Theatre and Dance

Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp is an artist who explores what lies beneath the surface. Her work over a six-year period during a residency at Montalvo's Lucas Artists Program has been chronicled in Kim Yasuda's book Beneath the Surface. 

Two Ph.D. students in computer science in collaboration with a professor of English in the College of Letters and Science, have created an AI-driven game which allows players to speak directly to Macbeth and attempt conflict de-escalation strategies to try to change his mind at this crucial juncture of the play. Link to Article

Alum David Beatty (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘05) is the author of The Appetite of Giants: Mostly True Stories and Some Exaggerations, a collection of funny and heartfelt essays follows his journey from a Southern California childhood filled with imagination and adventure to a lifelong love of theater, filmmaking, and the arts. The book features stories about family, creativity, and even a hungry 25-foot-tall Giant who lives in a

Alumna Taśa Gleason (MFA, dramatic arts, ‘20) returns to UC Davis as costume designer for the winter quarter Department of Theatre and Dance production of The Drowsy Chaperone.

As a graduate student at UC Davis, Gleason designed costumes for Flora The Red Menace and The Threepenny Opera.

The Modern Language Association of America announced that Jon D. Rossini, professor of theatre and dance at the University of California, Davis, received an honorable mention in the category Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies for his book, Pragmatic Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic Drama.

Alumni James Hiser and UC Davis Senior Continuing Lecturer Michele Apriña Leavy (both MFA, dramatic art, ’94) are headed to Ireland with the recent Eugene O’Neill Foundation production of The Hairy Ape. Hiser played the leading role of Yank, and Leavy was the Movement Consultant, while alum Rob Evans (BA, theatre and dance, ‘92) was Sound and Music Designer, and the production’s Director and Artistic Director of the O’Neill Foundation Eric Fraisher. Hayes attended UC Davis as an undergraduate student.

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Department of Theatre and Dance spotlights undergraduate student playwrights Melanie Garcia and Simon Garcia Parra Jr., who are the authors of To Kill a Certain Painter and No Que No?, two one-act plays that premiere as part of Written and Directed By. 

Alum Isaac Hirotsu Woofter (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘00) is the director and writer of the new film Bound, which will have its Bay area theatrical premiere May 16 – 22 (7pm) at the Alameda Theatre and Cineplex. 

In 2024 alum Mengyuan “Mia” Qin (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘20) has served as a production assistant on the Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending which has been nominated for ten 2025 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical. 

UC Davis Theater and Dance alum Angel Rodriguez (‘12) and faculty member and alum Michele Apriña Leavy recently appeared in the Alameda Civic Ballet’s 20th Anniversary production of The Nutcracker. The production was performed Nov. 23 and 24 at the Castro Valley Center for the Arts in Castro Valley.