Past Productions
Vanderbilt University Theatre has a long and established tradition of producing classical and contemporary works that fulfill Aristotle's greatest charge: "To teach and to entertain." Listed below are the mainstage productions that Vanderbilt University Theatre has presented over the course of its storied history. Pictures of VUT's most recent productions can be found by following the links. Enjoy!
2019-2020 Season
- Bowling for Beginners by Diana Grisanti
- Unfinished Business: A Series of Works in Progress
Lipstick Lobotomy by Krista Knight
Love/Stories First Year Showcase by Itamar Moses
Don't Go devised by Sojourn Theatre and members of VUTheatre - Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, a New Version by Annie Baker
2018-2019 Season
- The Language Archive by Julia Cho
- Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
- The Suppliants Inspired by Aeschylus & Translated by Seth Bernardette
2017-2018 Season
- Kid-Simple: A Radio Play in the Flesh by Jordan Harrison
-
Six Characters in Search of an Author Adapted by Stephen Moulds
from the play by Luigi Pirandello - Orlando by Sarah Ruhl
- Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw
2016-2017 Season
- Othello by William Shakespeare
- A Shayna Maidel by Barbara Lebow
- Gnit by Will Eno
- Senior Showcase 2017
This Quintessence of Dust
The Ballad of 423 and 424
The Wedding Guest - Cabaret Vanderbilt: Gender Play
2015-2016 Season
- Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman
-
City of Songs by Brian Granger, Fred Coe Artist in Residence
& VUTheatre Ensemble -
How to End Poverty in 90 Minutes
Created by Michael Rohd in collaboration with Sojourn Theatre
Local material devised by Vanderbilt student cast - The Misanthrope by Moliere
2014-2015 Season
- Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare
- Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
-
The Beaux Stratagem by George Farquhar
Adapted by Thornton Wilder and Ken Ludwig - A Night of One Act Plays by Tennessee Williams
2013-2014 Season
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
- The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein
- Passing Through - Showcase 2017
- The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan
- The Festival of New Works
- How to Build a Forest by PearlDamour + Shawn Hall
- The 2nd Annual 24-Hour Production
- Cabaret Vanderbilt
- S**t We Don't Say
- Nothing Bad Is Going To Happen
2012-2013 Season
- Dead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl
- The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
- Showcase 2015
- The Good Person of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht
- W;t by Margaret Edson
2011-2012 Season
- The Green Bird by Carlo Gozzi
- Three Secrets - Showcase 2015
- The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman
- The Liar by David Ives from the play by Pierre Corneille
2010-2011 Season
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Adapted by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan
- Butterflies are Free by Leornard Gershe
- The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin
2009-2010 Season
- The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
- The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh
- The Seagull by Anton Chekov
- In a Dark Dark House by Neil LaBute
2008-2009 Season
- Our Town by Thornton Wilder
- RolePlay by Alan Ayckbourn
- The Country Wife by William Wycherley
- Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon
2007-2008 Season
- Keely and Du by Jane Martin
- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
- The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown
- Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw
2006-2007 Season
- The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute
- Wit’s End (an adaptation of Lope deVega’s The Lady Simpleton (La dama boba) by Edward H. Friedman
- The Playboy of the Western World by John M. Synge
- Odysseus by John Barton
2005-2006 Season
- The Man Who Came to Dinner by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
- Getting Out by Marsha Norman
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- dramablog: an exploration of the personal and political
2004-2005 Season
- Iphigenia by Euripides
- Company by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
- The Barber of Seville by Beaumarchais
- Handing Down the Names by Steven Dietz
2003-2004 Season
- As You Like It by William Shakespeare
- Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn
- The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht
- Hay Fever by Noel Coward
2002-2003 Season
- A Dybbuk by Tony Kushner
- Racing Demon by David Hare
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Musical
- Two Rooms by Lee Blessing
2001-2002 Season
- The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
- Lebensraum by Israel Horowitz
