The Mineola Twins
By Paula Vogel

Directed by Kay Kostopoulos
November 14-16, 2007
Pigott Theater

Far Away
By Caryl Churchill

Directed by Matthew Moore
November 29-December 1, 2007
Roble Studio Theater

At the center of this apocalyptic vision we are asked to identify with characters struggling to grow up, fall in love, and maintain family ties under the pressure of the encroaching horrors of a world gone mad.

Suddenly Last Summer
By Tennessee Williams

Directed by Michael St. Clair
May 24-26, 2007
Roble Studio Theater

Tennessee Williams' provocative 1958 play concerning the mysterious death of Sebastian Venable, the sordid truth that could destroy his reputation, and the lengths to which his mother will go to keep it secret forever.

Savage in Limbo
By John Patrick Shanley

Directed by Kay Kostopoulos
May 17-19, 2007
Pigott Theater

A slightly seedy neighborhood bar in the Bronx, where a group of regulars seek relief from the disappointments and tedium of the outside world, Savage in Limbo moves swiftly from zany comedy to tense confrontation.

Splendour
By Abi Morgan

Directed by Ciara Murphy
March 8-10, 2007
Roble Studio Theater

In an elegant state mansion outside of an unnamed Eastern European city, four women wait for a dictator: his wife, her best friend, a foreign photographer, and her translator. Their talk covers movies, handbags, vodka—anything to distract from the sounds of the civil war outside drawing nearer and nearer...

Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land
By Stan Lai
Translated by Stan Lai

Directed by Stan Lai
February 22-24, March 1-3, 2007
Memorial Auditorium

Arguably the most famous play in the modern Chinese language theater, Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land combines the rehearsals of a serious contemporary drama and a tale of classical Chinese lore, creating a metatheatrical collage, a structured chaos, a meeting point of modern Chinese politics, ancient visions, tragedy, and rollicking comedy.

The Cherry Orchard
By Anton Chekhov
Translated by Marina Brodskaya

Directed by Rachel Anderson
November 16-18, 2006
Roble Studio Theater

As currents of a new century strengthen and threaten to sweep them away, Ranevskaya and her family cling to the past in a frenzy of ridiculous passivity that only pushes them and their orchard toward the inevitable end.

Frenzy for Two, or More
By Eugène Ionesco
Translated by Donald Watson

Directed by Florentina Mocanu-Schendel
November 2-4, 2006
Pigott Theater

Eugene Ionesco’s tragicomedy follows a man and a woman trapped in their house as an indeterminate war rages on outside. A classic example of “Theater of the Absurd.”

Deianeira
Based on Sophocles-Women of Trachis

Adapted and Directed by Rush Rehm
May 17-20, 24-27, 2006
Prosser Studio Theater

Based on Sophocles’ Women of Trachis, Deianeira tells of a wronged woman who unwittingly immolates her husband—the mythical hero Heracles—with a poisoned robe, thinking this “love potion” (given to her by a dying centaur) will restore her husband’s affections.

Phèdre
By Jean Racine
Translated by Ted Hughes

Directed by Illeana Drinovan
May 11-13, 2006
Pigott Theater

A doomed queen’s tragic infatuation with her stepson may destroy a kingdom. Racine’s Phedre brings a mythological tale to modernity, as themes of sex, violence, obsession, and incest swirl through this tense translation by Ted Hughes.

She (In Absence of Love and Death)
By Edvard Radzinsky
Translated by Alma Law

Directed by Rachel Anderson
March 1-4, 2006
Pigott Theater

She—a lonely lover, an irreverent dreamer, and a rebellious daughter–is the obsession of jazz musicians. She lives in a world of melodies and double lives: love is still love, even if it’s imagined; death is still death, even if it’s an accident.

The Castle
By Howard Barker

Directed by Daniel Sack
February 15-18, 2006
Memorial Auditorium

A soldier’s return from the Crusades is received bitterly by his wife and the other women left behind. Wars between the sexes and an escalating arms race rage on as the play explores the line between protection and oppression.

