Provocative Theater in the 24/25 Season
With adventurous and exciting performers from the US and Europe, UMS’s 24/25 theater lineup is not for the faint of heart! It showcases opportunities to dig deep into our inner selves, reflect on our own values, and see shades of gray in a world that all too often presents itself in black and white.
Explore the artists and works coming to campus in the new season…and prepare to be moved!
Fight Night
Ontroerend Goed
Wed-Sun Sep 25-29 // Power Center
An interactive exploration of why we vote the way we do…
Five candidates. One winner. You decide who survives. On the brink of a presidential election, Belgium’s extraordinary Ontroerend Goed offers a fun and thought-provoking, examination of free will and politics that puts electronic voting devices — and the candidates’ fates — directly into the hands of audience members. Leave your politics at the door — this resolutely political show contains no identifiable political message, ideology, or social or economic reality, but draws attention to how the battle for our attention, sympathy, and approval reveal surprising and superficial snap judgments. Each performance is different depending on who is in the audience.
Ulysses
Elevator Repair Service
Sat-Sun Oct 19-20 // Power Center
A madcap adaptation of James Joyce’s masterpiece…
Building on a rich history of staging modernist texts, Elevator Repair Service takes on this mammoth work of 21st-century literature (in an abridged version!) for their UMS debut. Seven performers sit down for a sober reading but soon find themselves guzzling pints, getting in brawls, and committing debaucheries as they careen on a fast-forward tour through Joyce’s funhouse of styles. With madcap antics and a densely layered sound design, Elevator Repair Service presents an eclectic sampling from Joyce’s life-affirming masterpiece.
Nate — A One Man Show
Written by and starring Natalie Palamides
Wed-Sun Feb 5-9 // Arthur Miller Theatre
A deconstruction of toxic masculinity…
Meet Nate, “a hypermasculine, adrenaline-fueled, protein powder enthusiast … a man’s man” (NPR) performed by Natalie Palamides in drag. Palamides premiered the show to wide acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018 before Amy Poehler produced it as a Netflix special. Nate careens between making the audience laugh and making them uncomfortable, earnestly asking for permission while manipulating audience members to comply with absurd requests. The constant mixed signals come to a head with conflicting interpretations of consent — though perhaps not in the ways you would expect. This clever and provocative deconstruction of toxic masculinity sticks with you long after the performance ends.
TRIPTYCH
Peeping Tom
Fri-Sat Mar 28-29 // Power Center
A suspense-filled universe…
In this noirish labyrinth of missing doors, lost rooms, and hidden floors — scenes you’d expect from the brain of David Lynch — time, memory, and premonition revolve around the illusions, utopias, and lost loves of characters who act out their own enigmatic fiction, continually drifting away and searching for one another. Originally created for Nederlands Dans Theater, Triptych is performed by the acclaimed Belgian dance-theater company Peeping Tom.
24/25 Season Ticket packages are on sale now! You can experience these four works for as little as $130 with a Theater Series subscription. Or, craft a performance season as unique as you and save 10% with Series:You. Either way, you’ll get early access to the best seats in the Power Center — and at the best prices — before individual event tickets go on sale in August.
Subscribers save up to 17% over individual event prices and receive other great benefits as well, including discounts throughout the year to all UMS events, free exchange privileges, installment billing, and more!
