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WIU Theatre and Dance 2024-2025 Theatre Season:

NEW FRIENDS: SHOWCASE

HARD CANDY

By Jonathan Rand

Directed by Adam Lewis

Sept. 26 – 28 at 7:30pm

Simpkins Theatre

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About the play:

Some job-seekers will do anything to claw their way up the corporate ladder. In a fast-paced series of hilarious interviews, the new recruits try every trick in the book -- from bribery, nepotism, and the Old Boy Network, to blackmail, seduction, and mind control.

hardcandy

Due to unforeseen circumstances we are postponing the production of VANYA until Spring (Jan. 30 - Feb. 2, 2025).

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE

By Christopher Durang

Directed by Carolyn Blackinton

Oct. 10 - 12 at 7:30pm, Oct. 12 & 13 at 2:00pm

Horrabin Theatre

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About the play:

If you were to take a blender to Anton Chekov’s classic plays and sprinkled liberally with the Christopher Durang unique and simmering contemporary humor you get this rollicking play. Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia share a home in Bucks County, PA, where they bicker, indulge in sighs, and snappy retorts about the circumstances of their lives. Suddenly, their movie-star sister, Masha, swoops in with her new boy toy, Spike. Old sibling beefs and competition flares up, including threats to sell the house. Their lives will never be the same after this visit.

vanya

A SKULL IN CONNEMARA

By Martin McDonagh

Directed by Michael McNamara*

Oct. 17 – 19 at 7:30pm

Simpkins Theatre

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About the play:

For one week each autumn, Mick Dowd is hired to disinter the bones in certain sections of his local cemetery to make way for the new arrivals. As the time approaches for him to dig up those of his own late wife, strange rumors regarding his involvement in her sudden death seven years ago gradually begin to resurface.

a skull

THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW

Directed by Hadley Kamminga-Peck

Musical Direction by Lisa Wipperling

Choreography by Kristin Kavanagh

Oct. 24 – 25 at 7:30pm

Oct. 26 at 7:30pm & 10:30pm

Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 at 7:30pm

Hainline Theatre

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About the play:

In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named "Rocky."

rocky horror

ELEMENTS – A Devised Dance Experience

Directed by Donald Laney

Assistant Director Kristin Kavanagh

Nov. 14 – 16 at 7:30pm, Nov. 16 & 17 at 2:00pm

Hainline Theatre

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About the performance:

A Devised Dance Production exploring the 4 Elements of Nature: Air, Water, Earth, & Fire. By researching cultural folklore and traditions from around the world, student and faculty choreographers will create an immersive experience using movement, music, and scenic projections to convey the story of the Elements.

elements

SHOWCASE24

Directed by Lisa Wipperling

Dec. 5 – 7 at 7:30pm

Hainline Theatre

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About the performance:

Join the Musical Theatre & Theatre classes of 2024 -2025 and their friends as they highlight their training from over the past four years.

THE MAD ONES

By Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk

Directed by Amie Root*

Musical Direction by Aaron Ames

Choreographed by Donald Laney

Feb. 13 -15 at 7:30pm

Simpkins Theatre

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About the play:

18-year-old Samantha Brown sits in a hand-me-down car with the keys clutched in her hand. Caught between a yearning for the unknown and feeling bound by expectation, she telescopes back to a time before her world had fallen apart. As she relives her senior year, we meet Sam’s well-intentioned helicopter mother Bev and her high school sweetheart of a boyfriend Adam, but it’s her painfully alive best friend Kelly that haunts her. Kelly was everything Sam is not – impetuous and daring. She pushed Sam to break rules and do the unexpected. When Kelly is killed in a car wreck, Sam loses not only her best friend but also the part of herself that was learning to be brave. Now, Sam has to make a decision: Will she follow her mother’s dreams for her, or will she summon the courage to drive away from her friends and family into a future she can’t imagine?

madone

NOISES OFF

By Michael Frayn

Directed by DC Wright

April 3 – 5 at 7:30pm; April 5 & 6 at 2:00pm

Hainline Theatre

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About the play:

In a provincial English town, a theatre troupe rehearses a touring production of a sex comedy, Nothing On. Unfortunately, almost nothing is going right – the cast can’t remember their lines, they mix up their blocking, misplace props, and they’ve lost sight of why they’re acting! Even the director is certain that the show will be a disaster. Somehow the cast pulls through, but by mid-tour the drama has moved backstage, as cast and crews’ personal lives start to mirror the insanity in the play, with sexual dalliances, jealousies, and chaos reigning overall. By closing night, the play is in complete shambles both onstage and off, with open "warfare" occurring among cast members and everyone simply trying to survive until the final curtain.

noises

DANCE ESCAPE

Directed by Kristin Kavanagh

Assistant Director Donald Laney

April 17 – 19 at 7:30pm

April 19 & 20 at 2:00pm

Hainline Theatre

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About the performance:

Western Illinois University's annual Spring Dance Concert will offer an evening of dance, choreographed by students and instructors in University Dance Company (UDC). Each performance will incorporate a variety of dance styles, including modern/contemporary, jazz, Afro-modern, and ballet.

dance escape