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Performances

Spring, 2024

Off-campus guests are welcome to attend our performances!

All seats at all performances are free of charge. Please arrive early!

For more information about any of these productions, please contact Conservatory Director Jack Tamburri.


Spring Season

Angels In America Part 1: Millennium Approaches

Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Sebastian Pray

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)
3/8 - 16/24

Fri, 3/15 @ 7:30 - advance reservations are now closed; come to the theater by 7:15 to join the waitlist

Sat, 3/16 @ 1:30 - advance reservations are now closed; come to the theater by 1:15 to join the waitlist

Sat, 3/16 @ 7:30 - advance reservations are now closed; come to the theater by 7:15 to join the waitlist

1991’s modern classic in a stripped-down new production for today’s audience. Featuring the work of students in the Theatre & Performance program.

View the digital playbill for Angels In America Part 1: Millennium Approaches


Spring Repertory

CMFT Performance Theater (CMFT 0061)

Acting Company 49 and the Theatre Design/Technology program present two modern masterworks.

Intimate Apparel

Written by Lynn Nottage
Directed by Chantal Jean-Pierre

Fri, 3/15 @ 7:30
Sat, 3/16 @ 1:30
Sun, 3/17 @ 7:30
Tues, 3/19 @ 7:30

Advance reservations for all 4 performances are full. Please come to the theater 15 minutes before the curtain time to be added to the waitlist.

Nottage’s 2003 drama follows brilliant seamstress Esther’s journey to financial and social independence in 1905 New York.

View the digital playbill for Intimate Apparel

Luna Gale

Written by Rebecca Gilman
Directed by Katherine Wilkinson

Sat, 3/16 @ 7:30 - advance reservations are full
Sun, 3/17 @ 1:30 - advance reservations are full
Mon, 3/18 @ 7:30
Weds, 3/20 @ 7:30

Gilman’s 2014 drama centers Caroline, a veteran social worker, as she breaks the rules of the system for the child of two young addicts in meth- and opiate-torn Iowa.

View the digital playbill for Luna Gale


Down With the Fourth Wall

Created by Celine Goris Luna* & Elissia Harris*
Written by Rayna Elaine, Elissia Harris*, Daniel Pierre, Rebakkah Ruffin, Tionne Watson, Raj Worden, & Celine Goris Luna*
Directed by Celine Goris Luna*

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)
Thurs, 4/4 @ 7:30
Fri, 4/5 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/6 @ 7:30

Down With The Fourth Wall is your chance to stand up and change the narrative!! This experimental piece is a way to create honest conversations about topics we’ve heard about time and time again. Learn how to not be a bystander. What Would You Do?!

An original work created as a capstone project by students in Theatre & Performance.

*Denotes senior producer


Judy’s House

Written by Jorin Cloughtery
Directed by Cayd Barrera*
Featuring Matthew Lazzarino*
Scenic Design by Reed Gordon*

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)
Thurs, 4/18 @ 7:30
Fri, 4/19 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/20 @ 7:30

An original work exploring queerness and family. In 2019, Avery is packing up the house of their great aunt Judy and they discover that Judy was in a committed relationship with another woman. In the 1960s, Judy navigates unfamiliar feelings for her neighbor Pat, while she discovers her own identity.

An original work created as a capstone project by seniors in Theatre & Performance.

*Denotes senior producer


The Good Doctor

Written by Neil Simon
Based on the writings of Anton Chekhov
Directed by Leon Brown

CMFT Performance Theater (CMFT 0061)
Weds, 4/24 @ 7:30
Thurs, 4/25 @ 7:30
Fri, 4/26 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/27 @ 1:30
Sat, 4/27 @ 7:30

Acting Company 50 makes their performance debut in this anthology of works by master playwright and short-story-writer Chekhov.


The Haunting of Campbell House

Written by Jenna Hernandez*
Directed by Kat Tobits
Featuring Kim Crossway*

Humanities Theater
Thurs, 4/25 @ 7:30
Fri, 4/26 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/27 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/27 @1:30 *Understudy performance

An original musical about a group of friends who take a trip to the Campbell family beach house for the weekend. Things seem great at first but all of a sudden, strange things begin to happen. Teenagers unsupervised for a weekend — what could go wrong here?

An original work created as a capstone project by seniors in Theatre & Performance.

*Denotes senior producer


The Most Lamentable Roman Tragedy of Titus Andronicus

Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Steven Sapp

The Performing Arts Center’s Repertory Theater
Fri, 4/26 @ 7:30
Sat, 4/27 @ 1:30
Sat, 4/27 @ 7:30
Weds, 5/1 @ 7:30
Thurs, 5/2 @ 7:30
Fri, 5/3 @ 7:30
Sat, 5/4 @ 1:30
Sat, 5/4 @ 7:30

Acting Company 48 and the Theatre Design/Technology program take on Shakespeare’s notorious revenge drama in a searing, modern production.


Plays in Process

by Link Hagerty & Alison Salinas

Humanities Theater
5/2 - 5/5/2024

Catharsis
Written by Link Hagerty
Friday, 5/4 @ 7:30
Saturday, 5/5  @ 1:30
Saturday, 5/5 @ 7:30

Readings of new works written as capstones by students in Theatre & Performance.



