HAIR and More Set for University of Texas at Arlington Theatre Arts and Dance Department Season

UTA Theatre Arts and Dance begins the fall semester with two contemporary plays presented in repertory in the Studio Theatre. Will Powers 2018 play, Seize the King, is a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III seen through an Afrofuturist lens. Guest director Jiles King is excited for the challenges this play will bring to UTA Acting students, particularly the plays " combination of contemporary and poetic language." Seize the King opens September 19th in the Studio Theatre, running for four performances.

In repertory with Seize the King, Christopher Chens 2018 play Passage is an adaptation of E. M. Forsters 1924 novel, A Passage to India. In Chens adaptation, Country X and Country Y are not specifically India and England (as in the novel), but the play retains its critique of colonialism. TimeOut New York said that the play "raises questions that make the audience profoundly uncomfortable but simultaneously creates a welcoming space to which everyone is invited." This show features major roles for undergraduate designers and dramaturgs, including a capstone scenic design from Gabrielle Malbrough, and a preshow audience tour staged by assistant director Kate Thompson, recipient of a UTA undergraduate research fellowship. Theatre Arts program head Sebastian Trainor directs. Passage opens September 20th in the Studio Theatre, running for four performances.

Next up is the 2013 musical, A Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder directed by Professor Anne Healy, featuring performances by UTA musical theatre students and designs by UTA professors Phillip Schroeder and Leah Mazur. The Hollywood Reporter said of its Broadway run that A Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder is " by a rollicking story, humor of the most delectable amorality and the cleverest lyrics. . . . this bright little jewel is a legitimate treat." And indeed, it was. The musical would receive ten 2014 Tony Award nominations and win four including Best Musical. Gentleman's Guide opens October 15th and runs for five performances on the Mainstage Theatre.

The fall season closes with Dance Deconstructed, a showcase of student and faculty choreography. Students workshop original dance and dance theatre pieces under the mentorship of program head, Laurie M. Taylor. This year, UTA welcomes Arlington ISD arts students to a dance concert student matinee. Dance Deconstructed has three performances in the Studio Theatre, November 21-23.

Spring 2026 begins with a second set of plays. George Farquars 1707 Restoration comedy, The BeauxStratagem directed by acting professor, Libby Hawkins, running February 20-March 1, and the regional premiere of Riley Elton McCarthys queer horror comedy, Ivories, directed by guest director Evan Michael Woods of Fort Worths Amphibian Stage, running February 21-28. When 20-something Sloane faces selling their grandmother's old house, the past comes back to haunt them-literally. Ivories is the regional Texas premiere of this show that just finished a summer run off west end at Londons Old Red Lion Theatre.

UTAs spring musical is Hair, the 1967 show by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni. Co-directed by musical theatre program head J. Austin Eyer and theatre studies faculty Kelley Smith, Hairs tribe of young people protest US involvement in the Vietnam War, rehearsing a topical array of such issues as racism, the ethics of war, and the crucial need to listen to young peoples ideas. Premiering at The Public Theatre in 1967, Hair soon moved to Broadway and remains a favorite rock musical. Hair runs April 2-12.