Top Girls
By Caryl Churchill

Directed by Kay Kostopoulos
November 10-12, 2006
Pigott Theater

What do a Japanese Courtesan, lampshades, the Pope, shoulder pads, black magic, and lots of booze have in common? Hailed as the best British play written by a female playwright, Top Girls asks: what makes a woman successful, and what does she have to sacrifice for that success?

Roberto Zucco
By Bernard-Marie Koltès
Translated by Martin Crimp

Directed by Ljubi Matic
November 2–5, 2005
Pigott Theater

A strange, poetic, and mythical cross between Tarantino and Camu’s Outsider, based on the true story of a young man who killed his parents.

The Hungry Woman: A Mexican Medea
By Cherríe Moraga

Directed by Cherríe Moraga, Adelina Anthony
May 11-22, 2005
Pigott Theater

Set within an imagined pre-colonial/post-modern world, The Hungry Woman is a MeXicana reinterpretation of the Greek Medea. Poet  and playwright Moraga employs an intimate realism to create a drama of mythic dimension, pivoting around a relationship between two exiled women, their love of each other, and the Indian nation denied them.

In the Blood
By Suzan-Lori Parks

Directed by Harry J. Elam, Jr.
March 2-6, 2005
Nitery Theater

Hester is a homeless woman living under a bridge with her wild brood of children in this contemporary look at Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

Mother Courage and Her Children
By Bertolt Brecht

Directed by Arden Thomas
February 10-12, 17-19, 2005
Pigott Theater

“Her loyalty’s as cheap as the beer she sells you:” Brecht’s comic protest about the business of war.

Closer
by Patrick Marber

Directed by Daniel Sack
November 17-21, 2004
Nitery Theater

A black comedy of sexual politics and the brutalities of intimacy, Closer describes the relationships between four Londoners stumbling through the darker side of contemporary romance.

Caligula Dismembered
adapted from Albert Camus

Adapted and directed by Jean-Marie Apostolidès
November 4-13, 2004
Pigott Theater

Devastated by the meaningless death of his sister, the young Roman emperor Caligula turns the cruelty of the universe upon his own people. By exercising his ultimate power, he strives to conquer the kingdom of the impossible. His goal: to capture the moon.

Salt
by Migdalia Cruz

Directed by Micaela Díaz-Sánchez
May 5–9, 2004
Nitery Theater

Originally commissioned by the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Salt portrays a family fighting for existence in the salt mounds on the South Side of Chicago. Written in what Cruz has called "poetic realism,"Salt is a story of the forgotten and disregarded; they are the survivors and they are the poets. Salt was originally produced by Latino Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. It was subsequently produced at the Actor's Studio Raw Space, Arthur Penn Artistic Director.

The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka

Adapted and directed by Matthew Daube
March 3–7, 2004
Nitery Theater

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect . . ."

Maria
by Isaac Babel
Translated by Peter Constantine
Adapted for the Stanford stage

Directed by Carl Weber
Feb. 19–21 and 26–29, 2004
Pigott Theater

The US premiere of Babel's second and last play.

One Flea Spare
by Naomi Wallace

Directed by Arden Thomas
Nov. 12–16, 2003
Nitery Theater

As the Great Plague of 1665 ravages London, two vagrants are trapped in quarantine with a wealthy couple, while a wily opportunist holds them prisoner in their two tiny rooms. Naomi Wallace's dark and erotic One Flea Spare was inspired by the civic unrest of the 1992 LA riots and probes the relationships between class, disease, love, sex, and death.

Kaspar
by Peter Handke

Directed by Kyle Gillette
May 14–18, 2003
Nitery Theater

Using live sound mixing, electronic music, and onstage video feed, director Kyle Gillette brings the tempo of high technology to this classic avant garde play. The elements of theater split apart and meet again, in a dance of light, sound, language, and furniture. The play explores how language speaks through, controls, and destroys its speaker.

Elektra
by Euripides

Directed by Kris Salata
March 2003
Pigott Theater

Director Kris Salata retranslated this classical Greek play, set in the Trojan war, and worked with an ensemble of actors to develop a wild, organic new take on the production.

Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights
by Gertrude Stein

Directed by Rachel Joseph
March 5–9, 2003
Nitery Theater

Originally written as an opera libretto, Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights is a "play," in all senses of the word, on the Faustus story. Stein's whimsical, lyrical language weaves us a tale of a young boy, a talking dog, a woman with two names, and Doctor Faustus, having sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the power of light.

Directed by Harry Elam
Feb. 13–15 and 20–22, 2003
Pigott Theater

Natural Man, a black folk opera, is Theodore Browne's retelling of the story of John Henry, legendary "steel-drivin' man." The play was written as part of the Federal Theatre Project and was first produced in 1937. In Browne's version, John Henry is more than a one-sided myth; he is a man standing up for human dignity in a racist, post-slavery world. Produced in conjunction with the Committee on Black Performing Arts. This production featured all-original music by Melvin Arterberry and Jesse Norfleet, and choreography by Robert Moses.

Directed by Barry Kendall
Nov. 13-17, 2002
Nitery Theater

A dark comedy about nobles and bawds, about liberty and restraint, about desire and guilt, about love and justice. One of Shakespeare's most debated plays, set in a Victorian Mardi Gras world. Staged theatrically in the round, with some characters played by puppets.

Directed by Kris Salata
Nitery Theater

A mad poet and a nun share forbidden trysts within the confines of an insane asylum. A play about art, religion, desire, and freedom of the mind, this acrobatic production was staged mostly on a near-vertical pegboard, with original music performed live by a lounge singer and upright bassist.

Directed by Michael Hunter
Pigott Theater

Shocking when it was first produced in the 1960s, this dark comedy is about a seemingly fresh-faced and innocent young man who takes up lodgings with a middle-aged spinster and ends up sexually manipulating the whole family.

Directed by Elizabeth Nordt
Nov. 14-18, 2001
Nitery Theater

Set in a fictional Latin American country, the play tells a story of an aristocratic American couple and their missing daughter, kidnapped and lost in the whirlwind of revolution and political corruption.

Directed by Jamie Lyons
Pigott Theater

As the audience and the asylum owner watch through the bars, the inmates of Charenton perform a (fictional) play written by the Marquis de Sade about the French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat. Sade provides jaded commentary, and the nuns rush in whenever the inmates try to break free.

Directed by Faedra Chatard
Pigott Theater

Directed by Zack
Pigott Theater

The play that invented the word "robot," from the Czech word for worker, this play from 1929 is an early cautionary fable about man versus machine—in the future, will robots Take Over the Earth?

Directed by Shawn Kairschner
Memorial Auditorium stage

Shakespeare's comedy, reset in New York City, circa 1931, with the lovers as upper-west-side blue-bloods; Oberon, Titania, Puck and the fairies as singers, musicians, and dancers in Harlem; and the mechanicals as immigrants from the lower east side. All end up in Central Park…

Directed by Michael Hunter
Nitery Theater

A little-known Spanish play from the Renaissance, about a political prisoner in a tower and the ethereal nature of life and death.

Directed by Jean-Marie Apostolidès
Nitery Theater

Directed by Shawn Kairschner
Nitery Theater

A boy who has commmitted a shocking crime--blinding several horses with an ice pick--verbally spars with his psychiatrist, who becomes more and more desperate to find out why he did it.

Directed by Telory Williamson
Pigott Theater

This play presents Sigmund Freud's first important patient, Dora. Through video and dance, we see her memories, thoughts, and desires, which both intrigue and repel Freud.

Directed by Zack
Pigott Theater

One of Stoppard's most well-known plays, it toys with the concept of "history," and the mutability of the past. As the action switches back and forth in the same place, we see a mathematically gifted 18th century young girl, and the present-day researchers who attempt to pin down what happened to her.

Directed by Brandi Catanese
Nitery Theater

A story about two women who are travelling to the American West to make their fortunes; the rise of one becomes the fall of the other when greed and ambition overcome them.