Boston University School of Theatre Announces Fall 2026 Lineup
Correlating with America's 250th anniversary, BU School of Theatre's 2026 - 2027 season is full of student-directed plays, new works, and stories that invite audiences to experience and investigate the North American theatre landscape
A scene from Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit, a BU School of Theatre Senior Theatre Arts Major Productions (STAMP) play that ran during SOT’s spring 2026 season. Written and devised by Chloe McFarlane (CFA’26) and Amanda E. Reynolds (CFA’26), in collaboration with Patrese D. McClain, Assistant Professor of Acting at BU
Boston University School of Theatre Announces Fall 2026 Lineup
Correlating with America’s 250th anniversary, BU School of Theatre’s 2026 – 2027 season is full of student-directed plays, new works, and stories that invite audiences to experience and investigate the North American theatre landscape
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Theatre is thrilled to announce its upcoming productions for fall 2026. “In commemoration of the United States’ 250th anniversary year, BU School of Theatre’s 2026 – 2027 season celebrates the ‘American Experiment’ of our founders by presenting work by our ‘American geniuses,'” says Kirsten Greenidge, BU School of Theatre Director and Associate Professor of Playwriting.
This season also celebrates the 30th anniversary of a major collaboration between BU School of Theatre and School of Music: Opera Institute—BU’s annual Fringe Festival, whose mission is to produce new or rarely performed significant works in the opera and theatre repertoire. Also in store this fall at BU School of Theatre: evenings of comedic short plays by acclaimed playwright Christopher Durang, the multi-award-winning musical Violet at BU’s Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre, and the classic festival of light and dance, Aurora Borealis, being performed at BU’s Tsai Performance Center for the first time in its 25-year history at BU.
“Our titles this year are all penned by artists who invite their audiences to experience and investigate the North American experience in a variety of styles—from movement in In Motion’s Living Jazz to comedy in a collection of Christopher Durang one acts, to musical theatre in Jeanine Tesori’s and Brian Crawley’s Violet to fantasy and puppetry with Pig Pen Theatre Company’s The Old Man and the Old Moon,” says Greenidge.
“Our season also celebrates the many artistic voices that populate the American Theatre landscape, including the work of Branden Jacob-Jenkins (Everybody), Jihae Park (Peerless), Quiara Allegría Hudes (Water by the Spoonful), and Lorraine Hansberry (The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window). We will also kick off our year with the annual New Works festival during BU Alumni Weekend. Please join us!”
AUGUST
Quarter 0 (Q0) Productions
“Q0” has been a long-standing tradition within BU School of Theatre, although it has occurred less frequently in recent years. The Q0 project is student-produced, directed, and acted. It is typically a play that has already been published (i.e., not student-written). Production elements are minimal to uplift exploration of text and bodies in space.
All tickets free, general admission at the door
SEPTEMBER
2026 BU ALUMNI WEEKEND
NEXT STAGE WORKSHOPS
September 17 – 19, 2026
More information coming soon!
The School of Theatre New Play Initiative presents a series of Next Stage workshops, scenes, and plays. These Next Stage pieces will be directed by our Undergraduate Directors and will flower as the next step in the fruition of these new plays by BU students.
The nature of the presentation and the work is determined by the needs of the play. Curated by Kirsten Greenidge, this “on-its-feet” workshop or play experience focuses on different areas of the writing or specific parts of a project in the process of development.
OCTOBER
2026 FRINGE FESTIVAL
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
October 9 – 11, 2026
Studio ONE • CFA 104
855 Commonwealth Ave
A co-production of BU Opera Institute and BU School of Theatre
Composer • Kurt Weill
Librettist • Bretolt Brecht
Music Director • Matthew Larson
Stage Director • Nathan Troup
Anna I (who sings) and Anna II (who dances) are two facets of one personality. At the behest of her family, they travel to seven different American cities (only six are named) in order to make enough money to build a little house on the banks of the Mississippi. In each city, she/they encounter a different deadly sin, and Anna I (the practical side) rebukes Anna II (the artistic side) for engaging in sinful behavior–that is, behavior which hinders the accumulation of wealth. (Kurt Weill Foundation for Music)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Friday, October 9 • 7:30pm
Saturday, October 10 • 2pm
Saturday, October 10 • 7:30pm
Sunday, October 11 • 2pm
Tickets available soon!
