Welcome to the DePauw Theatre archives, where we invite you to explore the rich history of our past seasons. From thought-provoking dramas to vibrant musical productions, you can browse through years of student performances and creative milestones below.
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Spring Spectacle of Shakespeare
Spring 2019
In its 8th year, the Spring Spectacle is a partnership between DePauw University and Putnam County schools. The program trains DPU students to direct local middle and high school students (Cloverdale Schools, South Putnam Schools, North Putnam Schools, Greencastle High School) in the mounting of fully staged 90-minute Shakespeare plays. The Spring Spectacle is inspired by and produced in association with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. -
The Wolves
Fall 2019
A girl's indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals. -
Trojan Women
Spring 2019
Euripides’ Trojan Women is the one of the greatest anti-war plays ever written. It depicts the suffering of women and children after every war. It has been used many times to protest against war and to act as a warning for audiences who see it. It can also be a consolation for those who are suffering, because in it they see that over the ages, others too have suffered. In our moment in time when war should be obsolete, it is a time filled with perpetual war, fueled by a hunger for power, and yet rather than spreading democracy, the tragedy of displacement, death, and destruction is spread and must be endured by those current victims of war, just like the Trojan women. In contrast to the grief of the women, the barbarism of the so-called civilized Greeks is an indictment of all imperialists. Hence, the unfortunate relevance today of this story that was written over 2,000 years ago. -
Hamlet Mostly
Spring 2018
Hamlet is Shakespeare’s most recognizable play, but whose story is it? Join us for a mostly Shakespeare language performance that explores the interpretation, ideas and relationships of the play we all know so well through an experimental and energetic re-telling of the story. Hamlet Mostly is a collaboration between its original storyteller, the man we think we know as Shakespeare, and this production's director, cast and crew. -
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Winter 2018
August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone is set in a Pittsburgh boarding house in 1911. Owners Seth and Bertha Holly play host to a makeshift family of people who come to stay, some for days, some longer, during the Great Migration of the 1910s when descendants of former slaves moved in large numbers from the South toward the industrial cities of the North, seeking new jobs, new lives and new beginnings. Among those on the move are Herald Loomis and his young daughter, Zonia. Haunted by the past, they are headed wherever the road takes them in search of the long gone Martha, Herald's wife, and Zonia's mother. Herald arrives at the boarding house unsettled, dark and secretive. Seth Holly is suspicious and wants him out almost as soon as he arrives, but Bertha and the others see him differently, and by action and example, they help set him on the way to recovering his lost spirit and finding a new life. Directed by Guest Artist Kathryn Bentley, Director of the Black Theatre Workshop at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. -
Plays by Latina and African American Women; Poof! By Lynn Nottage, She Talks to Beethoven by Adrienne Kennedy, Personal Effects by Griselda Gambaro, Springtime by Maria Irene Fornes
Fall 2018
Spontaneous combustion. A mountain of suitcases. Beethoven in Ghana. Intersections of Poverty/Homophobia/Illness. Four extraordinary playwrights directly confront the deeper issues of our time, creating a performance full of humanity, fierce love, and courage. The plays are: Poof! by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, Springtime by nine-time Obie Award winner Marie Irene Fornes, She Talks to Beethoven by Obie Lifetime Achievement Award winner Adrienne Kennedy, and Personal Effects by Argentinian Guggenheim Fellow Griselda Gambaro. -
Sister Act
Fall 2018
Sister Act, the “feel-good, musical comedy smash” opens with Deloris Van Cartier, unsuccessful wannabe nightclub singer, witnessing a murder. When Deloris unexpectedly sees her married gangster lover Curtis shoot a man, she must run for her life before he is able to silence her. The police decide to hide her in the very last place anyone would think of looking: a convent. Deloris, now Sister Mary Clarence, must give up her flashy outfits, cigarettes, and liquor but she gains so much more as she learns to appreciate the enthusiasm and courage of the Sisters. Share the excitement as Deloris turns the sad, off-key choir into a joyous, inclusive, and highly lucrative Philadelphia sensation, which attracts international attention but also puts the lives of Deloris – and the Sisters – in jeopardy. Nominated for five Tony awards, Sister Act features an exuberant mix of music ranging from Motown, soul, and disco to poignant ballads and transcendent hymns, all designed to celebrate music’s ability to change lives and bring together different communities. Join the sisters and make a joyful noise! -
Spring Spectacle of Shakespeare
Spring 2018
In its 7th year, the Spring Spectacle is a partnership between DePauw University and Putnam County schools. The program trains DPU students to direct local middle and high school students in the mounting of fully staged 90-minute Shakespeare plays. The Spring Spectacle is inspired by and produced in association with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.