Longtime artistic associates and veteran collaborators Caryl
Kientz and Lydia Greer from the renowned ShadowLight
Productions and the interdisciplinary collective Facing West
Shadows are the Granada Artists-in-Residence for Spring 2026. The
pair will be creators and directors of The Odyssey in
Shadow.
The Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of
California, Davis is dedicated to integrating consent-based
practices into all classroom, studio and production environments.
The 180 Series of courses provide exciting practical instruction
and participation in all aspects of theatrical and dance
production. Whether you are exploring these courses as a
Theatre & Dance Major, Minor, or are simply an interested
non-affiliated student, you will find passionate people working
to create art and tell stories on stage. We invite you to
join us at this link.
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.
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
cave in Kansas.
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.
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.
Inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of
Wrath, Octavio Solis’s provocative drama Mother
Road finds a hardworking surviving member of the Joad
family seeking kin to inherit the family farm. The Department of
Theatre and Dance presents this “sequel” to the American classic
as the opening production of the 2026-2027 season. The production
opens Nov. 19 in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
Performances will be Nov. 19-21 and Dec. 3-4 at 7 p.m. with 2
p.m. matinees on Nov. 21 and Dec. 5. Tickets go on sale in early
October 2026.
