2017/18 Season

An Octoroon


Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a provocative new voice in American theatre, brings a radical, incendiary and subversively funny riff on Dion Boucicault’s once-popular 1859 mustache-twirling melodrama.…

Twelfth Night


Shakespeare’s enduring romantic comedy unleashes Saturnalian energies by turning logic and expectation on its head with a tale of mistaken identities and unrequited affection. Shipwrecked…

Passion Play


Three different acting troupes rehearse the annual Passion Play at three key moments in history: 1575 Northern England, just before Queen Elizabeth outlaws the ritual;…

Punk Rock


In a private school outside of Manchester, England, a group of highly-articulate 17-year-olds flirt and posture their way through the day while preparing for their…

Trojan Barbie


Part contemporary drama, part homage to Euripides’ Trojan Women, Trojan Barbie recasts the legendary fall of the city of Troy against the vivid reality of…

Wild Honey


A village schoolmaster has it all: wit, intelligence, a comfortable and respectable life in provincial Russia, and the attentions of four beautiful women (including his…

Circle Mirror Transformation


An unlikely collection of strangers sign up for an acting class at the local community center. As they begin to experiment with harmless games, their…

The Wild Party


Vaudeville siren Queenie has grown tired and resentful of her relationship with Burrs, a clown. To test its limits, Queenie throws the wildest party New…

Eurydice


Ruhl’s Eurydice is a lush and wildly imaginative retelling of the classic myth of Orpheus, told through the eyes of its heroine. Dying too young…

The Matchmaker


Wealthy Horace Vandergelder gets more than he bargains for when he hires legendary matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi to find his perfect mate. Wilder’s hilarious farce…

Buenaza/Cabrón


A business in ruins. A woman disappeared. A mysterious relative. Created by the company, Buenaza/Cabrón follows two reporters who chase down a story of goodness,…

A Bright Room Called Day

A Bright Room Called Day (Revisited)


Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner revisits his play which deals simultaneously with the collapse of democracy in the last year of the Weimar Republic, the…

Macbeth


Shakespeare’s bloody psychological thriller about a fearless warrior tempted by a prophecy, and encouraged by his wife into his own all-consuming ambition. Filled with some…

Great Expectations


Dickens’ classic work of orphan Pip and his journey from poverty and ignominy to safety and respectability is brought to vivid life in this adaptation…

The Labyrinth of Desire


When Florela’s fiancé leaves her to compete with other suitors for the hand of the rich and beautiful Laura, Florela goes undercover to keep her…

West Side Story


From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story is a poignant, provocative, and emotionally powerful musical that transports William Shakespeare’s Romeo and…

New Works Festival Year 2


NWF Year Two showcases the emerging voices of the School’s second-year MFA in Dramatic Writing students with workshop productions featuring professional directors and dramaturges, and…

Don’t Go


7 USC students 7 Los Angeles strangers Meet for the very first time. Live. On stage. In front of an audience. Together these strangers might…

Love's Labor's Lost

Love’s Labour’s Lost


The King of Navarre and three of his courtiers solemnly forswear all pleasures in favor of serious study. But the instant they take that vow,…

New Works Festival Year 1


The first public readings of exciting new works by the School of Dramatic Arts’ first-year MFA Dramatic Writing students. More Information

New Works Festival Year 3


The thesis plays of the graduating MFA in Dramatic Writing cohort are presented as concert readings with professional actors and directors. NWF Year Three is…