Theater Arts

Aug 15, 2018 • Jennifer Retter

Dr. Shandell Sheds Light on History of African-American Theatre

Dr.  Jonathan Shandell, associate professor of Theatre Arts, published his second book, The American Negro Theatre and the Long Civil Rights Era, through University of Iowa Press. Dr. Shandell’s text is the first comprehensive analysis of American Negro Theatre (ANT), a historic group founded...

Jun 29, 2018 • Jennifer Retter

Actor and Playwright Hitchens ‘07 Shares Spooky Past

By Nicole Gieselman ’19 Director, playwright, and Acting alumnus Josh Hitchens ‘07 has been sending shivers down spines with his original, autobiographical play Ghost Stories. Directed by Ryan Walter, the one-man show is comprised of six paranormal tales that have (literally) haunted Hitchens...

Kishia Nixon ’15 and Trevor William Fayle ’13 rehearse for "Sing the Body Electric." Photo provided by Theatre Exile.

May 7, 2018 • Caitlin Burns

Theater Alumni to Participate in “Electric” New Production

Arcadia Theater alumni Kishia Nixon ’15 and Trevor William Fayle ’13 will perform as leads in Sing the Body Electric, a Theatre Exile production showing through May 13 in Philadelphia. Written by Michael Hollinger and directed by Deborah Block, the play follows Jess (played by Nixon), a failing...

Apr 25, 2018 • Caitlin Burns

Global 1968 Panel Explores Iconic Year’s Influence on Pop Culture

By Caitlin Joyce '20 On March 29, a panel, “1968: Transformations in Art, Media, and Culture,” discussed how political and social climate changes during that year influenced pop culture. The panel, part of the Global 1968: Explosions and Legacies series, featured Dr. Bruce Campbell Jr.,...

Kathryn Jones • Mar 27, 2018 •12:43 pm

Enchanted by London’s Theater Scene

I grew up in a very artistic household. Everyone in my family plays an instrument, we all are avid singers, my sister and I draw, and my father and I write. I was not only surrounded by creativity growing up, but I was actively encouraged to explore these artistic urges. And that’s what I’ve...

Jessica Derr • Feb 27, 2018 •9:24 am

Shaking It Up With Shakespeare

Fenced in by desks, a mass of bodies wander and weave among each other. Their heads are bent over slips of paper in hand, yet they never collide. Rather, they orbit each other in perfect harmony, their voices raised as one in a steady beat, chanting out the same verses over and over. Surely images...

Olivia Armacost • Feb 26, 2018 •4:12 pm

A Sisterhood of Women

The Vagina Monologues is a play written by Eve Ensler based on interviews she held privately and in groups with over 200 women. Twenty-two years after its premiere in 1996, I had the privilege of bringing one of these vignettes to life on the Stiteler stage at Arcadia University.   When I...

Doriane Feinstein • Feb 23, 2018 •4:29 pm

A Dramata-What?

Freshman year of college, I couldn’t tell you what a dramaturg was. After my first play, where we had a dramaturg as part of the production, I still couldn’t have told you what a dramaturg did. But now, since I have successfully been a dramaturg for a mainstage show at Arcadia, I can tell you....

Feb 20, 2018 • Jennifer Retter

Dr. Shandell Publishes on Langston Hughes’ ‘Mulatto’

Dr. Jonathan Shandell, associate professor of Theater Arts, published an essay on Langston Hughes’ 1935 Broadway play Mulatto in Visions of Tragedy in Modern American Drama, a text focused on tragedy in theater and literary studies. Dr. Shandell explores Hughes' drama as an inversion of the "...

Feb 6, 2018 • Caitlin Burns

Arcadia Theater Presents “Sensitive Guys” Feb. 8 to 18

Arcadia University Theater presents Sensitive Guys by MJ Kaufman, a timely show that discusses the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. The play follows the Men's Peer Education and women’s Survivor Support groups at fictional Watson College. The two groups are working together to end...

Doriane Feinstein • Oct 27, 2017 •12:24 pm

This Feels Right

Summer was pretty incredible. Not just because of the countless trips to the beach or time to catch up with friends. I mean those were great, but this summer was different. For the first time in my life, I got to experience a slice of professional theatre through PlayPenn’s new play-development...

Oct 25, 2017 • Caitlin Burns

Theater Faculty, Alumni, Students Help Scare Visitors at Eastern State Penitentiary

Faculty, alumni, and students from the University Theater Arts Program are scaring visitors at Eastern State Penitentiary as members of the Terror Behind the Walls team. At Eastern State Penitentiary, which transforms into Terror Behind the Walls each night around Halloween, Theater Costume Shop...