PRESENTATIONS & CONVERSATIONS
Migrant X Post-show Audience Discussions
October 4-7, 2021 | Arts Quad
Join the director, Carlos Cruz, and cast members for a conversation about Migrant X after each show.
Gather: New Works from the Department of Theatre Post-show Audience Discussions
November 7, 2021 | Black Box Theater
Join members of the production company for a post-show discussion about the play's themes, ideas and issues. This is an opportunity for members of the audience to share what they see, think and feel about the production.
“Mislike me not for my Complexion” - The Merchant of Venice & Shakespeare’s Diversity Problem
Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 5:30 PM | Robinson 103 or Attend Virtually via Zoom
A series kickoff lecture discussion by Professor Andrew Hartley
An introduction to the play, its divisive history and its issues discussed in the context of its position both in early modern culture and within the Shakespeare canon by Robinson Shakespeare professor, Andrew Hartley. What are the flashpoints for debate in the play, how are they framed by the particular form of comedy utilized by Shakespeare at this point in his career? What concerns inform the way we contextualize problematic art, and at what point do we decide that something we once valued is now irredeemable?
Andrew Hartley is the Robinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies, specializing in performance theory, theatre history and dramaturgy. His academic books include The Shakespearean Dramaturg (Palgrave 2006), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare in Performance series, Manchester UP 2013), Shakespeare and Political Theatre (Palgrave 2013), Shakespeare on the University Stage (Cambridge UP 2014), Julius Caesar: A Critical Reader (Arden, 2016), and Shakespeare and Millennial Fiction (Cambridge, 2017). He was the editor of the performance journal Shakespeare Bulletin (Johns Hopkins UP) from 2003-2013 and was an Associate Artist at Georgia Shakespeare where he was a resident dramaturg, and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Central Lancashire (UK).
"Shakespeare and Jewishness" Virtual Lecture & Presentation by Peter Holland
Friday, February 4, 2022 at 1 PM | Zoom Link
As Shakespeare studies, as in every other part of the Academy, deals with issues of racism and other forms of exclusion (gender, sexuality, age, disability, etc.), where does that leave Merchant of Venice? It is a play with a profoundly troubled past but, it often seems, an untroubled present. I shall want to worry at and worry about that surface tranquility and see what we currently seem to be avoiding confronting. I join my fellow Anglo-Jewish writer David Baddiel in wondering why it so often seems that "Jews don't count."
Peter Holland is the McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies at Notre Dame University. He was editor of Shakespeare Survey, the UK’s leading academic Shakespeare journal for 19 years, co-General Editor, with Stanley Wells and Lena Orlin, of Oxford Shakespeare Topics (Oxford University Press, over 30 volumes to date); with Adrian Poole, of the 18-volume series Great Shakespeareans (Bloomsbury Academic, 2009-13); with Farah Karim-Cooper and Stephen Purcell of a monograph series, Shakespeare in the Theatre (Bloomsbury Academic, 15 volumes to date); and, with Zachary Leader and Tiffany Stern, of the Arden Shakespeare 4th series. He has also edited many Shakespeare plays.
"The Merchant of Venice Performed" Lecture & Presentation by Kirk Melnikoff
Monday, February 28, 2022 at 5 PM | Robinson 103
In this talk, UNC Charlotte Department of English Professor Kirk Melnikoff will explore the challenges and opportunities that Shakespeare's middle comedy poses to performers. He will also survey some of the more important recent professional stagings of the play like Jonathan Miller's iconic show at London's National Theatre in 1970 and Darko Tresnjak's Theatre for a New Audience production in New York City in 2007.
Kirk Melnikoff is Professor of English at UNC Charlotte, specializing in Shakespeare Studies, Elizabethan Literature, and Shakespeare on Film. Recent publications include “Publishing Virginia (1608-1615): Specialization, Commissioning, Networks” The Oxford Handbook to the History of the Book in Early Modern England. Ed. Adam Smyth. Oxford UP, 2021; Contributing Editor, James IV, Routledge Anthology of Non-Shakespearean Drama, Ed. Jeremy Lopez. Routledge, 2020, 508-74; “Isabella Whitney amongst the Stalls of Richard Jones.” Women’s Labour and the History of the Book in Early Modern England. Ed. Valerie Wayne. Arden, 2020, 145-61; Elizabethan Publishing and the Makings of Literary Culture. University of Toronto Press, 2018; and Christopher Marlowe, Theatrical Commerce and the Book Trade (with Roslyn L. Knutson). Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Michael Radford's Merchant of Venice (2005) Screening & Post-show Discussion
Monday, March 14, 2022 at 6 PM | Robinson 103
A screening of Michael Radford’s BAFTA-winning film version of Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons with a post-screening discussion led by UNC Charlotte Robinson Professor of Shakespeare, Andrew Hartley.
