Our productions are a collision of craft, integrating the challenges of acting, design, directing, and playwriting working in concert — building both the skills for careers in contemporary theatre and the foundation of a dynamic liberal arts education.

Chair of Theatre:
Mark Evans Bryan ’96

Program Coordinator:
Kristine Mathews

Where the Stage Comes to Life

Denison’s theatre program has a long history of ambitious campus productions, staging four major works each year at the Eisner Center for the Performing Arts. The season spans a deliberately wide range — new plays in development, works from historical traditions, musicals, ensemble-devised pieces, and productions exploring identity and culture — ensuring students encounter the full breadth of what theatre can be and do.

Each production is open to all Denison students and unfolds over four to five weeks of intensive rehearsal before seven performances, mirroring the rigor of professional theatre-making. Faculty-directed and collaborative by design, these productions are where craft is built and tested — and where Denison’s theatrical legacy continues to take shape.

Theatre Productions
Archive

2019 - 2020

The Department of Theatre celebrates its new home in the Michael D. Eisner Center for the Performing Arts with BoJack Horseman in Sharon Martin Hall.

2018 - 2019

The Denison Fringe Festival presents the student production "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

The Denison Fringe Festival presents the student production "Esta Soy Yo."

The Denison Fringe Festival presents the student production "The Winter's Tale."

The Denison Fringe Festival presents an evening of readings and a dance piece.

The Denison Fringe Festival presents the student production "Mae West: After Dark."

The Denison Fringe Festival presents "Marriage (a work in progress)."

The Denison Fringe Festival presents the student production "Baby Steps."

The Department of Theatre presents "Information for Foreigners" by Griselda Gambaro

The Department of Theatre presents "Circle Mirror Transformation" by Annie Baker.

The Department of Theatre presents 'Sense and Sensibility' by Kate Hamill based on the novel by Jane Austen.

2017 - 2018

The Department of Theatre presents the Fringe Festival.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Government Inspector," a satire written by Nikolai Gogol and adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher '80.

Denison University Theatre presents "Life Is a Dream" written by Spanish playwright Pedro Calderon de la Barca and translated by Nilo Cruz.

The Department of Theatre presents "Big Love," written by American playwright Charles L. Mee and directed by Eleni Papaleonardos.

2016 - 2017

The Department of Theatre presents "Ulmus Ohioana: A Denison Archives Project," by Jennifer Schlueter and Mark Evans Bryan '96.

The Department of Theatre presents the musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

The Department of Theatre presents "The Traveller Returned" by Judith Sargent Murray, adapted by Mark Evans Bryan.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Piano Lesson" by American playwright August Wilson.

2015 - 2016

The Department of Theatre presents "Margo Veil: An Entertainment" by Len Jenkin, directed by Jason Podplesky.

The Department of Theatre presents "Richard III" by William Shakespeare, directed by Geoffrey Nelson.

The Denison Department of Theatre presents 'Best of Friends' by Jeff Daniels.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Trojan Women," by Euripides, directed by Cheryl McFarren, 8 p.m. from Wednesday, Oct. 7 through Saturday, Oct. 10.

2014 - 2015

Department of Theatre presents “I Am Jonathan,” a new work created by an ensemble of Denison theatre students and the Available Light Theatre.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Importance of Being Earnest," by Oscar Wilde.

The Department of Theatre presents "Little Shop of Horrors" by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Heidi Chronicles," on Wednesday, Oct. 1, Thursday, Oct. 2, Friday, Oct. 3, Saturday, Oct. 4, and Sunday, Oct. 5.

2013 - 2014

The Department of Theatre presents Spring Thing.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Malvolio Project."

The Department of Theatre presents "Middletown," by playwright Will Eno.

The Department of Theatre presents a Fall Festival: "Familiar Strangers" and "Much Ado About Nothing and The Taming of the Shrew."

2012 - 2013

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Tartuffe" by Molière.

The Department of Theatre presents "The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Theatres of War."

The Department of Theatre presents "Streetcar Named Desire."

2011 - 2012

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Legacy of Light."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Einstein and the Roosevelts."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "The Nerd."

2010 - 2011

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "The Miss Firecracker Contest."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "The Drowsy Chaperone."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Dr. Faustus."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Dead Man’s Cell Phone."

2009 - 2010

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Spite for Spite."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Shipwrecked! An Entertainment."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Departures."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Inherit The Wind."

2008 - 2009

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Cato at the Bakehouse Near Headquarters."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Notes from a Pullman Porter’s Daughter."

The Department of Theatre presents a production of "Something’s Afoot."

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