STAGE CENTER THEATRE | 2020-2021 Season
FALL 2020
We are thrilled to present the first edition of
Stage Center Theatre's DIGITAL THEATRE FESTIVAL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
An expressive action space for the NEIU community.
Stage Center will present digital works on the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre (CMT) YouTube Channel from Oct. 15-Nov. 17, 2020.
As part of our digital fall and ongoing work to listen, learn, grow and take action during this complicated moment, Stage Center is thrilled to present a monthlong Digital Theatre Festival for Social Justice, Oct. 15-Nov. 17, 2020, that will be curated by performance faculty member Leslie Hull in collaboration with design faculty Max Maxin IV and Lizz Otto-Cramer. The innovative festival will consist of multi-faceted artistic presentations of digital performances alongside recorded multimedia and other works that represent and give voice to NEIU students and community members. These works will pertain to the quest for social justice, equity and visibility. The festival will be produced in conjunction with Stage Center Theatre's Student Theatre Council and will be presented and performed remotely via CMT's YouTube channel.
Find out more information about the festival and fill out the official festival submission form for your work!
SPRING 2021
THE REALISTIC JONESES
by Will Eno
Directed by Dan Wirth, CMT Faculty
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18-20 and Feb. 24-26; and 2 p.m. Feb. 27
About the Play: Meet Bob and Jennifer Jones and their new neighbors, John and Pony Jones, two suburban couples who live in a small idyllic American town nestled near the mountains. But these couples have even more in common than their identical homes and their shared last names. As their relationships begin to irrevocably intertwine, the Joneses must decide between their idyllic fantasies and their imperfect realities. A poignantly funny, witty and moving examination of what lies behind the white picket fences of our efforts to "keep up" and to "thrive," "The Realistic Joneses" questions the true substance of the American Dream and explores the notion that sometimes as hard as we try, that effort may not be enough to overcome the challenge of living.
NUEVAS VOCES: A 10-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL AND CONTEST
Founded by Jim Blair
Directed by Leslie Hull, CMT Faculty
Prize-Winning Plays:
- 1st Place: Sean Carey (M.A. '19 Communication, Media and Theatre) for "Departure, Initiation, Return. The Bus" - Prize of $250
- 2nd Place: Raeghan Draper (CMT major) for "Under Par" - Prize of $200
- 3rd Place: Charles Sipps (CMT major) for "Chekov's Potato" - Prize of $150
- Honorable Mentions, $50 prize each:
- Emily Maso and Raúl Dorantes' play "El Tres Laredos"
- Michael Maura (Studio Art major and African and African American Studies minor) "Somethin' Somethin'"
- Ata Younan (B.A. '19 Communication, Media and Theatre) "The United Statesian Nightmare"
Opening Reception: 6:30 p.m. Mar. 4
Performances: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4-5; and 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Oct. 6
About the Festival: Founded by alumnus and former Northeastern professor Jim Blair to create a platform at Northeastern Illinois University for new playwrights, Nuevas Voces is a thrilling launch point for new work from NEIU its vibrant community. Featuring multiple prize-winning short plays selected from an extensive competition, Nuevas Voces reveals the complexity of our human experience through the many lenses that make up Northeastern.
A DOLL'S HOUSE, PART 2
by Lucas Hnath
Directed by John Bliss, CMT Faculty
Performances: 7:30 p.m. April 15-17 and April 21-23; and 2 p.m. April 24
About the Play: As a door slams in 1879 Norway, a young wife and mother leaves behind her family, freeing herself from the shackles of traditional societal constraints. Now, 15 years later, that same door opens to reveal Nora, a changed woman who finds herself in a crisis, still seeking to free herself from the world she thought she left behind. The nation's most produced play during the 2018-2019 season, "A Doll's House, Part 2" is a whip-smart, bitingly funny "sequel" to the Ibsen classic that brings us back to the Helmer's house and examines a remarkable woman's battle with how societal roles have and have not changed since we last left.
