Quinnipiac University Theater

Theatre Arts Center Overview

The Theatre Arts Center on Sherman Avenue

The flexible, 12,000-square-foot Theatre Arts Center is a purposefully designed performance space, featuring a baby Steinway piano and a completely customizable layout.

The facility includes a costume shop and storage, a scene shop, a lighting and management booth and academic spaces, making it the heart of theatric production and performance at Quinnipiac.

A male student holds a script and performs in front of a black curtain during an audition

Under the bright lights

Connor Whiteley ’19 auditions for an upcoming performance Saturday, September 9, 2017, at the Theatre Arts Center.

Three students with scripts rehearse a scene in the grass outside the Theatre Arts Center building with other students nearby.

Autumn auditions

Students rehearse their scenes outside of the Theatre Arts Center during audition call backs for a fall performance.

2020-21 Season Upcoming Productions

Love and Information

By Caryl Churchill
Directed by Rory Pelsue
Dramaturgy by Ariel Sibert
Created with the company

Join us for this collection of mini stand-alone scenes (connected via themes) that feature over a hundred characters.

Friday, November 13, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 14, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 15, 2 p.m.
This event will stream live on YouTube and is free and open to the public

Watch the live stream performances

About the play:

Someone sneezes. Someone can’t get a signal. Someone won’t answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone’s not ready to talk. Someone is her brother’s mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone’s never felt like this before.

In this fast-moving, full-length play, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Performances begin Friday evening and run throughout the weekend. They are all free and will be livestreamed via YouTube.

Wilde About Love: Scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest

By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Drew Scott

Monday November 30th at 4pm

Watch the live stream performances

Meeting ID: 982 0284 8959
Passcode: 2020

Join us for a virtual reading of scenes from
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Featuring current students, alumni, and faculty.

Following the reading there will be a live panel discussion of the play, Oscar Wilde, and the "importance" of his work in the current moment. Panelists will include Dr. Christine Kinealy, Director of the Irish Studies Program and Professor Drew Scott, director of the production.

This event is co-sponsored by the Oscar Wilde Symposium (Oscar Wilde: And the Importance of Being Irish), the Arnold Bernhard Library, and the QU Theater Program.

Open to all, and free to attend.

2020-21 Season Past Productions

Play Reading: ‘Yellowman’ by Dael Orlandersmith

We hosted a virtual reading of Dael Orlandersmith’s "Yellowman" directed by Aleta Staton.
October 9-10, online

In "Yellowman," a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Alma and Eugene have known each other since they were young children. As their friendship blossoms into love, Alma struggles to free herself from her mother’s poverty and alcoholism, while Eugene must contend with the legacy of being “yellow”—lighter-skinned than his brutal and unforgiving father.

2019-20 Season Past Productions

Red Speedo

2 male actors on stage, sitting on a bench, speaking to each other in the staged swimming pool area

Red Speedo

By Lucas Hnath
Directed by Mariah Sage

Ray has swum his way to the eve of the Olympic trials. If he makes the team, he’ll get a deal with Speedo. If he gets a deal with Speedo, he’ll never need a real job. So when someone’s stash of performance-enhancing drugs is found in the locker room fridge, threatening the entire team’s Olympic fate, Ray has to crush the rumors or risk losing everything. A sharp and stylish play about swimming, survival of the fittest, and the American dream of a level playing field — or of leveling the field yourself.

Download the program (PDF)

Baltimore

2 female actresses sit and talk to each other during the performance

Baltimore

By Kirsten Greenidge
Directed by Aleta Staton

When a racially charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident adviser Shelby finds herself in the middle of a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean, and even her best friend, Shelby must decide if she will enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. Sharp, funny and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.

Download the program (PDF)

RAGE

Book & lyrics by Elizabeth Dinkova
Original music and additional lyrics by Frederick Kennedy
Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova

Adapted from the novel, ”Rage,“ and essay, ”Guns,“ by Stephen King
”Rage“ © 1977 Stephen King
“Guns” © 2013 Stephen King

A play with music, RAGE tells the story of a writer’s decades-long struggle with his first novel, “Rage,” a diary of a school shooter, which “inspired” readers with deadly results. As the writer plunges back into his early work to discover the causes of teenage disenfranchisement and violence, he is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about the thin line between creation and destruction.

Download the program (PDF)

Interdisciplinary discussion of ‘RAGE’

The theater department’s upcoming production of “RAGE,” which addresses gun violence in schools, was the topic of a panel discussion February 12 exploring the reasons behind its decision to take on a subject that can spark controversy.