Past Events

Theatre & Performance Presents: Mistake, Audience, and the Increased Difficulty of Concentration (Act 2)

Written by Václav Havel
Directed by Lenka Pichlíková-Burke

Humanities 1032 (Lecture Hall)
Wednesday, September 27 @ 7:00pm

On the even of Václav Havel Day, join the Political Theatre in Prague group for a screening of a performance created during their time in Europe this summer.

This screening is open to all, and is expected to run for approximately 80 minutes. No reservations necessary!

For more information about studying abroad at Purchase, visit the Office for Global Education or reach out to the Education Abroad Coordinator, Nicole Smolenski.


Gint

Written by Romulus Linney, adapted from Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Trezana Beverley

CMFT Performance Theater (CMFT 0061)

Wednesday, September 27 - Sunday, October 1

Ibsen’s 1876 epic, adapted by American master Linney in 1998, reset in 1917 Appalachia. Banjos, clog-dancing, and goats! A self-produced studio production by Acting Company 49.

Content Disclosure: This production of Gint contains sexual content, insensitive depictions of mental illness, simulated self-harm, foul language, and anti-Indigenous rhetoric, as well as discussions of death and addiction. Recommended for mature audiences.

View the digital playbill for Gint


Fall Festival of Contemporary Drama

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)

Acting Company 48 and the Theatre Design/Technology program present two brilliant modern works by master playwrights in intimate new productions.

Fucking A

Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Cezar Williams

10/20 - 28/2023

Parks’s 2000 remix of The Scarlet Letter finds Hester providing necessary but risky care to the women in her repressive community.

Fucking A is partially supported by a gift from Robert Wiener.

Content Disclosure: This production of Fucking A contains blood and gore effects, gun violence, and a scene of sexual assault. It also contains discussion of abortion. Recommended for mature audiences.

View the digital playbill for Fucking A

Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Written by Will Arbery
Directed by James Dean Palmer

10/21 - 28/2023

2019’s Pulitzer finalist finds alumni of a Wyoming Catholic college reuniting to battle out their political disagreements and personal dramas.

Content Disclosure: This production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning includes simulated use of firearms, including gunshot sound effects and a simulated animal carcass. It also includes discussions of homophobia, transphobia, and racism, and mentions of abortion, death, and suicidal ideation. Recommended for mature audiences.

View the digital playbill for Heroes of the Fourth Turning


How To Defend Yourself

Written by Liliana Padilla
Directed by Ash Marinaccio

CMFT Performance Theater (CMFT 0061)
11/3 - 11/23

Set in a self-defense class initiated by college students after their classmate is assaulted, this play — fresh from its New York premiere last spring — is a compelling contribution to the discourse about consent, safety, and patriarchy.

Featuring the work of students in the Theatre & Performance program in collaboration with the Theatre Design/Technology program.

Content Disclosure: This production of How To Defend Yourself contains graphic dialogue about sexuality and sexual violence, as well as mentions of eating disorders. It also utilizes flashing lights. Recommended for mature audiences.

View the digital playbill for How To Defend Yourself


Purchase Performance Lab: A Festival of Senior Projects

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)

11/16 - 18/23

Bold, experimental, and moving works produced as capstone projects by students in Theatre & Performance.

Room For Growth

By Jorin Clougherty & Olivia Perrone

View the digital playbill for Room For Growth

Purchase Retold

By Alexis Taylor & Chris Walker

View the digital playbill for Purchase Retold


Socrates

Written by Tim Blake Nelson
Directed by A. Dean Irby

The Performing Arts Center’s Repertory Theater

11/18 - 12/2/23

Nelson’s 2019 drama brings the trial of Socrates to thrilling life in the present! Accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and rejecting state-sanctioned religion, Socrates argues for his life in a new production that makes the most of theatrical technology and the immediacy of performance. Featuring the work of Acting Company 49 and the Theatre Design/Technology program.

Socrates is partially supported by a gift from Robert Wiener.

View the digital playbill for Socrates


Sanctuary City

Written by Martyna Majok
Directed by Kailee-Jade Berrios
Featuring Gabriel Bodas & Cayla Mercado

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)

11/30 - 12/2/23

In Pulitzer-winner Majok’s 2021 play, two undocumented teens contend with the racism and surveillance of post-9/11 New York City, and find home with one another.

Produced as a capstone project by seniors in Theatre & Performance.

View the digital playbill for Sanctuary City


Machinal

Written by Sophie Treadwell
Directed by Budi Miller

CMFT Performance Theater (CMFT 0061)

12/1 - 9/23

Widely named among the best plays ever written, the classic of feminist and Expressionist drama is as incendiary in 2023 as it was in 1928. Based on the case of real-life convicted murderer Ruth Snyder, a young woman struggles against the expectations of capitalism and ends up an enemy of the state. This new production, directed by international master-teacher Miller, features the work of Acting Company 48.

Machinal is partially supported by a gift from Robert Wiener.

View the digital playbill for Machinal


New Plays Now

Directed by Cezar Williams

CMFT Performance Studio (CMFT 2043)

12/8 - 9/23

A festival of short works written by students in the Playwriting program, featuring Acting Company 49!