Season Information

 

 

Welcome to the infamous, sexy, and mysterious Kit Kat Klub, where the Emcee, along with Sally Bowles and a raucous ensemble, take the stage nightly to tantalize the crowd -- and to leave their troubles outside. But as life in pre-WWII Germany grows more and more uncertain, will the decadent allure of Berlin nightlife be enough to get them through their dangerous times? Cabaret explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich.

 

When King Lear decides to step down from the throne, he intends to split his kingdom evenly between his three daughters in order to avoid conflict. Lear’s plan quickly goes awry when his youngest daughter, Cordelia, refuses to engage in Lear’s vain game of flattery. A power vacuum quickly ensues, as Lear banishes his two closest allies, Kent and Cordelia. While Lear contends with his oldest daughters and declining mental state, Edmund, the bastard son of Gloucester, attempts to usurp his father and half-brother, Edgar, in an attempt to legitimize his own place in the world. Emphasizing the role of Nature in the play, UCI’s production of King Lear asks: What happens when the need for power and greed is so extreme that it erodes our place in the natural world? And what will it take to bring us back into balance with nature?

 

 

Written by Eugène Ionesco

 

Directed by Mihai Maniutiu

Saturday, March 9 - 8 pm
Sunday, March 10 - 2 pm

Wednesday, March 13 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, March 14 - 8 pm
Friday, March 15 - 8 pm
Saturday, March 16 - 2 pm & 8 pm

The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco is one of the most famous and iconic plays belonging to the Theatre of the Absurd. While most plays are primarily concerned with telling a story or elucidating an intellectual problem, the plays of the Theatre of the Absurd primarily convey a poetic image or a complex pattern of poetic images; this is above all a poetical form.

There are many ancient dramatic traditions that are combined to create the Theatre of the Absurd.  These include miming and clowning, as well as dream and nightmare literature that harkens back to Greek and Roman times, the tradition of nonsense poetry, the allegorical and symbolic drama of the medieval morality plays, the tradition of fools and mad scenes, and ritualistic drama.

This form of drama was bound to find also found inspiration in the silent cinema, with its dream-like quality, and nightmarish humor. Charlie Chaplin's little man and Buster Keaton's stone-faced stoic are among the openly acknowledged influences of writers like Beckett and Ionesco.
In a world that has become absurd, the Theatre of the Absurd is the most realistic comment on it, the most accurate reproduction of reality.

*A note from the Stage Manager: Our current script includes an alternate Ionesco ending that involves actors as audience members who are *shot by unseen weapons.

The Brothers Paranormal
Written by Prince Gomolvilas

Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera

Saturday, April 27 - 8 pm
Sunday, April 28 - 2 pm

Wednesday, May 1 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 2 - 8 pm
Friday, May 3 - 8 pm
Saturday, May 4 - 2 pm & 8 pm

Two Thai-American brothers launch a ghost-hunting business in order to capitalize on the nationwide increase in sightings of “Asian-looking ghosts.” When the siblings investigate the home of a Black couple who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and who are antagonized by one very terrifying spirit, everyone’s notions of reality, fantasy and sanity clash against the shocking truth.

 

The Prom
Written by Matthew Sklar & Chad Beguelin
 

Directed by Don Hill and Daniel Keeling

Choreography by Nikki Snelson | Music Directed by Trevor Bourland

 

Saturday, June 1 - 8 pm
Sunday, June 2 - 2 pm

Wednesday, June 5 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, June 6 - 8 pm
Friday, June 7 - 8 pm
Saturday, June 8 - 2pm & 8 pm

 

The Prom tells the story of Emma Nolan, a high school senior who was banned from attending the school prom because she wanted to bring her girlfriend, Alyssa Green, as her date. Set in a conservative, small town in Indiana, the plot includes the arrival of Broadway stars Dee Dee Alan and Barry Glickman along with their entourage, Trent Oliver and Angie Dickinson, to explore a way to support Emma in her quest. With various plot twists and turns, the conflict eventually resolves itself as the power of love, identity and acceptance win the day. The Prom received 6 Tony Award nominations and won the 2018 Drama Desk Award for Best Musical. UCI’s very own Kaden Kearney starred in the national tour.