Read the full article

2020 New Play Festival

The 2020 New Play Festival is a collaboration between The Barrow Group, an off-broadway New York City producing Theater Company, and the Quinnipiac University Theater Program. Traditionally, nearly 50 QU students will take on the roles of playwright, director, actor and stage manager for seven world premier productions at the TBG MainStage Theatre just steps away from Times Square! Below are synopses of some of the productions created by QU students.

Nick Fetherston

Playwright of "Not Long Ago, In A Forest Not Very Far Away"

Not Long Ago, In A Forest Not Very Far Away

Kenny wants nothing more than to shoot his Star Wars fan-film, but when Alex shows up at his film sight, Kenny can’t get over the deep disturbance in the Force…

Read the full play

Playwright: Nick Fetherston
Quinnipiac University: Doubt, a Parable (Father Flynn), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Derek), The 2019 New Play Festival (Nick, “Can I Help You”; John, “Warehouse”), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey II Puppeteer), The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadow Cast (Brad), As We EMERGE: Monologues of the Formerly Incarcerated (Stage Manager), The 2018 New Play Festival (Stage Manager, “Colby’s Trucks”)
The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center: “Growing Pains” NTI Fall 2019 Showcase (Ensemble Member, “The Game of Life”; Company Stage Manager)
The Legacy Theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander), Hamlet (Rosencrantz)
Education: National Theater Institute Fall 2019, Quinnipiac University, Theater Major

Paige Parton

Playwright of "U-HAUL"

U-HAUL

“U-Haul” explores the final moments once a relationship is over. Alice and Beatrice have come back together for one final moment and are trying to pack up their old apartment, with that pack up feelings and words which were left unsaid. They are looking for closure in their final moments together, however closure look different for both of them.

Read the full play

Playwright: Paige Parton
Quinnipiac University: RAGE the Musical (Assistant Director), Baltimore (Producer), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Director), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), Rumors (Cookie Cusack), Dog Sees God (CB’s Sister), The Imaginary Invalid (Stage Manager), The 2019 New Play Festival (Director, “Last Words”; Sheryl, “Surviving The Holidays”) The 2018 New Play Festival (Director, “Watch Your Back”), The 2017 New Play Festival (Stage Manager, “Not a Love Story”; Playwright, “Sloth Season”; Tina, “The Outlines They Live”)
National Theatre Connections Project 2014: The Crazy Sexy Cool Girl’s Fan Club (Prancheeta) Awards: Alpha Psi Omega, Phi Sigma Tau
Education: Quinnipiac University, Theater Major

Abby Nasworthy and Matteo Longobardi

Playwrights of "William's Willy"

William’s Willy

William’s Willy is a ri(dick)ulous raunchy comedy about new parents, Ben and Karen, and their newborn son, William. However, they run into a bit of an issue when it comes to discussing his… you know. Maybe their doctor, Christine, can help.

Read the full play

Playwright: Abigail Nasworthy
Quinnipiac University: RAGE the Musical (Assistant Director), The 2019 New Play Festival (Warehouse, Warehouse), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Assistant Director), Next to Normal (Assistant Stage Manager), No Exit (Assistant Stage Manager), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Snout/Wall), The 2018 New Play Festival (Stage Manager, ‘A Watercolor Sky’), Rumors (Props Coordinator), The Imaginary Invalid (Bonnefoy), Little Shop of Horrors (Assistant Stage Manager)
Education: National Theater Institute Fall 2019, Quinnipiac University, Theater Major

Playwright: Matteo Longobardi
Quinnipiac University: Bad Jews (Lighting Designer), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Lighting Designer), Next to Normal (Stage Manager), No Exit (Stage Manager) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stage Manager), Rumors (Lighting Designer), Little Shop of Horrors (Stage Manager), Clark Gable Slept Here (Stage Manager), The Imaginary Invalid (Assistant Lighting Designer), Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (Assistant Stage Manager), The Clean House (Assistant Stage Manager), Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadow Cast (Stage Manager), The 2019 New Play Festival (Vinny, “Special Delivery”; Stage Manager “Surviving the Holidays”)
Education: Quinnipiac University, Civil Engineering major

Photo Gallery

Past Theater Productions

RAGE

Book & lyrics by Elizabeth Dinkova; Original music and additional lyrics by Frederick Kennedy; Directed by Elizabeth Dinkova. February 27-March 1, 2020. Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. The play with music RAGE tells the story of a writer’s decades-long struggle with his first novel, Rage, a diary of a school shooter, which “inspired” readers with deadly results. As the writer plunges back into his early work to discover the causes of teenage disenfranchisement and violence, he is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about the thin line between creation and destruction.

