School of Theatre, Film & Television

The School of Theatre, Film & Television’s 2021/2022 theatre season, the return of live, in-person performances, will open in October with the Arizona Repertory Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”  

The repertory company (ART), a training program modeled after professional theatre companies, is comprised BFA Acting and Musical Theatre students. The Next Performance Collective is a new initiative from BA Theatre Studies, offering houses outstanding student-devised theatre pieces and works by emerging playwrights. 

“With this season we look forward to amplifying under-represented voices, and to providing students across the School with an opportunity to work on a broad range of classical, contemporary and self-devised work,” says TFTV Director Andy Belser. “The variety of productions truly means that there is something for everyone.”

>> Season subscriptions are on sale now.

The ART productions include Into the Woods, one of Stephen Sondheim’s most popular and enchanting musicals; Three Sisters, the Chekhov classic adapted by one of the leading voices in contemporary theatre, Sarah Ruhl; Living Dead in Denmark, a witty action-adventure/horror sequel to Shakespeare’sHamlet written by Qui Nguyen, along with the rock-and-roll musical High Fidelity.

Next Performance Collective presents Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody – a modern riff on Everyman, one of the oldest plays in the English language. The season concludes with a new event, New Directions Festival, featuring content entirely generated by BA Theatre students.

The season includes some of the most decorated playwrights in recent memory, including two Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners. 

  • James Lapine earned a Tony Award for “Best Book of a Musical’ three times, including for Into the Woods. Both he and David Lindsay-Abaire (High Fidelity) have earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 
  • Both Ruhl and Jacobs-Jenkins are two-time finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and both earned MacArthur Fellowships. Both writers were recognized by the PEN/Laura Pel Theater Award: Ruhl in 2008 as “American Playwright in Mid-Career” and Jacobs-Jenkins in 2016 as “Emerging American Playwright.” 

TFTV announces 2021-22 season

Into the Woods
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine
Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick
Arizona Repertory Theatre Production

Oct. 10 – 24, 2021 | Tornabene Theatre 

James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim take everyone’s favorite storybook characters and bring them together for a timeless yet relevant piece. The Tony Award-winning book and score are both enchanting and touching. One of Sondheim’s most popular works, Into the Woods is a musically sophisticated show that allows actors to flex their dark comedy skills. Designers will especially enjoy highlighting the fantastical elements of this magical world.

INTO THE WOODS is presented through special arrangement with Musical Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 

Three Sisters 
by Anton Chekhov
A New Version by Sarah Ruhl
based on a literal translation by Elise Thoron with Natalya Paramonova, Kristin Johnsen-Neshati
Arizona Repertory Theatre Production
>> Nov. 7 – 21, 2021 | Tornabene Theatre 

Transplanted from their beloved Moscow to a provincial Russian town, three sisters—schoolteacher Olga, unhappily married Masha, idealistic Irina—yearn for the city of their childhood, where they imagine their lives will be transformed and fulfilled. Three Sisters is the portrait of a family grappling with the bittersweet distance between reality and dreams. Discover the humor and heartbreak of one of the world’s greatest plays, lyrically adapted by one of the leading voices in contemporary theatre: two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl.

“Three Sisters (Ruhl)” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. 

Everybody
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Next Performance Collective Production
>> Dec. 3 – 5, 2021 | Tornabene Theatre

Everybody is dying, starting now. But in the meantime, they must account for their life in a public presentation. Can Friendship or Kinship help? Maybe Beauty, Strength, or Mind? Or will these virtues abandon Everybody in their hour of need? Follow a nimble ensemble of actors, cast by lottery at each performance, through this playful allegory on the meaning of life and the mystery of death.

Living Dead in Denmark 
By Qui Nguyen
Arizona Repertory Theatre Production
>> Feb. 27 – March 20, 2022 | Tornabene Theatre

When the dead walk … you run! Living Dead in Denmark is an action-adventure/horror sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set five years after the events of the original, the undead have risen to power and are trying to take over the world, led by the zombie lord and true king of Denmark. Fortinbras, assembling a formidable opposition, has resurrected the corpses of some of the greatest women that Shakespeare had to offer: Lady Macbeth, Juliet, and the very angry Ophelia. A clash of the undead titans ensues! Using Hamlet as a jumping-off point, Qui Nguyen throws in martial arts, horror movies, pop songs, puppetry, and comic books in a hilarious and witty new play.

High Fidelity
Lyrics by Amanda Green Music by Tom Kitt Book by David Lindsay-Abaire
Arizona Repertory Theatre Production
>> April 10 – 24, 2022 | TFTV Outdoor Stage

When Brooklyn record store owner Rob finds himself unexpectedly dumped, his life takes a music-filled turn toward the introspective. Based on the popular novel by Nick Hornby,High Fidelityfollows Rob as he struggles to discover how his relationship went awry, and strives to change his life in order to win back his sweetheart Laura. With memorable characters and a rock-and-roll score, this homage to music geek culture explores love, heartbreak, and the power of the perfect soundtrack.

New Directions Festival 
Next Performance Collective Production
>> April 29 – May 1, 2022 | Tornabene Theatre 

New directions, new voices. Watch an evening of short pieces devised, directed, designed, and performed entirely by students. This is the first in an annual festival of created content generated by students.

Ticket Information

Season subscriptions are on sale now. Subscriptions are available at the Arizona Arts Box Office by phone at 520.621.3341, online at tickets.arizona.edu, or in person beginning Aug. 17, 2021, at 1020 E. University Blvd, inside Centennial Hall on Tuesday – Friday from 12-6p, Saturday 12-5p.

Single tickets will go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, and may be purchased online, by phone at 520.621.3341, or in person at the Arizona Arts Box Office.