Season Information

Auditions Home 2022-2023 Season Information Mega Audition Schedule Preparation

 

Drama at UC Irvine announces the 2022-2023 Main Stage Season:

Subject to change

Healing

 
 Fall 2022 Productions
 
 

Romeo and Juliet
Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Andrew Borba

Thursday, November 10 - 8 pm 
Friday, November 11 - 8 pm
Saturday, November 12 - 2 pm
Saturday, November 12 - 8 pm
Sunday, November 13 - 2 pm

 
Set amidst two feuding families in the modern city of Verona, young Romeo (a Montague) and Juliet (a Capulet) are both searching for something more meaningful in their lives. Finding each other, they discover a love that has the power to heal their entire world.
 
 

 

The Biddy Mason Story
Created in collaboration by Annie Loui and Dana Johnson

Directed by Annie Loui
Dramaturg: H. Adam

Thursday, December 1 - 8 pm 
Friday, December 2 - 8 pm
Saturday, December 3 - 2 pm
Saturday, December 3 - 8 pm
Sunday, December 4 - 2 pm
Sunday, December 4 - 7 pm

 

In 1850’s Los Angeles, Biddy Mason, a former Mississippi slave and midwife, walks to California behind a wagon train and becomes a healing force in the wild west. Mason becomes a person to be reckoned with: a businesswoman and entrepreneur whose perseverance and commitment as a healer of bodies and souls ensures that her spirit lives on. Based on a true story.

 

 

 

 Winter 2023 Productions

 

 

Airness
Written by Chelsea Marcantel

Directed by Eli Simon

Saturday, February 4 - 8 pm
Sunday, February 5 - 2 pm

Wednesday, February 8 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, February 9 - 8 pm
Friday, February 10 - 8 pm
Saturday, February 11 - 8 pm
Sunday, February 12 - 2 pm

 
When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds all committed to becoming the next champion, she discovers that there's more to this art form than playing pretend. Will Nina be able to let go and set herself free onstage? An exuberant comedy about competition, completion, building community and finding the “airness" inside yourself in order to heal your inner demons.
 
 
 
Men on Boats
Written by Jaclyn Backhaus
 
Directed by Juliette Carrillo
 

Saturday, March 11 - 8 pm
Sunday, March 12 - 2 pm

Wednesday, March 15 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, March 16 - 8 pm
Friday, March 17 - 8 pm
Saturday, March 18 - 8 pm
Sunday, March 19 - 2 pm 

 

Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men On Boats is the true(ish) story of an 1869 expedition when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. Cast with female and trans-identifying actors, this exciting, contemporary play points out the ironies of “discovery” in our history. Can we heal our past by investigating it through the lens of our present?

 

 

 

 Spring 2023 Productions

 

 
The Sweetheart Deal

Written by Diane Rodriguez

Directed by Sara Guerrero

Saturday, April 29 - 8 pm
Sunday, April 30 - 2 pm

Wednesday, May 3 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, May 4 - 8 pm
Friday, May 5 - 8 pm
Saturday, May 6 - 8 pm
Sunday, May 7 - 2 pm

 

With the Vietnam War protests, the energy crisis, the Watergate scandal and the United Farm Workers (UFW) Movement, the 1970’s were a tumultuous time. Mari and her husband Will are volunteering at an underground political newspaper attempting to uncover a secret “sweetheart deal” between growers and teamsters that could be at great expense to the farm workers, Cesar Chavez and the UFW. The story unfolds into two realities: the play itself and a series of short sketches created to inform the farm workers of the pressing issues of the strike. Eventually, Mari begins to understand what activism means for herself and ultimately how it impacts her community.

 
 
 
Rent
Music, Book, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson
 
Directed by Telly Leung 
Choreography by Andrew Palermo | Music Directed by Zachary Dietz
 
Saturday, June 3 - 8 pm
Sunday, June 4 - 2 pm
Wednesday, June 7 - 7:30 pm
Thursday, June 8 - 8 pm
Friday, June 9 - 8 pm
Saturday, June 10 - 8 pm

 

“Connection in an isolating age." Jonathan Larson's lyric was first heard in 1996, but after the isolation we collectively experienced during the pandemic, it loudly resonates two decades later. “What got me through it? My ‘pod.’ My chosen family.” RENT is about the power of community, and the need for connection to heal what is broken. We need this show now more than ever.