Baltimore

By Kirsten Greenidge; Directed by Aleta Staton. November 7-10, 2019, Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. When a racially charged incident divides her first-year students, reluctant resident adviser Shelby finds herself in the middle of a conversation she does not want to have. As pressure to address the controversy mounts from residents, the new dean and even her best friend, Shelby must decide if she will enter the fray or watch her community come apart at the seams. Sharp, funny and searing, Baltimore is a timely drama about racism on college campuses.

Red Speedo

By Lucas Hnath; Directed by Mariah Sage. October 10-13, 2019, Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. Ray has swum his way to the eve of the Olympic trials. If the makes the team, he’ll get a deal with Speedo and he’ll never need a real job. So when someone’s stash of performance-enhancing drugs is found in the locker room fridge, threatening the entire team’s Olympic fate, Ray has to crush the rumors or risk losing everything. It's a sharp and stylish play about swimming, survival of the fittest, and the American dream of a level playing field – or of leveling the field yourself.

Next to Normal

Book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Music by Tom Kitt; Directed by Rory Pelsue. February 27-March 3, 2019, Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. An unflinching look at a suburban family struggling with the effects of mental illness.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

By William Shakespeare; Directed by Keely Baisden. Oct 12-21, 2018, Theatre Arts Center. Shakespeare's popular comedy of love, intrigue, magic and mayhem!

New Play Festival

April 14, 2018, Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. Tomer Adorian, Directing Mentor with The Barrow Group, speaks with Quinnipiac theater students prior to the New Play Festival.

Colby’s Trucks

By Danielle Radeke. April 21, 2018, The Barrow Group’s Mainstage Theater, Times Square, NYC. Colby's Trucks was one of seven short plays written by Quinnipiac University students and selected to be performed in The Barrow Group’s Off-Broadway MainStage Theatre during the New Play Festival.

New Play Festival

April 2018, The Barrow Group’s MainStage Theater, Times Square, NYC. Quinnipiac students Ryan Sheehan ’18 and Danielle Radeke ’18 work with the lighting design mentor at The Barrow Group in preparation for the New Play Festival.

Little Shop of Horrors

By Alan Menken and Howard Ashman; Directed by James Noble. March 1-4, 2018, Theatre Arts Center. The smash musical become one of the most popular shows in the world. The meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he names "Audrey II" after his coworker crush. This foul-mouthed, R&B-singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the down and out Krelborn as long as he keeps feeding it — blood!

Doubt

By John Patrick Shanley; Directed by Thomas Schwans. October 12-24, 2017, Quinnipiac University Theatre Arts Center. In this Pulitzer-prize winning drama, Sister Aloysius, a Bronx school principal, takes matters into her own hands when she suspects the young Father Flynn of improper relations with one of the male students.

Stop Kiss

By Diana Son / Directed by Drew Scott Oct. 13-16, 2016 Buckman Theater. A timely play in the wake of the shootings at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub. After Callie meets Sara, the two unexpectedly fall in love. Their first kiss provokes a violent attack that transforms their lives in a way they could never anticipate.

The Clean House

By Sarah Ruhl Directed by Keely Baisden Nov. 10-13, 2016 Buckman Theater This thoughtful and wildly funny contemporary play was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and received its world premiere at Yale Repertory Theater. It's since gone on to countless successful productions in NYC and around the world. Lane, a successful doctor has hired Matilde, a Brazilian maid, to help with some chores around the house but Matilde is more interested in telling jokes and Lane's sister has secretly been cleaning her house instead.

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing April 10-13, 2014, in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater. One of Shakespeare's most popular plays, this is a classic battle of the sexes, featuring a war of wits between Benedick, who declares he would rather die than get married, and Beatrice. The production was directed by Tom Schwans, professional actor, director and an adjunct professor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Mac Wellman's Dracula

Mac Wellman's Dracula - Nov. 7-10, 2013, in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. The play is an adaption of Bram Stoker's novel that tells the story of the vampire, Count Dracula, as he leaves his native home to find new blood. The play focuses on the battle of a resolute group of men who saves the lives and souls of two spirited, strong-willed young women.

