Quinnipiac University

Quinnipiac University Theater

The Theatre Arts Center, located just around the corner from the York Hill Campus, is a 12,000-square-foot facility featuring a two-story black-box theater, scenic shop, design studios, classrooms, faculty offices, a student lounge and additional rehearsal space. It is the perfect space for Quinnipiac to stage their world-class productions.

Upcoming Productions

Poster for "Babes in Arms"

‘BABES IN ARMS’

Book by Douglas Carter Beane
Music by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart
Directed by Rory Pelsue

“BABES IN ARMS” is a musical about teenagers putting on a show in the face of rampant oppression, dubious allyship, raging hormones, and a less-than-hopeful future. Radical for its time and set during the Great Depression, no other Broadway musical has contributed so many lasting standards to the American Songbook. This first-ever student production of a new version restores the political sharpness of the original while ensuring it still sings to audiences in 2023.

Presented at the Theatre Arts Center:

  • Friday, October 20, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

  • Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 2 p.m.

  • Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Friday, October 27, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 2 p.m.

As We Emerge: Monologues of the Formerly Incarcerated

In 2018, in partnership with Quinnipiac University, EMERGE crewmembers co-wrote, produced, and performed a series of dramatic monologues for three nights to a packed house. We're thrilled to share EMERGE and Quinnipiac are coming together again this Fall. EMERGE Connecticut is a nonprofit social enterprise supporting formerly incarcerated people returning to New Haven after incarceration. Through workforce training and trauma-informed supportive services in a peer environment, they assist people in making a successful and healthy return home. The holistic approach to this work leads to long-term employment and dramatically lower recidivism rates for the crewmembers. This night of monologues will explore their lives before, during, and after incarceration through first-hand accounts.

Presented at the Theatre Arts Center:

  • Friday, November 10 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Sunday, November 12 at 2 p.m.

 

‘Friend Animals’

By Marella Martin Koch
Directed by Timothy Koch

Despite their identical holy gowns, three friends harbor secret, rebellious dreams: Karen Marie Katharine is on a mission to lose her virginity; Laura Mary hopes to birth the next messiah; and Alex Chloe fantasizes about tequila and atheism. Why do we hate ourselves and try to destroy one another?

Presented at the Theatre Arts Center:

  • Friday, March 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 2 and 7:30 p.m.

  • Sunday, March 3, 2024 12 at 2 p.m.

 

2024 New Play Lab

The New Play Lab invites Quinnipiac students from all disciplines to engage in the process of new play development. This is an opportunity for students to try out playwriting and directing and practice working with actors in a supportive environment. To guide the students through this creative exploration each playwright and director is paired with a professional theater artist who will there at every step offering critical feedback and mentorship. This is an exercise in collaboration and in the ability to embrace uncertainly and change as creative engines-skills needed for any 21st century career.

Presented at the Theatre Arts Center:

  • Friday, April 19, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Saturday, April 20, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

  • Sunday, April 21, 2024 12 at 2 p.m.

Director’s Message

Student actor singing dramatically into a microphone

Welcome to QU Theater!

A Letter from Abbey Copeland

Quinnipiac Theater is the exciting home to new musicals, world-premiere student-written and student-directed plays, theater for the community and so much more!

We offer an exciting theater major and a minor that explore all areas of theater production, performance and design. We’ve developed the program with enough flexibility that you can easily double major in theater and just about any other area of study at the university.

We also have many on and off-stage opportunities including faculty and student-directed productions, a student theater organization, an improv troupe, theater workshops, musical theater and new play development. These opportunities are open to all Quinnipiac students, regardless of major.

You will work with guest artists from New York, New Haven, and around the world to develop new plays and musicals, as well as imaginative interpretations of the classics. Be a part of a world premiere!

Quinnipiac Theater also works in partnership with individuals and organizations in using the power of theater within the community. Projects in recent years have included the musical Rage and the As We Emerge project, which focused on gun violence and stories of those recently incarcerated, respectively.

This program is highly individualized and you will be sure to find a path that’s right for you.

Are you a prospective student? Please contact me to discuss all the opportunities Quinnipiac Theater has to offer.

Quinnipiac Theatre Arts Center

This state-of-the-art facility, located at 515 Sherman Avenue in Hamden, houses the university’s main stage theater, where the university’s annual theater productions are held. The Theatre Arts Center also houses faculty offices, rehearsal rooms, a design studio, a fully equipped scenic shop, dressing rooms and more. All university theater productions and student-run theater productions are housed in this building along with music concerts, dance shows, and other performances. In the summer, the building hosts professional theater companies from around the world.

Getting to the Quinnipiac Theatre Arts Center

Quinnipiac Theatre Arts Center
515 Sherman Avenue
Hamden, CT 06518
Phone: 203-582-3500

Interactive Map

Directions from I-91

Take I-91 North or South to Exit 10.
Take Route 40 to the end and turn right onto Whitney Avenue.
Proceed 1.3 miles, turn left onto Sherman Ave.
Proceed .5 miles, Quinnipiac Theater Arts Center is on the right.

Directions from I-95

Take I-95 to I-91 North.
Get off at Exit 10.
Take Route 40 to the end and turn right onto Whitney Avenue.
Proceed 1.3 miles, turn left onto Sherman Ave.
Proceed .5 miles, Quinnipiac Theater Arts Center is on the right.

COVID Safety

All performers are vaccinated and will be unmasked during the performances.

Patrons must show proof of vaccination and are required to wear a mask at all times while in the theater.

It is acceptable to show a photo of your vaccination card on your phone.