ANTIGONE

Written by Sophocles

Translated by Don Taylor

Directed by Jenna Soleo-Shanks

University of Minnesota Duluth

After years of division, a new leader promises to restore law and order to the city of Thebes. But when his first official decree is challenged the power of the state is pitted against the will of the people. This modern translation of one of the most enduring ancient tragedies puts universal questions of power, politics, and duty in the context of contemporary conflicts.
 

CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRLCE

Written by Bertolt Brecht

Directed by Kasey Cox

Missouri Baptist University

Grusha, a servant girl, rescues the Governor’s child during a rebellion and unexpectedly grows to love and care for the child as her own. When the Governor’s wife returns and demands the child back, however, the question is posed, “Who has a right to the child? The one who bore him or the one who loves him?” A retelling of King Solomon and the child claimed by and fought over by two mothers.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES

Written by  Rajiv Joseph

Directed by Beate Pettigrew

Johnson County Community College

Doug and Kayleen meet at the nurse’s office in their elementary school; she’s got a painful stomach ache, and he’s all banged up from a running dive off the roof of the school. Over the next thirty years, these scar-crossed lovers meet again and again, brought together by injury, heartbreak, and their own self-destructive tendencies. This is an unconventional love story about the intimacy between two people when they allow their defenses to drop and their wounds to show.

SHE KILLS MONSTERS

Written by  Qui Nguyen

Directed by Anne Byrd

Normandale Community College

When average Agnes Evans loses her younger sister, Tilly, in a car crash, she must confront the fact that she knew precious little about her eccentric sibling. While cleaning out the family home, Agnes discovers Tilly's Dungeons & Dragons notebook which sends her on a journey into her sister's lively imagination. In Tilly's world, Agnes must confront not only the monsters of the game, but also those of her own making. A fantastical celebration of geekdom, She Kills Monsters is an action-packed comedy with heart.

WOMAN WONDER

Written by  Bethany Larson, Jamii Claiborne, Annamaria Formichella-Elsden, Andrea Frantz, Callé Friesen, Wind Goodfriend, Miranda Pollock

Directed by Bethany Larson

Buena Vista University

Woman Wonder, a new play, explores what it is to be a woman in today’s world. Through stories ranging from the beautiful to the tragic, from birth to old age, the play affirms the resiliency of women.  
 

DOG SEES GOD

Written by Burt V. Royal 

Directed by Shea Saladee

Sponsored by University of Nebraska at Omaha

The characters in Dog See’s God are facing social, political, and moral issues so universal that almost everyone encounters them on their own journeys through life. The play provokes the audience to use these stories to question, create a dialogue, and engage in action. “When something seems the most obvious thing in the world’ it means that any attempt to understand the world has been given up” - Bertolt Brecht.

STATES OF HAPPINESS

Written by Joshua Whedon

Directed by Madison Bishop

Wichita State University

James desperately seeks meaning, but doesn’t know where to look. She learns of a service that will allow her to do something extraordinary. But through this, she tumbles into an experiment that may have drastic repercussions. Will this actually help her, or will it send her further into hopelessness?