LIVING JAZZ
October 17 & 18, 2026
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
820 Commonwealth Ave
Coordinated by Yo-EL Cassell
Fusing spoken text, voice and a wide variety of theatrical movement approaches with embodied images inspired by the acclaimed anthology, Seeing Jazz created from the Smithsonian Institution, Living Jazz takes place in an abandoned Dance Hall/Jazz Club where the spirits of the afterlife are impressionably present and reconvene to re-activate physical stories/vignettes and remembrances of not only how their former life moved them but how the elements of jazz—rhythm, improvisation and call and response– exist within their livelihood.
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Saturday, October 17 • 7:30pm
Sunday, October 18 • 2pm
All tickets free, general admission at the door
EVERYBODY
October 17 & 18, 2026
David Copeland Blackbox Theatre • CFA 354
855 Commonwealth Ave
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Jake Sung-Guk Sullivan (CFA’27)
A modern riff on the 15th-century morality play Everyman, Everybody follows “Everybody” (chosen from amongst the cast by lottery) as they journey through life’s greatest mystery – the meaning of living. (Concord Theatricals)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Saturday, October 17 • 2pm
Saturday, October 17 • 7:30pm
Sunday, October 18 • 2pm
All tickets free, general admission at the door
2026 FRINGE FESTIVAL
VINKENSPORT
October 23 – 25, 2026
Studio ONE • CFA 104
855 Commonwealth Ave
A co-production of BU Opera Institute and BU School of Theatre
Composer • David T. Little
Librettist • Royce Vavrek
Music Director • Allison Voth
Stage Director • Lauren Lenz
Conductor • Ian Henscheid (CFA’27)
A motley assortment of contestants participate in their annual finch-sitting competition, a Belgian folk competition that pits chaffinches (and their owners) against each other in a battle to see who has the most melodious bird. The contest is run as such: a man waves a flag and each of the competitors sits in front of a box containing one of their fellow contestants’ birds. Every time a bird makes a proper call (a suck-e-wiet, as it’s called in these circles) they receive a tally mark. The bird with the most points wins, bringing much pride to its trainer. Although a seemingly simple and gentle competition, access to the competitor’s inner monologues and flashbacks to their preparations reveal deception, deep-seated rivalries, painful loneliness, and blossoming romance. (Boosey & Hawkes)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Friday, October 23 • 7:30pm
Saturday, October 24 • 2pm
Saturday, October 24 • 7:30pm
Sunday, October 25 • 2pm
Tickets available soon!
HEROES OF THE FOURTH TURNING
October 24 & 25, 2026
“Jewels 1” Juliane Ethel Leilani Miller Studio Theatre • CFA 352
855 Commonwealth Ave
By Will Arbery
Directed by Clay Hopper
On a chilly night in the middle of America, Will Arbery’s haunting play offers grace and disarming clarity, speaking to the heart of a country at war with itself. (Concord Theatricals).
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Saturday, October 24 • 2pm
Saturday, October 24 • 7:30pm
Sunday, October 25 • 2pm
All tickets free, general admission at the door
NOVEMBER
2026 FRINGE FESTIVAL
THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN’S WINDOW
November 5 – 7, 2026
Studio ONE • CFA 104
855 Commonwealth Ave
A co-production of BU Opera Institute and BU School of Theatre
By Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Jasmine Brooks (CFA’18)
Set amidst a stormy political campaign in 1960s Greenwich Village, Lorraine Hansberry’s funny and poignant play examines morality, ethics, interracial relationships, drugs, rebellion, conformity, global responsibility and the fragility of love. (Concord Theatricals)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Thursday, November 5 • 7:30pm
Friday, November 6 • 7:30pm
Saturday, November 7 • 2pm
Saturday, November 7 • 7:30pm
Tickets available soon!
