NIU Today

The NIU School of Theatre and Dance’s Third Onion project will present the world premiere of the play, “Penny” – “a love story that no words could tell,” says its author, Nico Fernandez. Fernandez, a BFA in acting candidate at NIU, is enthusiastic about performing his play. “This is a project that has been with me...

The Third Onion, a student-initiated and produced performance program of Northern Illinois University’s School of Theatre and Dance, will premiere an original play, “The Porno Factory.” Performances are scheduled at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, and Saturday, March 28, in Holmes Student Center Diversions Lounge Theatre. The play stars its author, NIU writing instructor Loren...

“Wickedly funny and intensely dark,” is how director Kay Martinovich describes the upcoming Northern Illinois University School of Theatre and Dance production of Martin McDonagh’s “A Skull in Connemara,” opening Thursday, Jan. 29. Faculty member Martinovich is well-suited to direct a play by an Irish playwright, as she has spent the majority of her professional...

Ready for a bit of musical theater insanity? The Tony Award-winning musical by Peter Weiss, “Marat/Sade,” which opens Thursday, Oct. 23, presents the story of inmates in a lunatic asylum who want to present a play about an assassination. Several years after the end of the French Revolution, the inmates of the lunatic asylum of...

The NIU School of Theatre and Dance will perform playwright Jean Anouilh’s “Antigone” as the first production of its 2014-2015 Studio Series of plays. Directed by Patricia Skarbinski, “Antigone” is an adaption of the classic Sophocles play that shares its name. It opens Thursday, Oct. 16, on the NIU DeKalb campus. Sophocles’ “Antigone” is a...

Charlotte Kate Fox, who just graduated last year from the NIU School of Theatre and Dance with a master’s degree in fine arts, is already making a mark in the acting world. The 28-year-old New Mexico native will star in a morning serial drama in Japan and has already performed in a number of professional...

Presenting its final production of their 2012-2013 Studio Series, the NIU School of Theatre of Dance will stage the one-act farce, “The Real Inspector Hound,” by Tom Stoppard, opening April 18. Stoppard’s classic play takes satirical aim at several conventions of live theater. “The Real Inspector Hound” opens to an apparent play-within-a-play, quickly becomes a...

It can be challenging to describe human emotion in words, but David Schulner’s play, “An Infinite Ache,” follows the long-term relationship of one couple in an attempt to make a larger statement about love. The NIU School of Theatre and Dance-sponsored The Third Onion will present “An Infinite Ache” from Friday, Nov. 16, through Sunday,...

Simply waiting for something can be tedious. The premise of the next theatrical production of the NIU School of Theatre and Dance is that waiting for something can also be all about facing the unknown. Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” runs from Wednesday, Oct. 31, through Sunday, Nov. 4, in the Stevens Building Corner Theatre...

Within the world of NIU’s next theater production, casual drinking and storytelling turn into a night of haunting revelations. The School of Theatre and Dance will present “The Weir,” a poignant play by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. Beginning Thursday, Feb. 2, “The Weir” will be performed in the Stevens Building Players Theatre on the DeKalb...

Two graduates of NIU’s well-known MFA program in acting have been nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award, Chicago’s version of a Tony Award. The “Jeff” Awards, as they are more commonly known, were established in 1968 and “…fosters the artistic growth of area theatres and theatre artists and promotes educational opportunities, audience appreciation, and civic...