A Rehearsal for Change - Theatre of the Oppressed New York City (TONYC) Lecture, Presentation & Reception
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 5 PM | Robinson Hall Choir Room
On March 16 the Charlotte Department of Theatre will host two members of Theatre of the Oppressed New York City (TONYC) for a lecture-presentation (beginning at 5 pm). Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) is a world-wide practice and movement—founded by Brazilian theatre practitioner and social justice activist Augusto Boal—that is one of the pillars of the intersection between arts practice, theory, scholarship and social change.
Sulu LeoNimm and Julian Pimiento will discuss the mission and goals of the Theatre of the Oppressed NYC, including their work partnering with various organization to help theatre troupes devise and perform plays based on confronting economic inequality, racism, and other social, health and human rights injustices.
For the Theatre discipline, TO stands as a model of applied theatre, in which actions designed to transform societies and communities are theorized and tested. Using whole-mind/whole-body activities, TO workers (artists, scholars, activists) assist community groups in identifying problems and actively rehearsing solutions. This process is often referred to as a “rehearsal for change.”
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC partners with community members at local organizations to form theatre troupes. These troupes devise and perform plays based on their challenges confronting economic inequality, racism, and other social, health and human rights injustices. After each performance, actors and audiences engage in theatrical brainstorming – called Forum Theatre – with the aim of catalyzing creative change on the individual, community, and political levels.
The Charlotte Department of Theatre’s B.A. degree includes a Concentration in Applied Theatre. Students in the concentration study and practice a wide variety of theory, history and practices aimed at using the theatrical mind/body to achieve lasting social change.
Career Chat with Alexis Louder
Students are invited to meet, talk and eat pizza with film and television star Alexis Louder to learn more about her career as an actor. Alexis is a UNCC Theatre alumna (Class of 2013) and winner of the 2022 Department of Theatre Distinguished Alumni Award. As a student at UNC Charlotte, Alexis was a busy member of the department as well as a member of the Indoor/Outdoor Track & Field team, with a track scholarship. Louder can be seen currently starring as Valerie Young, a rookie cop in Nevada, in the Joe Carnahan-directed feature film CopShop, opposite Gerard Butler and Frank Grillo. In addition to the CopShop leading role, Louder has had a string of supporting, guest star, and recurring appearances in movies and television series, including The Originals, Teenage Bounty Hunters, The Tomorrow War, HBO’s series Watchmen and theatrical release Harriet, NBC’s Chicago PD, and Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird. On the horizon, she can be seen in Amazon’s conspiracy thriller series The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt, in which she plays Nicole Deptul, a junior FBI agent and mother of two.
Merchant of Venice Seated Reading & Discussion
Friday, April 1, 2022 at 3 PM | Rowe Recital Hall
A seated reading featuring Charlotte-based professional actors and UNC Charlotte Department of Theatre students with an audience-centered discussion after the reading.
THEATRE COMMUNITY GATHERINGS
Theatre Department Community Fall Gathering
Tuesday, August 31, 2021 at 5:30 PM | Robinson Hall Front Lobby
At this gathering of majors, minors, faculty and staff we’ll share information about our B.A. in Theatre (including how the Concentrations work), upcoming special events (workshops, etc.), and our 2021-22 season.
Theatre Department Community Spring Gathering
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 5:30 PM | Black Box Theater
At this gathering of majors, minors, faculty and staff we’ll share information about our upcoming Spring semester special events (workshops, master classes, etc.), our 2021-22 season, and faculty research projects.
AUDITIONS
Jump
November 9-10 | Black Box Theater
These Shining Lives
April 25-26 | Black Box Theater
For more information on how to sign up and prepare check the audition page on our website: https://coaa.charlotte.edu/theatre/productions/audition-information
WORKSHOPS, MASTER CLASSES, and INTERACTIVE SEMINARS
Prince of Morocco Scenes Workshop
Friday, February 18, 2022 at 2 PM | Rowe 163
This workshop/discussion of the Prince of Morocco scenes, led by UNC Charlotte Assistant Professor Chris Berry, is an actor approach to act 2 scene 1 and act 2 scene 7 in which we will examine the text for ideas and performance approaches to a section of the play which foregrounds race and Otherness. Six students will work with faculty on the scenes through conversation and rehearsal in front of a live audience, concluding with an open discussion of the issues and strategies raised. Click here to register for this opportunity.
Chris Berry is an actor, director, professor, and dialect coach. He received his BFA in Acting from North Carolina A&T (‘08) and his MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity rep (‘11). He serves as the Vice President of the Black Theatre Network and also serves as the Program Director of the Black Arts Institute, a partnership between the Billie Holiday Theatre and Stella Adler Studio of acting. His dialect coaching work includes P-Valley (Starz), The Hot Wing King (The Signature Theatre, Off-Broadway), Heels (Pre-Production, Starz). As the Vice President of the Black Theatre Network, he has planned two national conferences, Black Theatre: Unapologetically Black (Winston-Salem, 2019) and Black Theatre: Radical Longevity (2020, Postponed until 2022). He has also planned the Black Theatre Network's online event Black Theatre Week. As an actor, he has had the pleasure to work at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Playmakers Repertory Company, The National Black Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company as well as many others.
