Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media

Drowning Ophelia

Written by Rachel Luann Strayer. Directed by Chance Sabados.

March 21 - 12:00 p.m.
March 22 - 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
John. J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, Tache Arts Centre

FREE admission

Jane doesn’t know what to do with the literary character who has taken up residence in her bathtub, interrupting her carefully planned fantasy dates with an actor named Edmund, and bringing up memories of a brother she would rather forget. In this dark comedy, it becomes clear that Ophelia is not simply a character from Hamlet, but a long-forgotten messenger with a question from Jane’s own troubled past. A love letter to those who have suffered the long-term consequences of childhood abuse. Content warning: Drowning Ophelia deals with sensitive topics such as incest and childhood abuse.

Masks are mandatory as per UM rules. Unmasked actors will perform 5 metres from a masked audience.

An Indigenous Play

Written and directed by Jules Ross.

March 28 - 12:00 p.m.
March 29 - 12:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
John. J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, Tache Arts Centre

FREE admission

Explore the baggage that comes with being an Indigenous artist. How do people react to non-traditional Indigenous art? Are land acknowledgments doing what we think they are? Dakota is having her first art show, but is it what everyone expects of her? After navigating troubles at work, troubles at home and one crazy uncle, the Indigenous art show must go on.

Masks are mandatory as per UM rules. Unmasked actors will perform 5 metres from a masked audience.

Scorched

By Wajdi Mouawad. Directed by Dr. William Kerr.

MARCH 2-11, 2023
John J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall, UM Fort Garry campus

The winter 2023 mainstage production is the modern classic Scorched. Follow twins Janine and Simon on their harrowing journey to fulfill the last wishes of their mother and discover the tragic truth about their family history. Content warning: This play explores issues of violence, incest and rape in the context of war.

In this production, students from all levels of the theatre program work together demonstrating their course-learned skills both onstage and backstage.

Read the review on UM Today

Certain Concealments: Poe, Hawthorne, and Early Nineteeth Century Abortion

By Dr. Dana Medoro

Congratulations to Dr. Dana Medoro on the publication of her latest book.

Antebellum America saw a great upsurge in abortion, driven in part by the rise of the pharmaceutical industry. Unsurprisingly, the practice became increasingly visible in the popular culture and literature of the era, appearing openly in advertisements, popular fiction, and newspaper reports. The author demonstrates that the work of Poe and Hawthorne can be usefully read in the context of debates on fetal life and personhood that circulated in the era.

Buy the book

Seeds

By Annabel Soutar. Directed by Dr. Katrina Dunn.

NOVEMBER 18-26, 2022

The fall 2022 mainstage production of the UM Theatre Program was Seeds, a gripping portrait of farming and scientific communities in conflict. Created through verbatim theatre techniques, it documents the 2004 Supreme Court of Canada showdown between Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser and biotech multinational Monsanto Inc., when a single farmer stood up to international agribusiness and almost won. 

Read the review on UM Today