2016-17 Drama Series Subscription Package
Seven plays for just $52-96 per person!
2016-17 Drama Season
THEM!
Daniel Gary Busby, Artistic Director
UCI Drama’s 2016 – 17 season, THEM!, explores our tendency – both as individuals and as societal groups – to separate and cast blame on “The Other.” Through a series of plays and musicals that investigate religious persecution and genocide, the castigation of physical difference, interpersonal alienation, and our xenophobic reaction to other cultures culminating in war, we examine the ways in which we so often look to identify a scapegoat rather than find mutual understanding and acceptance. Present throughout the plays of the season, we hear the voices of “them.”
THE ILIAD: MENIN (RAGE)
Written by Homer with translation by Stephen Mitchell
Annie Loui, Director and Choreographer
This dramatic movement piece is constructed in the style of CounterBalance Theatre, in which actors play multiple characters, as well as animals and architecture. Taking place ten years into the Trojan War, this is a story about reputation and honor, and how they create the ultimate THEM and US: a world in which even the immortals come down to earth to take sides.
October 13 – 16, 2016
Winifred Smith Hall
Evenings: Oct. 13, 14, 15 @ 8 p.m.
Matinees: Oct. 15, 16* @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast
PARADE
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Book by Alfred Uhry
Myrona DeLaney, Director
Andrew Palermo, Choreographer
Daniel Gary Busby, Music Director
Parade tells the true story of Leo Frank: a Brooklyn-raised Jewish man living in 1913 Atlanta, who was convicted of the rape and murder of his thirteen-year-old employee; his sentence was commuted, but he was later lynched by vigilantes. Parade sits at the crux of north/south, black/white, rich/poor, Jew/Gentile polarities, against the evolving backdrop of the Civil (rights) War.
November 12 – 20, 2016
Irvine Barclay Theatre
Evenings: Nov. 12, 17, 18, 19 @ 8 p.m.
Evening: Nov. 16 @ 7:30 p.m.
Matinees: Nov. 13*, 19, 20 @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.
OUR CLASS
Written by Tadeusz Słobodzianek
Jane Page, Director
Our Class tells the story of a group of Polish and Jewish classmates beginning in 1925, examining the atrocities they suffer as war breaks out and anti-Semitism erupts in a series of brutal acts. As we follow the few survivors throughout the remainder of their lives, they attempt to reckon with the past, trying to make sense of seemingly senseless events.
December 1 – 4, 2016
Experimental Media Performance Lab (xMPL)
Evenings: Dec. 1, 2, 3, 4 8 p.m.
Matinees: Dec. 3, 4* 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.
CORIOLANUS
Written by William Shakespeare
Paul Cook, MFA Directing Candidate
Coriolanus is based on the life of legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. After military success against various uprisings which challenged the government of Rome, Coriolanus becomes active in politics and seeks political leadership; as it turns out, the alliances he forges to accomplish his own will result in his ultimate downfall and death.
February 4 – 12, 2017
Claire Trevor Theatre
Please note: Seating will be on the stage for this production.
Evenings: Feb. 4, 9, 10, 11 @ 8 p.m.
Evening: Feb. 8 @ 7:30 p.m.
Matinee: Feb. 5*, 11, 12 @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.
CLOWN ALIENS
Written and Directed by Eli Simon
Composer and Sound Designer: Vincent Olivieri
Clown Aliens follows a family of clowns who leave their home on Clown Planet and become inhabitants of Earth, encountering the same hatred and bigotry that many outsiders face when trying to fit into contemporary American life. This piece might best be described as “an epic clown funk musical,” with an original score composed by Vincent Olivieri.
March 11 – 19, 2017
Claire Trevor Theatre
Evenings: March 11, 16, 17, 18 @ 8 p.m.
Evening: March 15 @ 7:30 p.m.
Matinee: March 12*, 18, 19 @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.
I DREAM OF CHANG AND ENG
Written by Philip Kan Gotanda
Ricardo Rocha, Director
I Dream of Chang & Eng tells the story of Chang and Eng Bunker, the original “Siamese twins,” whose early lives were spent touring in a 'freak' exhibition. Charismatic and canny, they bought out their contract and toured around the world. Singled out as “freaks” by conventional society, they got the last laugh as they used this label to their own gain.
April 29 – May 7, 2017
Robert Cohen Theatre
Evenings: April 29, May 4, 5, 6 @ 8 p.m.
Evening: May 3 @ 7:30 p.m.
Matinees: April 30*, May 6, 7 @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.
AVENUE Q
Music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
Book by Jeff Whitty
Don Hill, Director
Dennis Castellano, Music Director
Avenue Q is a coming-of-age parable that satirizes the anxieties associated with entering adulthood, and being increasingly labeled and categorized. Its characters lament that as children they were assured that they were "special" and "could do anything"; however, they discover that in the adult world options are limited, and even their defining qualities render them no more "special" than anyone else.
Please note: This show contains adult themes and language that may not suitable for children under 12.
June 3 – 10, 2017
Claire Trevor Theatre
Evenings: June 3, 8, 9, 10 @ 8 p.m.
Evening: June 7 @ 7:30 p.m.
Matinees: June 4*, 10 @ 2 p.m.
*Ticketholders: Please join us for a post-performance TalkBack with the creative team and cast.