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.
Winner of Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Original
Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving
send-up of the Golden Age of the Broadway musical. The
UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance presents the hilarious
musical in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall, with opening night set
for Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present The
Odyssey in Shadow, a large-scale cinematic shadow
theater experience inspired by the ancient epic The
Odyssey. The production will perform at the end of spring
quarter 2026 in the Arena Theatre, Wright Hall.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present Rules of
Play, the spring 2025 dance concert, May 15, 16,
22, and 23 at 7 p.m. and May 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. in the
Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
Featuring nearly 30 dancers, the program is curated by Doria E.
Charlson, visiting professor of theatre and dance, and
showcases new works developed and performed by undergraduate
students.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presents She Kills
Monsters, which explores issues of grief
and bullying through a world of fantasy role-playing games!
Alum Lucas Hatton (M.F.A., dramatic arts, ‘17) returns to direct
the production.
The production performs Nov. 21, 22, 23 and Dec. 5 and 6 at
7 p.m. and Nov. 23 and Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Main Theatre,
Wright Hall.
The Department of Theatre and Dance will present
[RE]Vision, the spring 2023 dance concert, May 31,
June 1 at 7 p.m. and June 2 at 2 p.m. in the Main Theatre,
Wright Hall.
Triggered by a hate crime which brought attention to
the lack of hate crime laws nationwide, The Laramie
Project is a riveting contemporary drama that
challenges the inhabitants of a rural American community.
The Department of Theatre and Dance presents the play Feb. 22,
23, 24, 29 and March 1 at 7 p.m. and March 2 at 2 p.m. in the
Main Theatre, Wright Hall.
William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like
It gets a contemporary gender-fluid update by the UC
Davis Department of Theatre and Dance. Directed by Josy Miller
(Ph.D., performance studies, ’15), the classic opens the
department’s 2023–24 season on Nov. 16, 2023 in the Main Theatre,
Wright Hall.
Main Theatre at Wright Hall, Hutchison Drive, Davis, CA
The third annual Ground and Field Theatre Festival (GFTF), ‘Play
on the Brink,’ spotlights new plays and musicals written by
local, national and international playwrights and composers,
including Broadway veterans. The main performances take place
beginning Sept. 26 on the UC Davis campus and in community
venues. All are free.
This year GFTF offers a preview of the new works and an
opportunity to meet the creative team at the Jan Shrem and Maria
Manetti Shrem Museum of Art on September 12 at 7 p.m.
Tara Brandel, theatre and dance graduate student, will share her
reworking of classic Irish theatre (with apologies) on
Wednesday, June 6. “Go and Come” will be performed in the Della
Davidson Performance Studio in Nelson Hall at 4:30 p.m. The
presentation is free.
According to Brandel, the work in progress is a social experiment
that is post Celtic Tiger, post Celtic revival, post whatever…
The one-act features undergraduate student Rose Kim,
doctoral student Jesse Stokes, and graduate student Justin
Streichman and is devised and directed by Brandel.
The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance will showcase a
series of new student-created work. “Collaborative Stages:
Student New Works Festival” will feature a series of new plays
and dances conceived, created and performed by undergraduate and
graduate students.
Presented in two different programs, “Collaborative Stages” will
feature new plays by undergraduate students Rose Kim and Jordan
Wilson and dances choreographed by undergraduate
students Pratistha Bajracharya and Olivia Schlanger, and
graduate student Lena Polzonetti.
Department of Theatre and Dance presents “WEREWIRE: A Highwire
Sound Installation,” created by doctoral student Ante Ursić. This
collaborative presentation is scheduled for Monday, April 2 at
4:30 p.m. in the Della Davidson Performance Studio in Nelson
Hall. It is free and open to the public.
To Mondavi Center: From I-80 take the UC
Davis/Mondavi Center exit and follow signs.
To Wyatt Pavilion and Nelson Hall Studio:
Proceed as above, continuing on Old Davis Road past the Mondavi
Center to Visitor Parking Lot 5.
To Main Theatre, Arena Theatre, and Laboratory Theatre
A: These three theatres are located in Wright
Hall, a short walk through the Arboretum from Visitor
Parking Lot 5.