Theatre of the Oppressed NY Residency
March 17, 2022 | Black Box Theater
· 10:00 - 11:30 AM | Workshop #1 in Rowe 206
Facilitators Sulu LeoNimm and Julian Pimiento will engage the group in the core exercises from the arsenal of Theatre of the Oppressed. These theatre games encourage “de-mechanization” of the body and the mind, specifically looking at patterns of action and thought that we have been taught by society, or into which we are forced without choice, towards identifying patterns that we want to change. The activities will also guide the participants to identify and explore systems of power and how they are present in our interactions and communities. (90 minutes)
· 4:00 - 5:30 PM | Workshop #2 in Rowe 206
Facilitators Sulu LeoNimm and Julian Pimiento will demonstrate the tool of Forum Theatre and guide participants through development of their own short scenes to use for collective strategy-building, and participants will be able to use the Forum model to explore creative tactics that apply to these scenes. (90 minutes)
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
College of Arts + Architecture Career Expo: Creative CONNECT
Our 5th annual networking event for creatives and will include arts and design professionals who work in all five disciplines of the COA+A including Art, Music, Dance, Theatre, and Architecture. Students will have a valuable opportunity to mingle with these professionals and learn more about programs within these organizations where they can get more involved through volunteering, internships, part-time or full-time employment. A few of participating organizations include the Arts and Science Council, Charlotte Ballet, Little Diversified, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Opera Carolina, and many more! This year’s event will be virtual and run through a platform called HopIn, so faculty and students can network in the comfort of their homes! More information about this event will be shared soon.
National Theatre Institute Information Session
February 11, 2022 | Robinson 205
With a singular schedule and an unmatched breadth of training, the National Theater Institute’s six semester-long programs offer students a springboard to the professional world at the two-time tony award-winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Founded in 1970, NTI’s credit-earning theater intensives—taught by industry professionals and master teachers—train actors, singers, directors, dancers, designers, playwrights and composers.
Senior Head Shots with Megan Dougherty
April 2022 | Robinson Hall Front Lobby
More information coming soon!
FIELD TRIPS & CONFERENCES
Student Trip to the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region IV
February 1-5, 2022 | Virtual Event
Student actors, designers, directors and dramaturgs will showcase and compete at the KCACTF event virtually this year. Students will also participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, and performances.
Student Trip to the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC)
March 9-13, 2022 | Memphis, TN
Theatre majors will travel to Memphis, Tennessee for the annual Southeastern Theatre Conference in order to participate in a wide array of workshops, lectures, performances and informational sessions on graduate programs in theatre.
Student Trip to Shakespeare Theatre Company
March 25-27, 2022 | Washington, DC
A student trip to Washington DC to see The Merchant of Venice at The Shakespeare Theatre Company/Theatre for a New Audience and to visit museums and historical sites. The Department of Theatre will cover the student’s train travel, hotel and theatre ticket. Space is limited; preference will be given to students who have attended at least two events in the Shakespeare and Inclusivity series. Click here to apply for this opportunity.
Students must apply by the deadline of February 18, 2022.
SHOWCASES & PORTFOLIO/REVIEW FORUMS
Department of Theatre Portfolio Review
Friday, December 10 at 2 PM | Robinson 205
Any student who is interested in designing, assistant designing, or holding a major production role for a department production must attend in order to be considered. All students currently enrolled in a section of THEA 4610, or wishing to receive credit next spring, must present a portfolio. In addition, any student who is interested in trying to develop a design or technical portfolio is highly encouraged to attend in order to observe, ask questions, and gain valuable insight into what makes a successful theatre portfolio. Faculty and Students are welcome to observe.
CELEBRATIONS
December Grads Celebration and Winter Holiday Party
Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 6 PM | Black Box Theater
May Grads Celebration and End-of-Year Party
Tuesday, May 3, 2022 at 6 PM | Black Box Theater
It’s time to party! Theatre students and faculty gather to celebrate the year and to honor our graduating seniors with special commendations (delivered by the faculty) along with student-led awards and activities.
THEATRE PASSPORT FREE TICKET SERIES
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES
UNC Charlotte Commedia Players
Under the artistic leadership of Assistant Professor of Physical Theatre, Carlos Cruz, Theater majors have the opportunity to audition for this special traveling performance company appearing each fall at the Carolina Renaissance Festival. Over the course of eight weekend, our student commedia troupe performs for thousands of visitors to the festival. For more information on auditioning for the UNC Charlotte Commedia Players, please contact Professor Cruz at CarlosCruz@uncc.edu.