2024-2025
New Works Festival | Past Seasons
Directions to Keck Theater and Thorne Hall
Fall 2024
Poor Clare
Written by Chiara Atik
Directed by Culley Guest Artist Alana Dietze
Scenic and lighting design by Xinyuan Li
Costume design by Aed McMillian
Directed by Culley Guest Artist Alana Dietze
Scenic and lighting design by Xinyuan Li
Costume design by Aed McMillian
November 7-9 at 7:30pm and November 10 at 2:00pm in Keck Theater
Clare is just a regular noblewoman living in Assisi, Italy in 1211, gossiping with her ladies’ maids, dreaming up new dresses with her sister, and contemplating her future marriage. When she encounters the eccentric Francis, her worldview is shaken by his unusual views on poverty and privilege. As Clare and Francis’ friendship grows, they wrestle with questions of what it means to be a good person in a devastating world. How can we truly live in service to others? Can we ever do enough? Is there a middle ground? How can we accept the suffering of humanity and, if we cannot, how do we face that suffering head on? Inspired by the true stories of Chiara and Francis di Assisi, Poor Clare introduces us to two radical spiritual leaders who made choices in their time that most of us would find unthinkable today. Simultaneously, it is the story of every person who has wrestled with the Sisyphean problems of our world and tried, despite their unfixable nature, to help.
Antigone
Written by Sophocles
Translated by Robert Fagles
Directed by Will Power
Scenic design by Aubree Cedillo
Lighting design by Xinyuan Li
Costume design by Aed McMillian
Thursday-Saturday, November 21-23 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 24 at 2pm in Keck Theater
Set in a modern-day, war-torn country, the story of Antigone wrestles with the themes of power/higher power, faith, family, and the tortuous continuation of familial trauma. All set against one brave character (Antigone) who is determined to end the cycle and find resolve, though the stakes could not be higher.