Eastern Oregon University > Theatre > 2024-2025 Production Season

2024-2025 Production Season

Fall 2024: Belfast Girls

Written by Jaki McCarrick

November 13th and 15th at 7pm, November 17th at 2pm

Directed by Mike Heather

Schwarz Theater

Escaping the Irish famine in 1850 five young women seek passage on a ship to Australia. For many of the ‘orphan girls’ on board, the voyage offers a fresh start. But some girls find they cannot escape the memory of the lives they’ve left behind- and that the closer they get to Australia the more powerful the past becomes.

Fall 2024: The Irish One Acts

November 12th, 14th and 16th at 7pm

Directed by Rikki Jo Hickey

Schwarz Theater

These turn of the century Irish plays offer glimpses into small moments of life that lead to profound impacts on the characters’ futures. As the characters in each play demonstrate their current plight, they are also confronted with difficult and timeless truths about human nature and our desires to feel cared for and comfortably alive. Each story is connected through the wisdom of an outsider, ridiculously sneaky humor, and love for the land in which these characters live. From a contemplative Sergeant, to a lonely Housewife, to an oblivious Host, these three stories will have you shaking your head in amusement while contemplating universal truths.

Rising of the Moon written by Lady Augusta Gregory

This one-act play takes place on a moonlit night on an Irish wharf, an Irish police sergeant in the service of the occupying English government keeps watch for a clever escaped political criminal. While he searches, he meets a mysterious man who presses him about his life and love of country.

Pot of Broth written by William Butler Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory

Is a one-act “peasant” farce that tells the story of a gullible peasant woman, convinced by a tramp that dropping a magic stone into hot water will make a wonderful soup.

In the Shadow of the Glen written by John Millington Synge

The one-act play is set in an isolated cottage in County Wicklow, Ireland, and follows the story of Nora Burke, a young woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man. The play explores themes of loneliness, desire, and the search for meaning in life.

Winter 2025: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield

March 14-15th at 7pm and March 16th at 2pm

Directed by Kay Kellogg

Schwarz Theater

Literary scholars like to squabble over exactly how many plays Shakespeare wrote, but it’s pretty safe to say that he wrote a lot.  In The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again], 37 of these plays are presented with all of the grace and eloquence that one would expect from those paying homage to The Bard of Avon.  Just kidding.  It’s a fast-paced, campy, quirky, riotous (and, let’s be honest, at times outright stupid) roller-coaster sure to amuse his fans, haters, and the indifferent alike.

Spring 2025: Fiddler on the Roof

Created by songwriters, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick; and bookwriter, Joseph Stein

May 14-17th at 7pm

Directed by Kenn Wheeler

McKenzie Theater

Winner of nine Tony Awards when it debuted in 1964, Fiddler on the Roof features the brilliant creative work of songwriters, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick; and bookwriter, Joseph Stein. Touching audiences worldwide with its humor, warmth and honesty, this universal show is a staple of the musical theatre canon. Set in the little village of Anatevka, the story centers on Tevye, a poor milkman, and his five daughters. With the help of a colorful and tight-knit Jewish community, Tevye tries to protect his daughters and instill them with traditional values in the face of changing social mores and the growing anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. Rich in historical and ethnic detail, Fiddler on the Roof’s universal theme of tradition cuts across barriers of race, class, nationality and religion, leaving audiences crying tears of laughter, joy and sadness.