Mauritius

Mauritius- Oct. 8-13, 2013 in the Black Box Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. Written by Theresa Rebeck, this 2007 Broadway comedy-thriller follows estranged sisters as they battle three ruthless men for two of the most valuable stamps in the world. Drew Scott, an adjunct theater professor, directed.

Lily Hare

Lily Hare - a dark comedy by New Haven playwright Kevin Daly, Feb. 28-March 3, 2013, in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. Set in 1849, this story follows the fortunes of an actress who tours the country with her companion and student, Ned Tambourine, presenting a one-person show of badly memorized speeches from Shakespeare.

Eclipsed

Eclipsed - by Patricia Burke Brogan, Nov. 8-11, 2012, in the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. This story is set in Ireland in 1963 and takes the audience inside one of the infamous Magdalene laundries to show the daily life of the young women confined there and forced to endure harsh treatment and backbreaking labor for being pregnant but unmarried. The student cast included: Patricia Hibner, Jessica Lehman, Sara Detrik, Dominique Williams, Kristen Banaszak, Sarah Faidell, Michelle Ayrapetyan and Nicole Palmer. Crystal Brian, professor of theater in the College of Arts and Sciences, directed.

Coastal Disturbances

Coastal Disturbances - at Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II, April 12-15, 2012. This story by Tina Howe is a comedy about the dizzying and disconcerting effects of love. This ensemble play, set on a private beach on the North Shore of Massachusetts, follows the stories of four generations of vacationers and focuses on the romance of professional photographer Holly Dancer and the handsome but shy, unsophisticated lifeguard Leo Hart. Emily Seibert played Holly and Michael Bobenhausen played Leo. In addition to Seibert and Bobenhausen, the student cast also included: Michelle Ayrapetyan, Aleczander Farquharson, Jessica Lehman, Juli McGourty and Jessica Otterbine. Drew Scott, an adjunct theater professor, and Peter Wood, a professional actor, also performed in the production. Crystal Brian, professor of theater, directed.

Dead Man's Cell Phone 2012

Dead Man's Cell Phone- March 1-4, 2012, at the Clarice L. Buckman Theater on the Mount Carmel Campus. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl, the play follows the journey of Jean whose impulsive decision to answer a ringing cell phone leads her into a series of unexpected confrontations that are romantic, funny, and sometimes dangerous. Through her odyssey, she is forced to confront her own assumptions about love, mortality, redemption and the challenge of being truly connected in a technology obsessed world. Drew Scott, an adjunct theater professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, directed.

Seven, Long Wharf Theatre

Seven - Nov. 10-13, 2011, at Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II, in New Haven. Written by a group of well-known playwrights, including Anna Deavere Smith, the story is based on interviews with women from around the world who suffered violence and abuse and survived to become advocates for the women in their countries who continue to be brutalized. The cast members are playing real women from Nigeria, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Russia and Guatemala.

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Visit Us

Visit the Theatre Arts Center

Theatre Arts Center

515 Sherman Avenue 
Hamden, CT 06518

By car: Whitney Avenue to Sherman 
Avenue. Parking is onsite.

By shuttle: The Green and Orange 
Loop (between York Hill, Theatre Arts Center 
and Mount Carmel Campus)

Photograph

Students reading scripts in front of a black curtain in the Theatre Arts Center

Quote

“In theater, we teach that it’s not just the big moments that make life meaningful, but all of the small moments in between that make life truly special.”

Kevin Daly, Theater Program Director

More Information

For more information

Kevin Daly
Director of the Theater Program
Assistant Professor of Theater
kevin.daly@qu.edu
203-582-3500

To learn more about the Quinnipiac theater program, please visit qu.edu.

BA in Theater

Site Alert Title

Quinnipiac University Theater

Theatre Arts Center Overview

The Theatre Arts Center on Sherman Avenue

Under the bright lights

Autumn auditions

2020-21 Season Upcoming Productions

Love and Information

Wilde About Love: Scenes from The Importance of Being Earnest

2020-21 Season Past Productions

Play Reading: ‘Yellowman’ by Dael Orlandersmith

2019-20 Season Past Productions

Red Speedo

Red Speedo

Baltimore

Baltimore

RAGE

RAGE

Interdisciplinary discussion of ‘RAGE’

2020 New Play Festival

Nick Fetherston

Not Long Ago, In A Forest Not Very Far Away

Paige Parton

U-HAUL

Abby Nasworthy and Matteo Longobardi

William’s Willy

Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery

Past Theater Productions

RAGE

Visit Us

Visit the Theatre Arts Center

Photograph

In the moment

Quote

More Information

For more information