Winter 2025 Newsletter

Dear Theatre + Dance Community,

Join Us For Our Winter 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!

Performances + Events

The Rogues Trial

February 21 - March 1

Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre

Written by Ariano Suassuna

Directed by Ludmila de Brito, MFA 3

A beloved Brazilian "morality" play set in the drylands. With a blend of Commedia, Clowning, and Brazilian folktales, we follow mischievous John Cricket and his bestie, Chicó, as they navigate broken systems of power.

Learn More & Purchase Tickets

Gone Missing

February 28 - March 8

Arthur Wagner Theatre

Created by The Civilians

Written by Steven Cosson

Music/ Lyrics by Michael Friedman

Directed by Aysan Celik (Faculty)

During the post 9/11 grief that gripped New York City, a group of young theater artists set out to talk to New Yorkers about loss. What arose from these interviews were dark, edgy, charming, and often hilarious tales about things lost and found.

Learn more & Purchase Tickets

Winter Works

March 14 - 15

Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theater

Choreographed by Dance Lecturers Juan Carlos Blanco, Daunté Fyall & holly johnston

Directed by Bernard Brown (Faculty)

WinterWorks 2025 is a timely and powerful collection of dance works celebrating difference, looking at what binds us together, and is a call to action, guided by radical love.

Learn more and Purchase Tickets

Dance Area Sharing

FREE EVENT OPEN TO PUBLIC

February 19 | 6 - 8 PM

Epstein Family Amphitheater

Followed by Connection Jam

8 - 9:30PM with Lecturers in Dance

dr. grace shinhae jun & Joseph "Dyno" Corrales

Free Event!

Department + Alumni News

MFA 3 Playwright, Beth Hyland, Wins This Year's Prestigious Alliance/ Kendeda National Playwriting Competition!

This competition is one of the biggest national awards an emerging playwright can win and comes with a full production at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.

Dept Chair Lisa Portes Serves As UCSD Faculty Host For The Kyoto Prize Laureate William Forsythe!

Theatre + Dance Department Chair, Lisa Portes, serves as the UCSD Faculty Host for The Kyoto Prize Laureate, world-renowned choreographer, William Forsythe!

MFA Playwriting Student, Phanésia Pharrel, Has Been Named An Emory University Playwriting Fellow, 2025-2027!

The 2-year fellowship comes with a staged reading and the opprotunity to teach students in Emory University's Creative Writing and Theatre Studies programs.

In Memoriam: Professor David Lee Cuthbert

(MFA Lighting Design '96)

T+D mourns the loss of Alum David Lee Cuthbert who passed away suddenly on February 11. He served on the Faculty at UC-Santa Cruz where he mentored countless designers during his tenure. He is survived by his wife Kirsten Brandt (BA, 94) and their family.

Read The Article Here

MFA Acting Alum To Star In Free Shakepeare In The Park 'Twelfth Night'

MFA Acting Alum, Junior Nyong'o, will star opposite real-life sister Lupita Nyong'o in The Public Theater's Free Shakepeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night! The cast will also include Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and Sandra Oh.

MFA Acting Alum in Broadway premiere of 'Good Night, and Good Luck'

MFA Acting Alum, Jennifer Morris, is set to play Millie Green in the Broadway premiere of Good Night, and Good Luck co-written and starring George Clooney!

T+D Alum Featured In The New York Times For Her Role In 'Many Happy Returns' at Playwrights Horizons

T+D Alum, Monica Bill Barnes, is featured in The New York Times for her role in Many Happy Returns at Playwrights Horizons!

Two MFA Acting Alums Land Featured Roles In 'Don't Touch My Hair'

MFA Acting Alums, Jasmine Ashanti and Michael Rishawn, land featured roles in Douglas Lyons' workshop production of Don't Touch My Hair at the Atwater Village Theatre.

MFA Playwriting Alum Wins Obie Award!

MFA Playwriting Alum '24 Milo Cramer's play School Pictures has won an Obie Award! School Pictures, written and performed by Cramer, is currently at the Theatre Latté Da until March 2nd.

Design Faculty and MFA Alumni Work To Develop 'Here There Are Blueberries' A Finalist For The Pulitzer Prize!

Congratulations to Design Faculty Bobby McElver and MFA Alumni Elizabeth Barrett , Gillian Lelchuk , Sarah Rasmussen , Jacob Russell and Salvador Zamora for Here There Are Blueberries. This play, which was developed in part with T+D designers and students, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize!