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Surrealism and slapstick, the beautiful and the bittersweet— the 2023-2024 UMass Theater season encompasses what’s thrilling about live theater. Join us as we explore what it means to make a family (with a little help from a magical house) and contemplate political farce with a leading lady who makes Lucy Ricardo look sedate. Take a seat in the audience as a brilliant scientist dissects the ‘love vs career’ dichotomy and delight in a classic comedy of unrequited love and mistaken identity. And mark the end of the season with a festival that illuminates what the next generation of theater-makers has in store for us.

THE HATMAKER'S WIFE
by Lauren Yee
directed by Gina Kaufmann
The Curtain Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
Oct. 27 & 28, Nov. 1, 2, 3, & 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee Nov. 4 at 2 p.m.
In Lauren Yee’s whimsical comedy with a heart, a lost young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting to find domestic bliss — but before she does, she must contend with her magical new home. We learn the tale of the house’s previous inhabitants, an old hat-maker and his long-suffering wife, in a surreal journey between past and present, examining the important stuff of life: identity, love, belonging, and the meaning of home.

Runtime approx. 95 minutes without intermission
Appropriate for all audiences

THEY WON'T PAY? WE WON'T PAY!
by Dario Fo
English translation by Jon Laskin and Michael Aquilante
directed by Behnam Alibakhshi
The Rand Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
Dec. 1, 2, 6, 7 & 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee Dec. 2 at 2 p.m.
The price of food rises astronomically every day, so what's a working-class person to do? Join up with your neighbors and loot the local grocery store, of course! Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo—Italy's premiere purveyor of social commentary and political farce—spins a relatable situation into an absurdly funny tale as wily Antonia and her friend Margherita cover their criminal tracks in a series of subterfuges including a baby transplant, a casket put to creative use, and a teetering tower of increasingly improbable lies.

Runtime approx. 2 hours with intermission
Recommended for audiences age 12 and up

EMILIE: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight
by Lauren Gunderson
directed by Iris Sowlat
The Curtain Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
March 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 & 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee March 9 at 2 p.m.
Most people, if they know her at all, recognize Emilie, La Marquise du Châtelet, as Voltaire’s lover. She was also a brilliant scientist who contributed to our understanding of physics. Eighteenth-century France was even more hostile than our society to women who “want it all,” and on the eve of her death from childbirth, Emilie tracks "love vs. science" on a scoreboard to see which dominated her life more. Lauren Gunderson’s thoughtful, wistful play invites us along as this charismatic, daring intellectual investigates her life choices.

Runtime approx. 2 hours with intermission
Recommended for audiences age 16 and up; discussion and depiction of death in childbirth, romantic relationships

TWELFTH NIGHT
by William Shakespeare
directed by Milan Dragicevich
The Rand Theater, Bromery Center for the Arts
April 26 & 27, May 2, 3 & 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Matinee May 4 at 2 p.m.
Student matinee May 1 at 10 a.m.
Lovers find one another as mistaken identities abound, lost bonds are magically restored, boisterous passions are exhausted, and the swirling music plays on and on and on. Shakespeare’s comedy is full of whimsy and wordplay, humor both clever and crass, and larger-than-life characters who are complex, human, and intimate. We invite you to join us for the Elizabethan festival of epiphany, when the world is turned upside down in a long night of revelry that takes players and audience alike on a journey through the heights and depths of the human emotional experience. 

Runtime approx. 2 & 1/2 hours with intermission
Recommended for audiences age 12 and up; some raucous humor and gags

FRINGE FEST ’24 
Event details to be announced in Spring 2024
We are thrilled to close our season with our third annual explosion of our students’ creativity, skills and (sometimes wild) imaginations. During Fringe Fest, we turn our spaces over to them to produce sparkling new plays, delightful takes on established work, and pieces that test the boundaries of theater. All work is free and open to the public and will be announced in Spring 2024 — join us in celebrating this exciting generation of theater artists!

Tickets:
$17 — general admission
$5 — for students, youth, and senior patrons, as well as Card to Culture

Tickets for all events EXCEPT Fringe on sale through the UMass Fine Arts Center Box Office (call 1-800-999-UMAS or visit the website).
Season and group discounts are also available through the Fine Arts Center Box Office.
The UMass Department of Theater is pleased to participate in the Card to Culture program. For details, please visit our Card to Culture page.

Fringe Fest ’24 events are free, and reservation details will be shared by organizers as events are announced in spring 2024.
UMass Theater follows UMass Amherst cancellation policies; please visit our website for details regarding donation, refund, or ticket exchange in case of cancellation.