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Theatre Program

  • 2023-24 Theatre Productions

    Fall 2023


    Kindertransport

    by Diane Samuels

    Between 1938 and the outbreak of the Second World War, almost 10,000 children, most of them Jewish, were sent by their parents from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria to safety in Britain. Diane Samuels' seminal play, Kindertransport, imagines the fate of one such child. Brutally separated from her German Jewish parents at the age of nine, Eva is brought to England with the promise of a new life. As an adult, Eva (now Evelyn) struggles to come to terms with her past as her own daughter prepares to leave home. Kindertransport taps into the universal desire of all parents to do the best by their children and to launch them independently into the world, while understanding the urge to keep them safe in their arms forever.

    Director: Dr. Kelly Carolyn Gordon

    Set Design: Hsiao-Wei Chen

    Costume Design: Madison Murrah

    Lighting Design: Kendra Wiley

    Performances:

    November 9-11 | 7:30 p.m. | Black Box Theater

    November 12 | 2 p.m. | Black Box Theater

    General Admission Per Person: $10

    Student/Staff/Faculty Tickets

    General Tickets

    Spring 2024


    Directing Class Projects

    Performances:

    April 11-13| 7:30 p.m. | Black Box Theater

    April 14| 2 p.m. | Black Box Theater

    General Admission Per Person: $10

  • Past Productions

    2022-23

    • "American Son"
    • "The Spitfire Grill"

    2021-22

    • "14"
    • 'Til Death Do Us Part: A Vintage Radio Special

    2020-21

    • "An Anthology Project"
    • "The Suffragist Project"
    • "Murder-Ween: An Evening of Spooky, Vintage Radio Plays"

    2019-20

    • "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)" by Ann-Marie MacDonald
    • "Little Shop of Horrors," book and lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken

    2018-19

    • "A Moment of Silence" by Mohammad Yaghoubi
    • "Tartuffe" by Moliere

    2017-18

    • "SEVEN," conceived by Carol Mack, written by seven award-winning playwrights: Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, Anna Deavere Smith, and Susan Yankowitz
    • "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional material by Jay Reiss

    2016-17

    • "The Way of the Water" by Caridad Svich
    • "An Enemy of the People" by Henrich Ibsen

    2015-16

    • "Bocon" by Lisa Loomer
    • "Permanent Collection" by Thomas Gibbons

    2014-15

    • "Antigone" by Sophocles
    • "The Exonerated" by Jessica Blank and Eric Jensen

    2013-14

    • "The Container" by Clare Bayley
    • "The Clean House" by Sarah Ruhl

    2012-13

    • "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley
    • "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged [Revised]" by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield
  • Guest Artists

    Past guest artists have included costume designers Cecelia Gay and Jessi Rose, and Alex Waring; fight choreographer Clint Lienau; lighting designers, Yi-Tai Chung, Kristin DuBois, Erin Fleming, and Mercedes McCleary; puppeteer, Kevin Long; set designers, Bren Coombs, Sam Gonzalez, and Michael Krauss; and lighting and sound designer/technician Smokey Westerfeld.

    2023-2024 Guest Artists

    Hsiao-Wei Chen(Scenic Designer, KINDERTRANSPORT) is an Austin based visual storyteller, scenographer and artist. She enjoys visual storytelling with diverse skills and broad aesthetic in design of creating both environment and character. Hsiao-Wei is excellent in cooperation, communication and creative thinking with both design and management background. Her works include film, music video, theatre, opera, musical to dance and she is eager to explore more different media storytelling formats. Some of her rewards credits include the 2022 Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize of Opera America, USA (Salome, costume design), Silver Remi of Music Video-Student on 2021 54th WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, USA (Lose Myself, production design), The Audience Award and the New Talent Jury Award on 2019 National Film Festival Youth, Seattle, USA (Lucky Girl, production design), Special Mention on 2019 Kaohsiung Film Festival, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Chi: the method of breathing, costume design). More of her work: www.hsiaoweichen.com

    Madison Murrah (Costumer) (she/her) is a costume designer, actor, cosplayer, and content creator from Dallas, TX. Madison graduated from Texas A&M in 2019 with a degree in Performance Studies: Theatre. Previously, Madison's previous costuming work was seen in Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Edit Annie, and Salvador Dali's Naked Feast at The Vortex Rep; Pippi Longstocking, and Junie B Jones: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells at Scottish Rite Theater; and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Cardboard Cinema Productions. See more on Instagram: @madisonmurrah

    Bridget O’Neill (Instructor, Acting for the Camera) is an actor, theatre educator, world traveler, and public speaking professor who hails from a village in Wisconsin that’s so small it doesn’t have a stoplight. She has been acting since the age of 8 and hasn’t stopped seeking the spotlight since. After receiving her BFA in Acting from Boston University she moved to LA to work in film and stand-up comedy for 6 years. In 2018 Bridget was offered to start an acting program in Tainan, Taiwan. While there she developed new methods of English language teaching based on theatre training techniques. She received her MA in Educational Theatre In Colleges and Communities from New York University in 2021. There she conducted research on the benefits of Documentary Theatre and Verbatim Performance methods in the English as a Foreign Language classroom. Since then she has taught acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse and public speaking at Marymount Manhattan College and Manhattan College. Her passion and dedication to her own art has only grown through the practice of teaching.

