Launched in 1982, the UC Davis Granada Artist-in-Residence
program is unique in American university theater, bringing
prominent theater artists—directors, playwrights, choreographers,
or filmmakers—to Davis each academic quarter to teach and create
a work for public performance. A special opportunity for graduate
and undergraduate students to work closely with major theater and
dance practitioners, it is a unique cross-cultural experience.
Established with funding provided by Britain’s Granada
Television, the program originally hosted British practitioners
exclusively, but in the 1990s, it was expanded to
include distinguished artists from all parts of the globe,
including the U.S., to better reflect the rich cultural mix of
students at UC Davis.
Since its inception, the Granada Artist-in-Residence program has
brought a roster of gifted artists to UC Davis. These artisans
include playwrights Philip Kan Gotanda and Mark Ravenhill,
directors Irina Brown and William Gaskill, as well
as choreographers John Jasperse, Bill T. Jones
and Doug Varone. Former Granada Artists Mindy Cooper and
Peter Licthtenfels are now members of the Department of Theatre
and Dance faculty.
Various distinguished artists have served on the Granada
Artist-in-Residence program advisory committee including actress
Dame Judi Dench, director Sir Peter Hall and film and television
producer Derek Granger.
All Granada artists work closely with the permanent faculty to
integrate their unique talents and areas of interest into the
existing curriculum.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presents Beth
Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds in winter quarter
2025. Directed by Granada Artist-in-Residence Peter J. Kuo,
the minimalist work of experimental theater that casts
the audience as voyeurs in an entertaining adventure that
gradually turns more serious.
The play opens at the Wyatt Pavilion Theatre on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
and performs Feb. 28, March 1, 6 and 7 at 7 p.m. and March 1 and
8 at 2 p.m..
Alumna Olivia Caserta (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘22) and
undergraduate student Megan Abbanat are co-directing the Winters
Shakespeare Workshop production of the Bard’s
romantic comedy Twelfth Night which performs
July 21 and 22 at the Winters City Park playground stage.
The production features music direction by Nicholas Carvajal,
librarian for the UC Davis Department of Music.
Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, theatre and dance department
chair, is pleased to announce the Granada Artists-in-Residence
for 2024 which includes an internationally acclaimed
alumnus.
David Adam Moore is
a highly sought-after leading baritone by major opera houses and
orchestras worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal
Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Lyric Opera of
Chicago, Salzburg Festival and Carnegie Hall. Also notable
for his work as a projection designer, composer, digital media
artist, and stage director, Moore recently made his Lyric Opera
of Chicago stage design debut as projection designer for a new
production of Faust, in which he collaborated with
renowned sculptor/animator John Frame and stage/film designer
Vita Tzykun.
Poetry by doctoral student Diego Martínez-Campos (M.F.A, dramatic
arts, ‘20) has been selected to be part of Catalyst New
Music, an innovative music collaboration, along with the work of
14 other artists across the U.S.A.
Katherine Halls (B.A. theatre and dance and English, ‘20) is
currently rehearsing in Belgium with a TIE (Theatre in Education)
theatre company called Emerald Isle Theatre Company.
Olivia Caserta (B.A., theatre and dance, ‘22) is appearing as a
contestant in Hulu’s new baking competition series, Best
in Dough. Caserta is featured in episode 4 “College
Kids.”
Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, Department of Theatre and Dance
chair, is pleased to announced two guest artists and presenters
for DRA 199: Theatre for Social Change and Social Justice in fall
quarter.
Ranked: The Musical, which was developed in part at UC
Davis through Catalyst Theatre/Ground and Field Theatre Festival,
is the subject of a documentary film My So-Called High School
Rank, produced by HBO. The film was recently presented at
DOC5 Film Fest in Menlo Park, CA, and is making the rounds at
numerous festivals this fall including the
Woodstock Film Festival.
Erika Chong Shuch is a performance maker, choreographer and
director whose topic-driven ruminations coalesce into imagistic
assemblages of music, movement, text, and design. Interested
in expanding ideas around how performance is created and shared,
Shuch’s work has been performed in city halls, theaters,
industrial offices spaces, diners, parking lots and food
courts.
The Department of Theatre and Dance has selected the Granada
Artists-in-Residence for 2022-2023. Erika Chong Shuch will be
the fall quarter guest artist and David Adam Moore and
Victoria “Vita”
Tzykun will be the joint guest artists for winter 2023.
Keaton Wooden is a Regional Emmy Award-nominated
writer, composer, director, and social impact producer best known
for the award-winning musical The Civility of Albert
Cashier.
Christine Hamel (she/her/hers) is an actor, voice specialist,
director, and scholar. As a professional actor and voice coach
she has worked on and Off-Broadway and in regional theatre,
including the Cort Theatre (Broadway), the Tony Award-winning
Huntington Theatre Company, PTP/NYC, Olney Theatre Center,
Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Merrimack Repertory
Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage
Company, Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, Central
Square Theater, Company One, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and
others.
Shinichi Iova-Koga, artistic director of the physical theater and
dance company called inkBoat, is the winter 2022 Granada
Artist-in-Residence for the Department of Theatre and Dance.
He will stage a collaborative project titled Clouds from
a Crumbling Giant. The company has received five San
Francisco Izzie awards and has toured in Europe, Asia, and the
United States.
Shinichi
Iova-Koga is the Artistic Director of the physical theater
and dance company called inkBoat. The company has received
five San Francisco Izzie awards and has toured in Europe, Asia
and the United States. Iova-Koga’s approach to mobility,
composition, feeling states and time stems from his experience
with Daoist Internal Arts, Action Theater (improvisation
training), Butoh Dance, Aikido and Noh Theater.
Annie Saunders, a multidisciplinary creator and director of
site-specific experiences, is the fall 2021 Granada
Artist-in-Residence for the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Saunders will be joined by her core collaborator Jackie! Zhou, a
Los Angeles-based artist and sound designer.
Annie Saunders, a multidisciplinary creator and director of
site-specific experiences, is the fall 2021 Granada
Artist-in-Residence for the Department of Theatre and Dance.
Saunders will be joined by her core collaborator Jackie! Zhou, a
Los Angeles-based artist and sound designer.
Originally the Department of Theatre and Dance faculty conceived
of establishing a relationship with a professional production
company in order to draw upon the expertise of eminent
professionals who would come to the department for a limited time
to create and teach.Faculty member Dan Snyder, who had worked as
a designer for Granada Television Ltd (best known in the U.S. for
its productions of Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel
in the Crown, and Lost Empires), suggested that the
department approach Granada, which had a wealth of contacts in
British theater.
Former Granada Artists-in-Residence David Adam Moore and Victoria
“Vita” Tzykun return to UC Davis in spring 2025 to create and
develop a immersive mixed reality performance experience.
