Wirtz Center at Northwestern University

Upcoming Events

How to Know the Wild Flowers: A Map
Performance Art
Runs Apr 19Apr 28, 2024

A theatrical ritual of communal healing, this multi-disciplinary piece is inspired by the first field guide for flowers in America called How to Know the Wild Flowers by …

TAKEN AWAY: A Musical Trilogy (The 93rd Annual Waa-Mu Show)
Drama, Performance Art
Runs Apr 26May 05, 2024

The 93rd Annual Waa-Mu show, Taken Away: A Musical Trilogy, is a unique presentation of three original short-form musicals, connected by the theme of loss and the poignant …

The Great Sea Serpent
Drama
Runs May 03May 05, 2024

The Great Sea Serpent portrays the laying of the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable–a technological feat that revolutionized communications and ushered in global capitalism–and links it with a tale …

MFA Collaboration Series: Durango
Drama
Runs May 10May 12, 2024

To the outside world, the Lee boys look perfect: The eldest son, Isaac, is headed to medical school, and his younger brother, Jimmy, is a champion swimmer. But …

The Tempest
Drama, Literary Adaptation
Runs May 17May 26, 2024

Trickery and magic, romance, and revenge set the stage for one of Shakespeare’s late masterpieces, The Tempest, in which sprites, goddesses, and fools hold court. Prospero, the deposed …

The Ladies Ring Shout 2.0
New Work, Performance Art
Runs Jun 22Jun 23, 2024

The Ladies Ring Shout is a 90 minute performance work, first performed in 2011, combining spoken word, movement, and an original soundtrack. The multimedia work journeys through contemporary …

Airness
Drama
Runs Jul 19Jul 21, 2024

When Nina enters her first air guitar competition, she thinks winning will be easy. But as she befriends a group of charismatic nerds all committed to becoming the …

The Oregon Trail
Comedy/Drama
Runs Aug 02Aug 04, 2024

Jane is trapped in her middle school computer lab playing “The Oregon Trail” for what feels like hours. The game becomes life and rips us back into the …

1949 Campus Drive
Evanston IL 60208
847-491-7282
The Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University produces and manages the performing arts productions of the School of Communication, Department of Theatre, and Department of Performance Studies, and has programmatic responsibility for theatre, music theatre and dance. Each year, as many as forty productions are mounted in its four different performance venues — the 439-seat Ethel M. Barber Theater, the 288-seat Josephine Louis Theater, the 100-seat Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater and the 100-seat Mussetter-Struble Theater — as well as in the University’s 1,000-seat Cahn Auditorium.