- The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman
- Assassins by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman
2000-2001 Season
- Henry IV, Part One by William Shakespeare
- Talking With... by Jane Martin
- The Bacchae by Euripides
- A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen
1999-2000 Season
- Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
- Desdemona by Paula Vogel
- Godspell by Stephen Schwartz
- The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1998-1999 Season
- Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches by Tony Kushner
- Three Tall Women by Edward Albee
- Private Eyes by Steven Dietz
- ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore by John Ford
1997-1998 Season
- Candida by George Bernard Shaw
- Speed the Plow by David Mamet
- Puss-in-Boots by Ludwig Tieck
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
1996-1997 Season
- The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker
- Eleemosynary by Lee Blessing
- The Skin of Our Teeth by Thorton Wilder
- The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais
1995-1996 Season
- Reckless by Craig Lucas
- The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
- All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
- What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton
1994-1995 Season
- The King’s Stag by Carlo Gozzi
- The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
- Lips Together, Teeth Apart by Terrence McNally
- The Man of Mode by Sir George Etherege
1993-1994 Season
- Buried Child by Sam Shepard
- Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
- Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams
- Henceforward… by Alan Ayckbourn
1992-1993 Season
- Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov
- Fuenteovejuna by Lope deVega
- The Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman
- Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker
1991-1992 Season
- The Admirable Crichton by J.M. Barrie
- The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
- Bloody Poetry by Howard Brenton
- Antigone by Sophocles
1990-1991 Season
- Scapin by Moliere
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
- Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
- Man and Superman by George Bernard Shaw
1989-1990 Season
- All My Sons by Arthur Miller
- Quilters by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek
- Camille by Pam Gems
- Sand Mountain by Romulus Linney
1988-1989 Season
- Ring around the Moon by Jean Anouihl
- On the Verge by Eric Overmeyer
- A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
1987-1988 Season
- Crime and Punishment by Alan Brown (from Feodor Dostoevsky)
- When You Coming Back, Red Rider? By Mark Medoff
- The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere
- Betrayal by Harold Pinter
1986-1987 Season
- Ah, Wilderness! By Eugene O’Neill
- Getting Out by Marsha Norman
- Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare
- Translations by Brian Friel
1985-1986 Season
- The Robber Bridegroom by Alfred Uhry, Robert Waldman, and Eudora Welty
- Fool for Love by Sam Shepard
- She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
- The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
1984-1985 Season
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum by Stephen Sondheim
- A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
- Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
- Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
1983-1984 Season
- The Birds by Aristophanes
- The Dining Room by A.R. Gurney
- Lady Windemere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
- Fiddler’s Rock by Frank Wittow
1982-1983 Season
- The Learned Ladies by Moliere
- Something Unspoken and The Lady of Larkspur Lotion by Tennessee Williams
- Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
- The Leader and The Lesson by Eugene Ionesco
- The Secret Affairs of Myldred Wild by Paul Zindel
- Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
1981-1982 Season
- The Death of Bessie Smith by Edward Albee
- Endgame and Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett
- Hot L Baltimore by Lanford Wilson
- Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein
1980-1981 Season
- Hay Fever by Noel Coward
- A Separate Peace and The Rook by Tom Stoppard
- The Good Woman of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht
- A Month in the Country by Ivan Turgenev
- The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1979-1980 Season
- The Real Inspector Hound by Tom Stoppard
- A Marriage Proposal and Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- The Freedom of the City by Brian Friel
- Oh, What a Lovely War! by Joan Littlewood
1978-1979 Season
- Little Mary Sunshine by Rick Besoyan
- I Am a Camera by John van Druten (from Christopher Isherwood)
- As You Like It by William Shakespeare
1977-1978 Season
- The Good Doctor by Neil Simon
- A Cry of Players by William Gibson
- Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
- Misalliance by George Bernard Shaw
1976-1977 Season
- A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
- Macbett by Eugene Ionesco
- The Beaux Strategem by George Farquhar
- A Flea in Her Ear by Georges Feydeau
1975-1976 Season
- Picnic on the Battlefield and Guernica by Fernando Arrabal
- The Show-Off by George Kelly
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
1974-1975 Season
- Little Murders by Jules Feiffer
- Godspell by Stephen Schwartz
- The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen
- Richard II by William Shakespeare
- Philemon by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
1973-1974 Season
- Thurber Carnival by James Thurber
- The Resistible Rise Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht
- U.S.A. by Paul Shyre and John Das Passos
- Hostage by Brendan Behan
1972-1973 Season
- Fireman’s Flame by Richard Lewine, Ted Fetter, and John Van Antwerp
- Look Homeward, Angel by Ketti Frings (from Thomas Wolfe)
- The School for Wives by Moliere
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
1971-1972 Season
- The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
- Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer
- The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse
- The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1970-1971 Season
- Picnic on the Battlefield by Fernando Arrabal
- A Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare
- Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
- The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
1969-1970 Season
- Exit the King by Eugene Ionesco
- Trumpets and Drums by Bertolt Brecht
- Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia Lorca
- Henry IV, Part One by William Shakespeare
1968-1969 Season
- The Alchemist by Ben Jonson
- Cavern by Jean Anouilh
- Eh? By Henry Livings
- Marat/Sade by PeterWeiss
- Candida by George Bernard Shaw
1967-1968 Season
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- Gallows Humor by Jack Richardson
- Electra by Sophocles
- The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar
1966-1967 Season
- The Late George Apley by John P. Marquand and George S. Kaufman
- The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey
1965-1966 Season
- Rashomon by Fay and Michael Kanin
- Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello
- Judith by Jean Giraudoux
- She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
1964-1965 Season
- The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg
- The Lady’s Not for Burning by Christopher Fry
- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
- Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
- The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere
1963-1964 Season
- Waltz of the Toreadors by Jean Anouilh
- The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol
- The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
- Next Time I’ll Sing to You by James Saunders
- Lysistrata by Aristophanes
1961-1962 Season
- The Male Animal by James Thurber
- Founders Capers by Babbitt
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
- The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Frank Hackett
1960-1961 Season
- I Choose to Die by Cheney
- The Heiress by Augustus Goetz
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- Ring around the Moon by Jean Anouilh
1959-1960 Season
- Androcles and the Lion by George Bernard Shaw
- Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
- The Teahouse of the August Moon by John Patrick
- Bury the Dead by George Bernard Shaw
1958-1959 Season
- Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey
- The Silver Cord by Sidney Howard
- R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Karel Capek
- The Love of Four Colonies by Ustinov
1957-1958 Season
- Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
- The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca
- The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge
- The Miser by Moliere
Records of productions prior to the 1957-1958 season are unclear. Vanderbilt University Theatre at this time often produced plays in conjunction with other organizations and lent its theatre out to local troupes. It is difficult to discern at this point which of the plays listed below were produced as Vanderbilt University Theatre mainstages, as co-productions between Vanderbilt University Theatre and another organization, and as performances by outside groups presented in Neely Auditorium. Some shows may also appear on a Vanderbilt director's resume but without any direct reference to Vanderbilt University Theatre. We will be going through old programs, yearbooks, and office documents in the future to clarify these records. Thank you for your patience.
