Dear Theatre + Dance Community,

Join Us For Our Spring 2025 Season!

UCSD's Theatre + Dance Department invites you to enjoy our upcoming season of live performances at The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Theatre District!



WAGNER NEW PLAY FESTIVAL

Our annual festival of new works by MFA playwrights, in collaboration with MFA/PhD directors, actors, designers, stage managers, and dramaturges.



Refuse It: A Black Woman’s Guide to 21st Century Rage

May 6-17

Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre

Written by Phanésia Pharel, MFA 3

Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenburg

Refuse to Mammy. Refuse Shame. Refuse to Explain. REFUSE IT: A BLACK WOMAN’S GUIDE TO 21ST CENTURY RAGE explores the lives of Black women who reject the status quo. Through a kaleidoscope of vignettes, these women confront the costs and benefits of living radically under the persistent weight of the past. Darkly comedic and unapologetically defiant, REFUSE IT asks: If society has truly progressed and living conditions are undeniably better, why don’t we feel better?

Baby Shower Katie

May 2-17

Theodore and Adele ShankTheatre

Written by Beth Hyland, MFA 3

Directed by Aysan Celik 

Rebecca desperately wants to have a child; her best friend Hannah can’t imagine anything worse. Over the course of four different baby showers for mutual friends all named Katie, Rebecca and Hannah grapple with their unspoken wishes and fears about motherhood–and everything else. BABY SHOWER KATIE is an antic, irreverent, and deeply felt exploration of women’s choices and the baby shower industrial complex.

Motherloss

May 5-16

Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theater

Written by Mylan Gray, MFA 3

Directed by Ludmila de Brito, MFA 3

Choreography by Ana María Alvarez

When Dwayne meets his long-lost mother in a dream, he leaves behind everything he’s ever known to go find her. In a fantastical journey through space and time, MOTHERLOSS follows Dwayne as he retraces his mother’s steps from the Gold Coast, through the Middle Passage, to the New World. On the way, he meets strangers, tricksters, and unexpected guides who teach him how to traverse a history of loss and grief, and how to hold those closest to you near.

One Acts

May 9-17

Arthur Wagner Theater

Dirty Martini

Written by Katie Đỗ, MFA 1

Directed by Shyama Nithiananda, MFA 1

Kara and Poppy were best friends - until they weren't. After a mysterious falling out, they reunite and try to rebuild their friendship, but unfinished business keeps getting in the way. What really happened with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named? And what other secrets are they keeping from one another? DIRTY MARTINI looks at what happens when the people closest to you are not who you think they are and what it really means to be a good friend.

Nerve Endings

Written by Quentin Nguyen-duy, MFA 1

Directed by Kieran Beccia, MFA 1

Ansel and Izzy are at a wedding neither of them wants to be at. They’re also stuck in a time loop neither can get out of. Over the course of an evening – or maybe an eternity – they must revisit their situationship, a complicated history, and a lifetime of regrets and unspoken feelings before it's too late. NERVE ENDINGS looks at the cyclical nature of relationships and what it takes to mend a severed connection.

Dance Performances

New Directions

June 5-7

Epstein Family Amphitheater

Featuring Student Choreographers

Cece Carton, Brenda Estrada, Katie Gillespie, Katarina Guillot, Kristina Little, Natalia Morales, Chenning Zhang 

Directed by Ana María Álvarez

NEW DIRECTIONS features the work of student choreographers and will welcome dance makers and movers from across all areas, and beyond the department. The purpose of New Directions will be to engage dancers and choreographers across campus, and to support the next generation of embodied storytellers and movement makers. Last year featured 8 exciting new works by student choreographers asking questions of lineage, community resilience empowerment, liberation & peace! 

Department + Alumni News

Stage Management Faculty Lisa Porter Celebrates 20 Years at UCSD Theatre + Dance

Throughout the past two decades Lisa Porter has led the Stage Management area and mentored UCSD’s MFA stage management students with both kindness and rigor. The courses and curriculum that she developed have created a supportive and stimulating environment that allows students to develop the confidence and flexibility necessary to meet production challenges with integrity.

