2025 – 2026 Production Season

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Special Event!

Towards a Queer Future: A Symposium on Queer Performance

Friday, September 26, 2025
12pm – 6pm, Schedule of Events TBA

UMBC and The Voxel (9 West 25th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218)

Organized by Professor Nigel Semaj

About the Event:

“Towards a Queer Future: A Symposium on Queer Performance” is an event in connection with Nigel Semaj’s production of their play, Call Me By Any Other Name… Just As Sweet at The Voxel. It provides a platform for queer artists, scholars, and community members to explore queer art, culture, and the queering of performance texts, such as classical and canonical works.

The symposium will feature performances, panels, workshops, and guest lectures, fostering collaboration between UMBC and Baltimore’s queer creative community. By engaging students and professionals, it promotes interdisciplinary discourse at the intersection of education, art, and activism, reinforcing UMBC’s commitment to inclusivity, creativity, and academic rigor.

This event is partially subsidized by the Arts+ Initiative, CAHSS, and CIRCA.

Fall 2025 Productions

Shakespeare in Harlem

By Langston Hughes
Adapted and Directed by Gerrad Alex Taylor

A co-production of UMBC Theatre and Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and The Black Classical Acting Ensemble.

UMBC Proscenium Theatre

October 30 – November 9, 2025

Tickets Available Here! (TBA)

Chesapeake Shakespeare Company

7 South Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
January 15 – 18, 2026

Tickets Available Here! (TBA)

About the Show:

The year 2025 marks the centennial of the Harlem Renaissance, perhaps the largest cultural and artistic American movement of the 20th century. In celebration, the Department of Theatre will amplify the work of Black and African American theatre-makers and our engagement with the Baltimore theatre community by mounting an adaptation of “Shakespeare in Harlem” by Langston Hughes.

The production process will include a UMBC residency of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s Black Classical Acting Ensemble in the Fall of 2025, culminating in a two-week run of the play performed by a cast of professionals and students. In Winter 2026, the play will be remounted for a week’s run at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s downtown home on South Calvert Street.

Content Disclosure:

This play contains racially and sexually charged language, including derogatory and offensive language. Staged violence, including the use of a prop gun, and references to drinking. This play deals with themes of racism, sexism, death, poverty, and displacement.

Performances at UMBC:
Performances at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company:
  • Thursday, January 15, 2026, 7:30 PM
  • Friday, January 16, 2026, 8:00 PM
  • Saturday, January 17, 2026, 8:00 PM
  • Sunday, January 18, 2026, 2:00 PM

This event is partially subsidized by the Arts+ Initiative and CAHSS.

 

Street Scenes

Text by Langston Hughes and his contemporaries
Music by Kurt Weill and others
Adapted and Directed by Eve Muson
Musical Direction by Andrew Hann

UMBC Black Box Theatre

December 5 – 7, 2025

Tickets Available Here! (TBA)

About the Show:

Street Scenes weaves together scenes and songs from Langston Hughes, his contemporaries, and artistic descendents —playwrights who, like Hughes, explored the promises and failures of the American Dream. Their works pulse with young characters fighting barriers of class, faith, work, and identity, all bound by a shared mission: honoring the dignity of everyday people.

A fully musical production, Muson’s adaptation includes text and songs from Kurt Weill, Arthur Miller, Lillian Helman, Clifford Odets, Lorrainne Hansberry, August Wilson, and other 20th century artists.

Content Disclosure:

This play contains small acts of aggression, brief acts of intimacy (kissing both romantic and aggressive).

Performances at UMBC:

Spring 2026 Productions

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Adapted by Jacqueline E. Lawton
Directed by Joseph W. Ritsch

UMBC Proscenium Theatre

April 2 – 12, 2026

Tickets Available Here! (TBA)

About the Show:

Life in modern day Baltimore has been a bit boring for Dorothy and her little dog Toto. Until one day, a cyclone swoops in and takes them “over the rainbow” to the wonderful and magical land of Oz. With the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy sets off on the adventure of a lifetime down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. These new friends brave witches, flying monkeys, and a Haunted Forest all to meet the Wizard of Oz, who promises to make their dreams come true.

Our production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz marks UMBC Theatre’s first venture into creating work specifically for family and school audiences. While still in the planning stages, we aim to build on our partnership with Everyman Theatre Company’s Education Department, drawing upon the expertise and resources of its artists and educators.

Content Disclosure:

TBA

Performances at UMBC:

This event is partially subsidized by the Arts+ Initiative and CAHSS.

 

User Agreement

By Ben Holbrook
Directed by Sean DiGiorgio (TS ’26)

UMBC Black Box Theatre

May 1 – 3, 2026

Tickets Available Here! (TBA)

About the Show:

Set in the near future, Sy and Theo attempt to navigate their bond in a world enhanced by the wonders of artificial intelligence and the occasional talking octopus. Their budding romance is tested by an increasingly complex society driven by technology and capital, asking us to wonder if two simple souls can truly connect.

Content Disclosure:

TBA

Performances at UMBC:

This event is partially subsidized by the Arts+ Initiative and CAHSS.

Please Note:

UMBC Theatre events are open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University’s nondiscrimination policy.

All Poster Artwork by Eric Abele.