New Work

This semester’s UTNT (UT New Theatre) features two stellar new plays that revitalize classic Greek tragedies, adapting ancient stories into the modern world. M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate Jenny Krick has reimagined Euripides’ The Trojan Women through the mind of a contemporary female playwright, exploring themes of trauma and mental health, while M.F.A. candidate Nicholas Kaidoo transported Aeschylus’ The Oresteia into modern housing projects in New York City, bringing with it themes of justice, power and inheritance. Leading up to their virtual premieres, Kaidoo and Krick shared their process of adapting these centuries-old scripts into new plays, from their initial fascinations with the tragedies starting in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ classroom to growing their own unique worlds from the foundations the classic works of literature provide.

Continue Reading Adapting Greek Tragedies: Two M.F.A. Candidates Create New Plays from Old Stories

Radiance, by M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate Gursimrat Kaur, weaves together a complex cast of characters whose lives thrive and collapse with and against each other. Set in a developing city fraught with corruption and economic growth, this play balances various important aspects, themes and plot lines in order to portray the depth of each character. Leading up to this weekend’s virtual performances of Radiance as part of UTNT (UT New Theatre), Kaur delves into some of these important aspects, including the creation of her developing city, the building of relationships and the metaphors that shine throughout the script, as well as how the play has been transferred to an online setting.

Continue Reading Breaking Down the Themes that Shine in Gursimrat Kaur’s RADIANCE

Meet the cast of Community Garden, one of our five UTNT (UT New Theatre) productions of the spring 2021 semester. In just a week, these ladies will be performing in a virtual reading of M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate Renae Simone Jarrett’s script, providing audiences with the chance to enjoy the rich language and storyline that she created. Join them for a meditation on self-searching, sacrifice and that lovely glow you get when you feast on the fruits that grow from the graves of dead husbands.

Continue Reading Meet the Cast: COMMUNITY GARDEN