MFA Playwriting Student, Phanésia Pharrel, Has Been Selected For The 2025 Productions In Residence Program At The New Harmony Project

Phanésia will be workshopping her play WATERFALL, which she began as a first-year playwright at UC San Diego. She will collaborate with OBIE Award-winning director Taylor Reynolds who directed the Off-Broadway production of TAMBO AND BONES by MFA playwright alum Dave Harris which was first produced in the Wagner New Play Festival.

MFA Playwriting Student, Beth Hyland, To Premiere 'Fires, Ohio' In 2026

In 2026, the Hertz Stage will host the world premiere of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition-winning Fires, Ohio, written by Beth Hyland and performing February 25- March 22, 2026.

Dance Faculty Bernard Brown Has Been Awarded A Mike Kelley Foundation Infinite Expansion Grant To Further His Work, 'Sissies: Something Perfect Between Ourselves'

This dance theater project prompts a reconsideration of understandings of masculinity, sexuality and intimacy through embodied discourse, text and sonic power.

Directing Faculty Lamar Perry To Premiere 'When We Are Found' April 24 At The Penumbra Theatre

Lamar Perry will direct the world premiere of Donja R. Love’s When We Are Found, April 24 - May 18, at the Penumbra Theatre!

Design Faculty Christopher Kuhl and Spencer Duff (MFA 1 Lighting Design) Are Currently Creating 'Incontrovertible Being'

Christopher Kuhl and Spencer Duff are currently creating Incontrovertible Being as part of the Lucas Arts Residency Program at the Montalvo Arts Center at Stanford.

Acting Faculty Ursula Meyer Voice + Text Director For 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' & 'Into the Woods' At The Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Ursula Meyer, now in her 17th season at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, has begun rehearsal as Voice and Text Director for The Merry Wives of Windsor and Into the Woods.

Acting Faculty Stephen Buescher and Alum Agyeiwaa Asante (MFA Playwright ‘24) To Take Part In The International Black Theater Summit In Accra, Ghana

Stephen Buescher and Agyeiwaa Asante will travel to Accra, Ghana this spring to take part in the International Black Theater Summit, presented in partnership with the National Theatre of Ghana. Both Buescher and Asante were instrumental in the creation and development of this landmark event.

Theatre + Dance Department Chair Lisa Portes Directed 'Laughs in Spanish' At The Hartford Stage

The production also included the work of T+D alums Allie Moss (MFA Directing), Sherrice Mojdani (MFA Lighting Design) and Luis Vega (MFA Acting) work to bring Lisa Portes and Alexis Scheer’s production “Laughs in Spanish” to life at the Hartford Stage March 6-30.

Performance Studies Faculty Mysia Anderson Receives 2025-26 FCDP Award

Mysia Anderson has been selected to receive the 2025-26 Faculty Career Development Program (FCDP) award

Performance Studies Faculty Dr. Jade Power-Sotomayor Led 'Pachanga e Poder' Dance Research Incubator

Dr. Jade Power-Sotomayor led the “Pachanga e Poder” dance research incubator held at Ohio State University this past March.

Faculty Vanessa Stalling Directed 'The Roomate' At The Center Rep Theatre

Vanessa Stalling directed The Roomate by Jen Silverman at the Center Rep Theatre Mar. 30 - Apr. 20.

Design Faculty Robert Brill Premiered 'Moby-Dick' At The Metropolitan Opera

Robert Brill worked to bring composter Jake Heggie's Moby-Dick to life at The Metropolitan Opera this past March.

'Uncle Vanya' Showcased The Talents Of Seven T+D Alumni

Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s critically acclaimed production featured scenic design by alum and faculty member Robert Brill, MFA Acting alum Tom Nelis, UG alums Kaileykielle Hoga (Sound Fellow) and Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu (Artistic Fellow), and assistant scenic design by MFA Designer Tzu-Yu Su and alumni Elizabeth Barrett and Nicholas Ponting.