1956-1957 Season
- Plain and Fancy by Joseph Stein, Will Glickman, Arnold B. Horwitt, and Albert Hague -- July, 1956
- Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett -- August, 1956
- A View From the Bridge and A Memory of Two Mondays by Arthur Miller -- September, 1956
- Bus Stop by William Inge -- October, 1956
- Damn Yankees by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop -- November, 1956
- A Hatful of Rain by Michael Vincente Gazzo -- December, 1956
- Arabella by Richard Strauss -- January, 1957
- Madam. Will You Walk by Sidney Howard -- February, 1957
- The Lark by Jean Anouilh -- March, 1957
- Time Limit! by Henry Denker & Ralph Berkey -- April, 1957
- The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas Home -- May, 1957
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams -- June, 1957
1955-1956 Season
- King of Hearts by Jean Kerr & Eleanor Brooke -- July, 1955
- All Summer Long by Robert Anderson -- August, 1955
- The Pajama Game by George Abbott and Richard Bissell -- September, 1955
- Porgy by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward -- October, 1955
- The Perfect Gentleman by W. Somerset Maugham -- November, 1955
- Bad Seed by Maxwell Anderson -- December, 1955
- Cosi' Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart -- January, 1956
- The Tender Trap by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith -- February, 1956
- The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash -- March, 1956
- The Solid Gold Cadillac by Howard Teichmann and George S. Kaufman -- April, 1956
- Anasstasia by Marcelle Maurette -- May, 1956
- The Reclining Figure by Harry Kuurnitz -- June, 1956
1954-1955 Season
- Camino Real by Tennessee Williams -- August, 1954
- Tea and Sympathy by Robert Anderson -- September, 1954
- The Little Hut by Andre Roussin and Nancy Mitforct -- October, 1954
- Sabrina Fair by Samuel Taylor -- November, 1954
- Ondine by Jean Giraudoux and Maurice Valency -- December, 1954
- Anniversary Waltz by Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields -- February, 1955
- Dial "M" for Murder by Frederick Knott -- March,1955
- The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker by Liam O’Brien -- April, 1955
- The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams -- May, 1955
- The Teahouse of the August Moon by John Patrick -- June, 1955
1953-1954 Season
- The Deep Blue Sea by Terence Rattigan -- July, 1953
- See the Jaguar by N. Richard Nash -- August, 1953
- Misalliance by G. Bernard Shaw -- September, 1953
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller -- October, 1953
- The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents -- November, 1953
- La Boheme by Giacomo -- December, 1953
- Bernardine by Mary Chase -- March, 1954
- Picnic by William Inge -- April, 1954
- The Climate of Eden by Moss Hart -- May, 1954
- The Seven Year Itch by George Axelrod -- June, 1954
1952-1953 Season
- The Moon Is Blue by F. Hugh Herbert -- June, 1952
- Gigi by Anita Loose and Colette -- July, 1952
- Brigadoon by Alan Jay Lerner -- August, 1952
- The Grass Harp by Truman Capote -- September, 1952
- Barefoot In Athens by Maxwell Anderson -- October, 1952
- Stalag 17 by Donald Bevon and Edmund Trzcinski -- February, 1953
- Point of No Return by Paul Osbosrn -- March, 1953
- Darkness at Noon by Sidney Kingsley -- April, 1953
- The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman -- May, 1953
- My Darlin' Aida by Charles Friedman -- June, 1953
1951-1952 Season
- The Autumn Garden by Lillian Hellman -- September, 1951
- Billy Budd by The Princeton University Press -- February, 1952
- The House of Bernarda Alba by Frederico Garcia Lorca -- March, 1952
- Don Juan in Hell by George Bernard Shaw -- April, 1952
- The Country Girl by Clifford Octets -- May, 1952
- Bell, Book and Candle by John van Druten -- June, 1952
1950-1951 Season
- Deirdre of the Sorrows by J. M. Synge -- August, 1950
- The Leading Lady by Ruth Gordon -- February, 1950
- Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep by Elaine Ryan -- July, 1950
- Caesar and Cleopatra by Bernard Shaw -- September, 1950
- The Enchanted by Jean Girauctoux -- October, 1950
- Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge -- November, 1950
- Lost In The Stars by Maxwell Anderson -- December, 1950
- The Innocents by William Archibald -- January, 1951
1949-1950 Season
- Present Laughter by Noel Coward -- August, 1949
- Edward, My Son by Robert Morley & Noel Langley -- September, 1949
- Light up the Sky by Moss Hart -- October, 1949
- The Madwoman of Chaillot by Jean Giraudoux and Maurice Valency -- November, 1949
- Two Blind Mice by Samuel Spewack -- December, 1949
- The Biggest Thief in Town by Dalton Trumbo -- January, 1950
- Yes, M' Lord by William Douglas Home -- April, 1950
- The Closing Door by Alexander Knox -- May, 1950
- That Lady by Kate O'Brien -- June, 1950
1948-1949 Season
- The Play's The Thing by Ferenc Molnar and P. G. Wodehouse -- March, 1949
- An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley -- April, 1949
- The Young and Fair by N. Richard Nash -- May, 1949
- Anne of the Thousand Days by Maxwell Anderson -- June, 1949