THEATER(RE) BY DURANG: WANDA’S VISIT, MEDEA, PHYLLIS AND XENOBIA, WOMEN IN A PLAYGROUND, THE ACTORS NIGHTMARE AND DIVERSIONS
November 8 – 14, 2026
CFA 105
855 Commonwealth Ave
By Christopher Durang
Directed by Jim Fagan III
An evening of comedic short plays by the acclaimed playwright Christopher Durang.
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Sunday, November 8 • 7:30pm
Thursday, November 12 • 7:30pm
Friday, November 13 • 7:30pm
Saturday, November 14 • 2pm
All tickets free, general admission at the door
VIOLET
November 18 – 22, 2026
Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre
820 Commonwealth Ave
Based on the short story “The Ugly Pilgrim” by Doris Betts
Music • Jeanine Tesori
Book & Lyrics • Brian Crawley
Director • Shira Helena Gitlin (CFA’27)
Music Director • Harry Castle
This multi-award-winning musical follows a scarred woman who embarks on a cross-country bus trip to be healed by a minister… discovering the true meaning of beauty along the way. (Music Theatre International)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Wednesday, November 18 • 7:30pm
Thursday, November 19 • 7:30pm
Friday, November 20 • 7:30pm
Saturday, November 21 • 2pm
Saturday, November 21 • 7:30pm
Sunday, November 22 • 2pm
Tickets available soon!
WATER BY THE SPOONFUL
November 21 & 22, 2026
David Copeland Blackbox Theatre • CFA 354
855 Commonwealth Ave
By Quiara Algería Hudes
Directed by Carla Mirabel
A veteran of the Iraq war struggles to find his place in the world, and somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts – including his mother – keep each other alive, hour by hour, day by day. (Concord Theatricals).
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Saturday, November 21 • 2pm
Saturday, November 21 • 7:30pm
Sunday, November 22 • 2pm
All tickets free, general admission at the door
DECEMBER
PEERLESS
December 3 – 6, 2026
Studio ONE • CFA 104
855 Commonwealth Ave
By Jiehae Park
Directed by Jake Sung-Guk Sullivan (CFA’27)
Asian-American twins M and L have given up everything to get into The College in this darkly comedic take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth about the very ambitious and the cut-throat world of high school during college admissions. (Concord Theatricals)
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Thursday, December 3 • 7:30pm
Friday, December 4 • 7:30pm
Saturday, December 5 • 2pm
Saturday, December 5 • 7:30pm
Sunday, December 6 • 2pm
Tickets available soon!
AURORA BOREALIS: A FESTIVAL OF LIGHT AND DANCE
December 4, 2026 • 7pm and 9pm
Tsai Performance Center
685 Commonwealth Ave
In collaboration with the BU Department of Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance
Curated by Yo-EL Cassell
A classic in itself, Aurora Borealis a vibrant exploration of the relationship between light and form with a focus on collaboration and experimentation, featuring dance and movement pieces by faculty and students and lighting design by graduate students in the School of Theatre Lighting Design Program.
All tickets free, general admission at the door
DIRECTORS’ PROJECT
December 5 – 9, 2026
CFA 106 and “Jewels 1” Juliane Ethel Leilani Miller Studio Theatre (CFA 352)
885 Commonwealth Ave
Coordinated by Clay Hopper & Tasia P. Jones
Participants in Clay Hopper and Tasia P. Jones’s Directors’ Project classes will present their work at the end of the semester (typically these students are junior Theatre Arts Performance and Theatre Arts DP&M students).
SHOW DATES & TIMES
Saturday, December 5 • 10am (CFA 106)
Saturday, December 5 • 2pm (CFA 352)
Sunday, December 6 • 10am (CFA 106)
Sunday, December 6 • 7:30pm (CFA 352)
Tuesday, December 8 • 7:30pm (CFA 106)
Tuesday, December 8 • 7:30pm (CFA 352)
Wednesday, December 9 • 7:30pm (CFA 106)
Wednesday, December 9 • 7:30pm (CFA 352)
All tickets free, general admission at the door
PRODUCTION SEASON
Check back on BU School of Theatre’s 2026-2027 season page for additional show information, tickets, and to dive into past seasons.