MFA Alums Nominated For Lucille Lortel Awards

MFA Acting Alum Michael Rishawn (MFA '20) is nominated for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play for Table 17. Here There Are Blueberries is nominated for Outstanding Play and features work by T+D Faculty Bobby McElver and MFA Alumni Elizabeth Barrett (MFA ‘22), Gillian Lelchuk (MFA ‘23), Sarah Rasmussen (MFA ‘08), Jacob Russell (MFA ‘20) and Salvador Zamora (MFA ‘23)!

Four Alums Make The New York Times '12 Plays and Musicals Across the U.S. to Brighten the Spring'

Zora Howard (MFA Acting '17) - Bust

Keiko Green (MFA Playwriting '22) - You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World

Jiehae Park (MFA Acting '09) - Aves

Lauren Yee (MFA Playwriting '12) - Mother Russia

MFA Alum's Play Featured At Playwrights Horizons

MFA Playwriting Alum Milo Cramer's WNPF play featured at Playwrights Horizons in the workshop of No Singing in the Navy directed by T+D Professor Aysan Celik! The workshop also features MFA 2 Actors Bailey Lee and Elliot Sagay and MFA Acting Alum Ellen Nikbakht. 

MFA Alum Writer For 'Severance' On Apple TV+

Award-Winning T+D Alum, Anna Ouyang Moench (MFA Playwriting), is currently a staff writer and supervising producer for Severance on Apple TV+. Season 2 now streaming! 

MFA Acting Alum On Netflix's 'Survival of the Thickest'

MFA Acting Alum, Michael Rishawn, plays Jake in Season 2 of Survival of the Thickest. Streaming now on Netflix!

Pictured: Wagner New Play Festival 2024 THE HALF-SIBLING PLAY. Photo: Rich Soublet

Coming Soon... 2025-2026 SEASON TITLES!

Get excited about these upcoming performances! 

FALL

One Flea Spare - By Naomi Wallace, Directed by Shyama Niithiananda, Shank Theatre, Nov 13 - 22

People Places and Things - By Duncan Macmillan, Directed by Kieran Beccia, Potiker Theatre, Nov 20 - Dec 6

DIY Dance Lab - Directed by Kara Mack, Dance Studio 3, Dec 4 - 6

Dance Film - Creators, Dates & Location TBD

MFA I Acting Project - Directed by Aysan Celik, space and date TBD

Chicanx Teatro Ensemble & Center for Global Justice & Casa Familiar - Directed by Robert Castro, location & dates TBD

Wagner Lab - Student run mini-season in the Wagner, ALL QUARTER LONG

WINTER

The Three Musketeers - Adapted by Catherine Bush from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, Directed by Lamar Perry, Choreographed by Ana María Álvarez, and Dramaturged by Dr. Mysia Anderson, Mandell Weiss Theatre, Feb 19 - Feb 28

Studio Shakes: Julius Caesar - Directed by Kieran Beccia, Wagner Theatre, Feb 19 - Feb. 28

Studio Shakes: Much Ado About Nothing - Directed by Shyama Nithiananda, Wagner Theatre, Feb 19 - Feb 28

DIY Repertory Project - Buescher Ensemble & Company 167, Titles TBD, Shank Theatre, Feb 26 - Mar 7

Winter Works - Directed by Bernard Brown, Mandell Weiss Forum, Mar 12 - Mar 14

SPRING

Wagner New Play Festival - Spaces TBD, Feb 5 - 16

La Jolla Playhouse WoW Festival Project - Created by UCSD T+D students, Dates & Site TBD

New Directions - Choreographed by UCSD T+D students, Epstein Family Amphitheater, June 4 - 6



Pictured: WinterWorks 2024. Photo: Doug McMinimy

Parking:

Theatre District Parking Structure

9135 S Scholars Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093

UC San Diego Theatre + Dance