Loyola Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Through exploring and applying the work of the Chicago Neo-Futurists, Loyola students will embark on a journey of imperfection that emphasizes ‘process’ over ‘the product’ and ignites a search for inspiration and creativity in the mundane.

When fiction isn’t enough, stories must be told as they actually happened. Using verbatim transcripts of real-life interviews, Notes from the Field tackles incarceration, police brutality, and systemic educational issues with heart and hope. Anna Deavere Smith’s striking piece of documentary theatre shows the school-to-prison nexus not in allegorical critique, but in grotesquely real detail. Shattering notions of punishment and the justification of violent force, Notes from the Field interrogates what is activism, what is performance, and what you can do about it.

In Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a group of run of the mill craftsmen (and amateur actors), called the Mechanicals, put on the play Pyramus and Thisbe. And although Shakespeare makes them side characters, they get to be the stars of their own story in this project. They have a week of rehearsals to go from page to stage. The process is full of drama, lions, hijinks, death, and tomfoolery.

Elle Woods has it all figured out- great friends, great car, great dog. When it all starts falling apart, Elle leaves behind her sunny sorority for the stuffy Harvard Law School, tackling this exclusive environment with optimism and ambition. The verdict? An inspiring and wildly entertaining take on identity and power. Based on the hit movie and filled with show-stopping songs, Legally Blonde celebrates the trials and victories of being yourself.

The relationship between the development of human culture and religion is inextricable. As far back as society reaches so does religion, why? How has religion benefited humanity at times and at others seemed to have done more harm than good? The history of society and religion is so long and vast that having an accurate perspective seems impossible, but perhaps through showcasing this relationship in story we may come to develop our understanding of it. I want to tell the ultra-condensed story of humanity’s relationship with religion from as unbiased a perspective as possible. This project will begin with a research project on the history and anthropology of religion and then that research will be formatted into a play. Staging approaches will be inspired by Grotowski’s “poor theatre”.