    Abigail Pena (German language coach, KINDERTRANSPORT) joined Concordia's Voice Faculty in the Fall of 2015. While at Concordia, she founded the Concordia Young Voices Competition. Prior to Concordia, Abigail served on the faculty at New York University. Abigail's students have gone on to study at top tier programs such as Indiana University, The University of Michigan, University of Texas, Baylor University, Oklahoma City University and New York University. In additional to classical voice performance, her students have also appeared on Broadway and in film. As a clinician, she has served on the panels for the TMEA All-State and TAPPS voice competitions. Abigail has appeared in recital throughout North America and Europe and has performed as a soloist under the batons of notable conductors Marco Armiliato, Edoardo Muller, and Daniel Beckwith, among others. She has performed multiple roles in oratorio and opera including Bach's Magnificat, Bach's St. Matthews Passion, Mozart's Vespers, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte (Fiordiligi), Britten's Albert Herring(Mrs. Herring), And Lerner and Loewe's Brigadoon(Fiona). Her primary teachers have included W. Stephen Smith, Carolann Page, Dianna Heldman, and Camille Gifford

    Kendra S. Wiley (Production Manager; Technical Director; Design/Tech and Dance Faculty ) holds an M.F.A. in lighting design from the University of Texas at Austin. Kendra is a theatre designer, dancer, and choreographer who explores the intersection of dance and design in their creative work. Professor Wiley serves alongside Dr. Mary Kay Johnston as co-advisor to the Storm Makers Dance Club. This summer, Kendra worked as technical director and scenic designer for Alice in Wonderland at AISD’s Summer Theatre Series. Notable lighting design credits include Lardo Weeping (LOLA, 2022), The Addams Family and Disney’s Newsies (Brentwood Christian School 2022), 12 Ophelias (UT Austin 2019), and Good Country (UT Austin New Works Festival 2019). In 2020, Kendra also designed their own M.F.A. thesis performance, in which they performed a twenty-minute solo dance while controlling the lights from the stage.

What Does It Look Like To Study Theatre at Concordia University Texas?

The mission of the Department of Theatre at Concordia University Texas is to elicit creativity, critical thinking, cultural awareness and empathy, within an active, collaborative learning environment, in exploration of what it means to be human. Theatre Studies prepares students with valuable skills that can be applied to many different industries.

Students learn about theatre within the context of an excellent liberal arts education. Class sizes are small enough for students to receive individualized attention and training, to work in close collaboration with faculty, guest artists, and other students, and to create opportunities based on their specific interests.

Program Overview

From their first year, our students get hands-on experience in the classroom and in production, leadership, collaboration, critical thinking and artistic skills.

CTX Theatre presents two main-stage productions a year, and the fall play aligns with the Service-Learning Week theme. Participation in production is open to the entire CTX community and can be taken for academic credit.

Curriculum Overview for Theatre Majors

The BA in Theatre Studies at CTX incorporates a wide breadth of subjects, preparing students for a variety of industries.

Theatre students select a tract – Performance or Design/Technology – to meet their interests. Additionally, the BA in Theatre is easily paired with another major, allowing students to further customize their education. Through individualized attention and training, students develop the necessary skills for their specific focus.

Here are some highlighted courses:

Experience of Drama: In this dynamic, experientially-based course,students attend professional theatrical productions throughout Austin to examine the play’s journey from page to stage. Play attendance is supplemented with script and production analysis, lecture, presentations, class-discussions, exclusive talkbacks and meetings with production personnel.

Theatre for Social Change/Applied Theatre: This course zeros in on theatre’s unique power as a tool for social change, and its tremendous potential for application to fields outside of traditional theatre. Students examine the theories and methods of applied theatre throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries, studying a wide array of international topics, including agit-prop theatre, radical street performance, museum theatre, theatre in prisons, and theatre and service in the church.

Acting - Scene Study and Improvisation: Students at all levels of experience develop acting skills through the disciplines of improvisation and scene study. Improvisation is employed as a means of structuring original ideas to create scenes, as a method of confronting and solving acting problems, as a way to inspire social change and as a means of theatricalizing non-dramatic sources such as folktales.

Program Benefits

The BA in Theatre Studies provides tools required for working in the professional theatre as well as a foundation for graduate studies in theatre and film. Furthermore, students who study theatre develop and hone skills transferable to any field:

  • Viewing the world from multiple perspectives
  • Creative problem-solving
  • Effective verbal and non-verbal communication
  • Collaboration
  • Advanced presentation abilities
  • Outside-the-box thinking
  • Empathy and deep listening
  • Efficient time management
  • Close reading and analysis
  • Project management and organization
  • Critical thinking
  • Cultural awareness

Career Outcomes

  • Actor
  • Arts Administrator
  • Casting Agent
  • Director
  • Drama Therapist
  • Educator
  • Events Planner
  • Literary Manager
  • Playwright/Screenwriter
  • Producer
  • Project Manager
  • Stage Manager
  • Theatrical Designer (make-up, costumes, props, set, lighting)

FAQ

  • Why does Concordia offer a Bachelor of Arts (BA) instead of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)?

    Concordia University Texas offers a BA in Theatre Studies instead of a BFA. A BA requires you to study a wider breadth of subjects, so you'll develop a wider array of skills that can be utilized in more industries.

  • Who can get involved in CTX Theatre productions?

    Auditions and participation in design/tech roles are open to all members of the Concordia University Texas community. No experience is necessary; we will train you!

    Students can participate in productions beginning their first semester.

  • What are auditions like?

    Typically, students are asked to perform a memorized, one-minute monologue from the time period and style of the play for which they are auditioning.

  • When are rehearsals held?

    Rehearsals are mainly held in the evenings, and occasionally during the daytime if actor’s schedules permit. We make our best effort to work around actors’ work, athletics and school schedules.

  • Are theatre internships available?

    Austin, Texas, has a vibrant theatre community that is full of opportunities. Our students have interned at places such as Austin Shakespeare and Zach Theatre. Internship programs are also available farther afield in cities such as New York and London.

MEET OUR THEATRE FACULTY