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With the above rallying cry, the UMass Amherst Department of Theater embarks on its Rights of Spring festival, a mix of virtual and live, outdoor, socially-distanced events scheduled to take place from April 22 to May 2. What better antidote to the isolation and disconnection of this particular winter than to gather to celebrate who we are and what’s important to us. Join UMass Theater for a series of events meant to inspire, amuse, entertain, and spark hope for what’s to come.

The beauty of festivals, says Professor Judyie Al-Bilali, who conceived the idea for the Rights of Spring, is that they serve as a way for a culture to rehearse, renew and if necessary, revise its core myths — to examine its values such as liberation, community, and heroism. All of the events that make up a festival, collectively, tell a story about the people who participate in it. This festival, coming after a hard year of massive social upheaval, serves as a statement from a culture that’s redefining what’s important.

The festival kicks off with invocation that includes Earth! an outdoor installation celebrating our planetary home and acknowledging the stewardship of the areas’ indigenous peoples. We will present two live outdoor events, Monuments of the Future and Devising a Future Together, created by teams of artists who are responding to the unique times in which we find ourselves with exciting cross-disciplinary work, as well as a virtual event, COVEN-19, that is reimagined for spring after a memorable premiere at the Samhain full moon at Halloween. 

Collectively, these events and the other pieces on the schedule are focused about creating community by any means available — in Zoom rooms, in conversations, through a unified appreciation of beautiful work. They represent a redefining of what we fit under the definition of theater — those aforementioned Zoom rooms, performances created by teams creating from scratch, scenic installations that spread out across the campus, web-based design presentations that encompass beauty, environmental awareness, and the wonder of old-fashioned story-telling.

Events run April 22 to May 2, and include elements presented live in-person and online, as well as pre-recorded online. 

Please see the listing of Festival events as follows, and be sure to check our Festival page as the festival approaches for updates and added events!

In-person events will require advance registration and adherence to UMass COVID protocols for attendance; details will become available as events near.

Event schedule

Earth!
Premiering April 22 outdoors on the UMass campus
Taking pride of place beside the Campus Pond just in time for Earth Day, this striking piece of public, activist art will raise awareness about ways to address climate change. Earth! is a transdisciplinary project between Theater technology and Environmental Conservation and the School of Public Policy students, who have creatively applied technology, science, and art to technically design and fabricate a 24’ diameter planet earth structure that is also a model of sustainability, as the construction materials are meant to be reused in future projects.
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

Devising a Future Together
April 23, 24, & 25 at 3 p.m. outdoors on the UMass campus
The company of Devising a Future Together invites you to experience the culmination of their exploration of what it means to come together in joy and community when safety demands we be physically apart.  Join us for an outdoor theatrical and musical celebration!
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

Monuments of the Future
April 22 outdoors at UMass
April 23, 26, & 29 at noon outdoors on the UMass campus
April 27 & May 2 at 7:30 outdoors on the UMass campus
April 28 at 7 outdoors on the UMass campus
April 30 at 11:30 outdoors on the UMass campus
Seven beings rise up from the earth, Seven symbols move across a campus. Seven spokes on a wheel take us through the never-ending cycle of change. Monuments of the Future is an interactive installation and performance collaboration between theater artists across disciplines. Join them as they journey across our campus and reimagine what it means to create images designed to speak across time. 
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

COVEN-19
Presented online via Zoom April 29 & 30, and May 1 at 7:30 p.m.
COVEN-19 is a community of artistic witches who are called upon to own our individual and collective power, make meaning out of utter chaos, and manifest tangible, seismic change. This spring, the Coven will collectively create a process-driven ritual in honor of Beltane, or May Day. The time is ripe for magick-making!
Registration required through the Fine Arts Center Box Office.

A Gathering of Grandmothers
Presented live online via Zoom May 2 at 4:30 p.m.
Via a mix of recorded and live material, Brown Paper Studio presents a collage of conversations with elder Black women of the Five Colleges and community about the history of New Africa House and the impact of Black culture in the Valley.
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

Also part of our festival:
Studio Showcases
We're thrilled to be showcasing the work that's coming out of some of our classes as part of the Festival. Some projects will be pre-recorded or hosted live on Zoom, while some will be presented in person on the UMass Campus. Here’s what we have so far, but stay tuned for additions and more details as works emerge from the creativity of our students and their faculty mentors!

• Voices from the Void — Voice over students working with professor Elisa Gonzales offer a pre-recorded online presentation of folktales and myths. Premiering online on April 26 at 7:30 p.m.

• The Freedom Artist Project — A cast of 12 performers working with Professors Gilbert McCauley and Paul Dennis, doing excerpts from The Freedom Artist, by Ben Okri. To be performed live on the UMass campus on April 28 at 5 p.m.
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

• Directing II presentations — Projects to be announced showcasing work by students of Professor Gina Kaufmann, to be performed live on the UMass campus on April 30 at 2 p.m. Stay tuned for our play title announcement!
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

• RESPIRATION. — Students working with Professor Judyie Al-Bilali and graduate student Tatiana Rodriguez collaborate to create a performance that mixes live in-person on campus with online elements, on April 27 at 5 p.m.
Advance registration required, details to be announced.

• Podcasting — Professor Amy Altadonna and graduate student Bianca Dillard are guiding students through creating podcasts that capture the experience of creating the festival, exploring its social and theatrical goals, and reflecting on its impact.
Premiering online, date to be announced

From our Graduate student Designers:
The Cunning Little Vixen
Premiering online April 23 at 2 p.m.
Storytelling and sustainability fold into a vivid presentation in costume designer Mikayla Reid's work, as she creates character designs for this vibrant Czech opera while also investigating the viability of natural, more environmentally-friendly dyes.
Made possible in part by a grant from the UMass Arts Council.

Notre Dame de Paris - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame 
Premiering online April 23 at 2 p.m.
Scenic and costume designer Calypso Michelet and lighting designer Sydney Becker use new technologies such as 3D modeling, 3D printing, and laser cutting to bring to life a world that bridges past and present in their vision of the French musical, Notre Dame de Paris.

And we are proudly hosting this year:
WORD!
Presented live online via Zoom on May 1 at 2 p.m.
Through the WORD! Festival professors in the Five Colleges identify and nurture student writers who engage in multicultural themes and aesthetics. Our efforts build community between and among the departments of theater and the communities of color on each respective campus as we take turns hosting this celebration of new work. The playwrights who present their work receive an award of $100 from the Five College James Baldwin Memorial Fund. We are proud and excited to host the 2021 online version of this event as part of our Rights of Spring Festival this year.  
Please register by completing this Google Form.