Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University

Bringing together cutting-edge thinkers and makers of live theatrical performance with their counterparts in the world of immersive and interactive digital art, this Finding New Forms weekend of events is inspired by the interplay between new technology (VR / AR / XR / installation / ‘immersion’) and contemporary performance practices. These weekend events aim to begin conversations about how to shake up, challenge and cross-pollinate the fields of art and performance.

Featured guests include Robin McNicholas from the London-based experiential arts collective Marshmallow Laser Feast; theatre director Annie Dorsen, who is working at the intersection of algorithmic art and live performances amongst others.

Three men chew the fat under an old, wide tree. In Hang Time, we peek into the interiority – the great loves and bitter blues – of Black men in America. Setting the romantic and the macabre in sharp relief, the work invites the viewer to envisage the living Black body triumphant over the legacy of violence that it holds. Written and directed by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Zora Howard in her directorial debut, Hang Time is a deeply moving and subversive work not to be missed.

Award-winning playwright Idris Goodwin brings William Steig’s tale of wit, wisdom, and whimsy to the stage with an eye-popping blend of live-action, puppetry, music, and rhyme. Despite the sign outside stating that they do not treat predators, the De Soto family dentist practice takes pity on a suffering fox with a rotten tooth. But once he opens his jaws and they must step inside, they begin to rethink their decision. Full of excitement and laughter, this modern-day fable proves that even the smallest creatures can make a big difference with kindness and a little quick thinking.

“There are those who cannot see and who are not seen. But their music can open our eyes. Light pours in, like magic, and we are brought home…”

Yara Arts Group’s “The Magic of Light” interweaves puppetry, language, music and poetry to illustrate the cultural and spiritual awakening of an artist in the 1870s. Inspired by the haunting epic songs of Ukrainian blind bards (kobzari), a young man embarks on a lifelong quest to record, preserve and illuminate Ukrainian traditions against the tremendous pressures of history. The production is performed with an intimate, transforming puppet stage by puppeteer Tom Lee and features musician Julian Kytasty, a third-generation master of the bandura, a traditional Ukrainian plucked-stringed folk instrument.

Eccentric, morbid, spooky and more than a little bit kooky – the far from normal Addams family faces a normal family challenge when their macabre daughter, Wednesday, falls in love with Lucas, a sweet young man from a respectable family who her parents have never met. Worried her family might not approve of this all-too-normal match, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before – keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Things take a hilarious turn when the Addams family hosts a dinner for Lucas and his unsuspecting parents. On that fateful evening, relationships are tested, secrets are revealed, and the Addams family tackles both love and change by embracing the wackiness that resides in every family.

Ana, a Korean American, travels to Seoul in 1975 to retrieve her recently deceased father’s ashes. When a bellboy named JC shows up at Ana’s hotel with a package containing her father’s WW2 diary, three separate time periods collide in the small hotel room. We meet Luke, a young American soldier fighting in the jungles of Myanmar in 1944 and Number Four, a Korean comfort woman camping out on a bridge in Seoul in 1950, waiting for the return of the young American soldier who fathered her daughter. Time, space, and Ana’s own origin story are connected by a shape-shifting Jesus in this dark comedy about a family broken apart by betrayed promises and how they find each other again through SPAM, journals, and Jesus. Mostly Jesus.

After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason’s complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and—most especially—his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason’s puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. Hand to God explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.

In the heat of civil war, the Governor of the region and his wife flee an angry uprising, abandoning their infant son in the midst of the chaos. The responsibility to rear the child falls upon Grusha, a servant girl, who sacrifices everything to respectfully raise the young boy as her own. But when the biological mother returns, a debate arises as to who is the rightful mother of the boy. Written at the close of World War II, Brecht’s masterpiece explores the impact of war on ordinary people who find their humanity amidst a chaos they did not invite. This show focuses on storytelling and performance with basic production elements.

Big business means big laughs in this riotous romp through the corporate world that took Broadway by storm, winning both the Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer Prize. As sharp as it is hilarious, the story follows the meteoric rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious window washer who stumbles upon a book titled How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Armed with this handy guide, Finch sets out to conquer the Worldwide Wicket Company with a mix of wit, charm, and a bit of scheming.

This reinvigorated production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a tune-filled, comic gem full of ambition, love, luck, and a whole lot of nerve!

Join us for a vibrant and engaging introduction to the magic of theatre, specially designed for children aged 2-5 and their grown-ups. Two different remounted shows will take place: Imagine That! (3/7 and 3/15) and Splish, Splash: A Day on the Lake (3/8 and 3/14).

Our multi-sensory performances offer a delightful first taste of live theatre, crafted by a dedicated team of educational artists who specialize in early childhood development alongside undergraduate students focused on theatre for young audiences. Come and experience the joy of interactive storytelling and creative exploration with your little ones!

Join us for Northwestern’s annual dance showcase featuring new works by acclaimed and nationally recognized guest choreographers and faculty.

Someone sneezes. Someone can’t get a signal. Someone won’t answer the door. Someone put an elephant on the stairs. Someone’s not ready to talk. Someone is her brother’s mother. Someone hates irrational numbers. Someone told the police. Someone got a message from the traffic light. Someone’s never felt like this before.

In this fast-moving kaleidoscope, more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know.

Two women find that they have everything in common until the death of a brother drives them apart. Part stand-up comedy, part stand-up tragedy for two. The redhaired mythology that glorifies and empowers two women leads them into a big love, but can’t lead them safely out again. A play about the heaviness of the things we carry.

Known as “The Butterflies,” the spirited and courageous Mirabal sisters inspired a fight for freedom in the Dominican Republic. For 30 years, President Trujillo’s iron fist of authoritarianism tightened around the throat of the Dominican Republic. But the people would not be silenced, and as the revolution grew, so too did the four Mirabal sisters. As the girls became women, their deep love for their family and passion for their country led them to become activists and martyrs for the revolution against the Trujillo dictatorship. Their legacy led to the creation of the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Based on Julia Alvarez’ acclaimed novel, this play bears witness to the joy and laughter, terror and violence that shaped a nation and its people.