Department of Theatre and Dance
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, Filed Under: Beyond the Stage

Students Engineer a Creative, Collaborative Future for Themed Entertainment

Ambient lighting and ethereal depictions of Greek mythology welcome visitors to Daedalus: The Lost Wings, Texas Theme Park Engineering & Design’s latest pop-up attraction. Teams of UT students enter a room filled with artifacts and puzzles – a tiny Grecian boat, a glowing fountain, a bookcase that doubles as a doorway – with 45 minutes to unlock a pair of Daedalus’s legendary wings. Beneath the puzzles are wires, magnets and structures built by an ambitious group of students from across the Forty Acres. The Texas Theme Park Engineering & Design student organization, sponsored by Theatre and Dance faculty members J.E. Johnson and Karen Maness, may be comprised of a variety of academic emphases, but they are united under one goal – to entertain their audiences through unique, story-based experiences, cultivating the creative problem-solver within each of its members.

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, Filed Under: Beyond the Stage, On Stage

Interpreting Connection in Caryl Churchill’s “Love and Information”

Though Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information premiered nearly 10 years ago, the fluid nature of her play makes it just as relevant – and perhaps even more so – in today’s technologically expanding world. In transferring Churchill’s network of seemingly unrelated scenes to the Oscar G. Brockett Theatre, the production team has spent weeks devising, discussing and mobilizing her text. Director Mike Steele and dramaturg/movement director Molly Roy dig deeper, discussing the team’s interpretation of Churchill’s work and the movement, design and theatrical elements that bring lift to the technological underpinnings of the play.

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