New Playwrights Workshop featuring Cargo and Scattered Voices, $6 general public, $5 Seniors/ND faculty and staff, and $3 students.
- Actors From The London Stage featuring King Lear and Romeo & Juliet, $15 general public, $13 Seniors/ND faculty and staff and $9 students.
Purchase your Theatre Subscription directly at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office, or by phoning 574.631.2800.
Regular Tickets Prices
Regular ticket prices for each of the three mainstage productions, The Sugar Wife, Natural Selection, and Blithe Spirit are: $15 general public, $12 Seniors/ND faculty and staff, and $10 students.
Special Presentations ticket prices are:
- New Playwrights Workshop featuring Cargo and Scattered Voices, $12 general public, $10 Seniors/ND faculty and staff, and $5 students.
- Actors From The London Stage featuring King Lear and Romeo & Juliet, $20 general public, $18 Seniors/ND faculty and staff and $12 students.
Purchase your Theatre Tickets directly at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office, by phoning 574.631.2800, or online at performingarts.nd.edu.
Ticket Office Hours
Academic Year (subject to change during semester breaks): Monday-Saturday, Noon-6 p.m.
Summer (June-August): Monday-Friday, Noon-6 p.m.
Forms of Payment - Please visit the DeBartolo Ticket Office during business hours for payment by cash, Domer Dollars, and DPAC Gift Cards.
Group Sales - Group ticket purchases are eligible for discounts. Please call the Ticket Office Manager at (574) 631-2729 to learn more.
FTT Theatre is Going Green
The Department of Film, Television, and Theatre is joining Notre Dame's campus wide sustainability efforts and cutting down on paper usage. We are developing a new Theatre Listserv, so we can keep in touch and update you on our most recent theatre events. To sign up for the Theatre Listserv, send an email to theatre@nd.edu with a subject line that says, "Sign Me Up". Also, our 2009-2010 Theatre Brochure is now in electronic format. Paper copies will be available upon request. E-mail theatre@nd.edu, or call the FTT office at 574-631-7054.
Mainstage Performances
2008-09 Theatre Season
Our Town 
by Thornton Wilder
directed by Jay Paul Skelton
Decio Mainstage Theatre
Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, April 1 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, April 2 at 7:30 pm
Friday, April 3 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 5 at 2:30 pm
First published and produced in 1938, Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
masterpiece about life in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, transforms the simple events of everyday existence into universal truths. As it charts the lives, loves, and heartbreaks of its large cast of recognizable characters, Our Town celebrates the humanity in us all.
Our Town Study Guide
Guernica
by Yannis Lymtsioulis
directed by Anton Juan
Philbin Studio Theatre
Tuesday, February 24 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, February 25 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, February 26 at 7:30 pm
Friday, February 27 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 28 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 1 at 2:30 pm
Inspired by the true story of a tragedy that took place in 1997 when an Albanian ship carrying refugees suspiciously sunk off the Italian coast, Yannis Limtsioulis’ Guernica explores the frustrated ambitions of three unquiet souls desperately floating amidst a watery medium of detritus.
In the dark world lying somewhere between life and death, these psychic survivors contemplate the residues of their lost existence and mourn dreams that will go unrealized. Lyrical, yet direct, Guernica paints a surrealist portrait of the lamentable unrest faced by those who die wrongly at the hands of others.
Past Performances 2008-09 Season
Spurt of Blood (Jet de Sang)
by Antonin Artaud
directed by Mark Pilkinton in a new translation by Krysta Dennis.
Theatrical concept by Jacqueline Dineen and Mark Pilkinton
Philbin Studio Theatre
Tuesday, September 23 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, September 25 at 7:30 pm
Friday, September 26 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, September 28, at 2:30 pm
Produced for the first time 40 years after it was written in the mid 1920s, many regard Spurt of Blood as surrealistic proto-Absurdist theatre that is completely unstageable.
This fantastical drama provides a glimpse into the mind of a theatrical genius and certified madman who was a major force in theatre theory in the second half of the twentieth century.
In a new translation by ND alumna Krysta Dennis and under the tutelage of a faculty director, this experimental studio production at Notre Dame brings together for the first time a company of Film, Television, and Theatre majors, all of whom have studied Artaud on the page, who want to attempt to make sense of the man and his work on the stage.
This production is for mature audiences and contains language and situations some may find offensive.
The Dispute
by Pierre Marivaux
directed by Siiri Scott
Decio Mainstage Theatre
Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm
Friday, November 14 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 15 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 16 at 2:30 pm
Are men or women more inherently unfaithful? That is the question at the heart of Pierre Marivaux’s Enlightenment-era comedy of human nature.
Upon heated debate at a society party, its royal host reveals an experiment to identify the more inconstant sex. Two young men and two young women, each raised in complete isolation, are released into a forest to commingle for the first time. What follows in this tiny of Garden of Eden is a complex meditation on the geneses of love and betrayal. Who will fall first?
Arguably the most important French playwright of the 18th Century, Marivaux wrote for both the Comédie-Française and the Comédie-Italienne.
Dispute Study Guide
Special Presentations
Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS) is one of the oldest established touring Shakespeare companies in the world. Workshopped in England and produced on campuses throughout the nation by Shakespeare at Notre Dame, this self-directed ensemble of five professional British actors uniquely brings to life the works of William Shakespeare.
This season, AFTLS presents Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, the story of a king driven mad by the supposed infidelity of his queen (complete with clowns and the famous stage direction “exit pursued by a bear!”), and Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s comic masterpiece that pits Beatrice and Benedick in the theatre’s ultimate battle of wits.
The Winter's Tale 
by William Shakespeare
Washington Hall
Tuesday, September 9 at 7:30 pm
Wednesday, September 10 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, September 11 at 7:30 pm
Subscription prices: $15.00 General Public; $13.50 Seniors/ND Faculty/Staff; $9.00 Students
Regular prices: $20 General Public; $18 Seniors/ND Faculty/Staff; $12 Students
Much Ado About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Washington Hall
Wednesday, January 28 at 7:30 pm
Thursday, January 29 at 7:30 pm
Friday, January 30 at 7:30 pm
Subscription prices: $15.00 General Public; $13.50 Seniors/ND Faculty/Staff; $9.00 Students
Regular prices: $20 General Public; $18 Seniors/ND Faculty/Staff; $12 Students
Theatre Season Subscription prices:
$30.00 General Public; $24.00 Seniors/ND Faculty/Staff; $21.00 Students
Regular ticket prices for The Dispute, Guernica and Our Town: $15 General Public; $12 Senior, ND Faculty/Staff $10, Students $10.
Regular ticket prices Spurt of Blood: $12 General Public; $10 Senior, ND Faculty/Staff $10, Students $5.
For more ticket info contact the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center ticket office (574)-631-2800. Or go to performingarts.nd.edu
Theatre Enthusiasts List
Receive by e-mail updates on theatre activities throughout the academic year including the mainstage plays and laboratory theatres. Email Christina Ries at cries@nd.edu
Work In Theatre
There are ample opportunities to explore the world of theatre! Students are needed to work on sets, costumes, lighting, and publicity. Also students are needed to act in plays or work as stage managers. Contact Christina Ries at 631-7054 or cries@nd.edu
Learn more about auditioning >
More Notre Dame Theatre Troupes and Events
ND Presents: Contact Tom Barkes
Actors From The London Stage
ND Opera, Department of Music
Not-So-Royal Shakespeare Company
Pasquerilla East Musical Company
St. Edward's Hall Players
Summer Shakespeare
N.D. Student Players: Contact Robert Jenista
See the Marie P. DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, the home of the Department of Film, Television, and Theatre.
Past Performances
Information for the Theatre Chronology was compiled by Washington Hall Manager Tom Barkes, his staff and student assistants. The project was begun by Martin Sprunk in 1994 as a classroom project. The chronology is managed by Notre Dame University Archives. The site index will help you find a person who may have been involved in theatre or a particular play.
History of Theatre Performances