EMU Theatre's Spring 2024 Season

Bonhoeffer: Cell 92

Created by Jerry Holsopple and Justin Poole

The ground-breaking multimedia performance on the life of the celebrated theologian, dissident,

and spy is back.

When: Tuesday, January 9th at 2:00 PM and Friday, January 12th at 7:00 PM

Where: EMU Mainstage Theatre

Tickets: $9 for general admission, $5 for students. Purchase at the Mainstage Theatre door before performances.

Two Solos and a Duet: A Collaboration with EMU Theatre and Constellations Theater Project

Come experience the thrill of live theatre with three days of back-to-back intimate original performances in EMU's Mainstage Theatre. Tickets: $10 for general admission and $5 for students. Purchase at the Mainstage Theatre door before performances.

Purchase Ticket Online Here or at the door (one hour before show).

The Gospel Project: A Theatrical Journey through the Life of Jesus Christ

Accomplished musician Perry Blosser, along with Justin Poole, Associate Professor of Theater at EMU, invite you to experience the Gospels through a theatrical experience that surprises, evokes, and inspires. This original play showcases stories from the four Gospels through a blend of choreography, mood-setting music, and atmospheric lighting. While Poole engages the audience through words and characterizations, Blosser interacts with music played on a variety of instruments. Together, Poole and Blosser invite us to see, hear, and experience the people and teachings of Christ in new ways.

Friday, January 26th at 7:00 PM

The things I forgot

Written and Performed by Ingrid DeSanctis directed by Ben Lambert on Saturday, January 27th at 7:00 PM

Local playwright and EMU alum, Ingrid De Sanctis, returns to the EMU stage with a solo performance inspired by the play Stained Glass, hailed as the Best New Play in Dayton, Ohio in 2020 by the Dayton Daily News. This new adaptation, reinvents Ingrid’s original play, Stained Glass, into a carousel of characters, stories, and memories written and performed by Ingrid De Sanctis, as part of her first full-length solo performance.In a carousel of characters, stories, and memories, a preacher’s daughter revisits her faith, family, and the victims of a scandal which tore her family apart nearly 40 years before. Humorous, heartbreaking and complex, this theatrical experience weaves through a personal tapestry and invites audiences to contemplate their own journeys through the often murky waters of faith and family.

“A beautiful offering.” – Jason Hildebrand, Presence Creative Arts

“Strikingly resonates and is unquestioningly thought-provoking.” – Russell Florence Jr., Dayton 937

“Ingrid is a master storyteller whose vulnerability is matched by her wit and love of words.” – Val Lieske, Fire Exit Artistic Director

CONTENT WARNING: Contains adult sexual content and language, deals with traumatic experiences

Cooking with a Small Arab Girl, A Workshop Performance

Written and Performed by Aya Nassif directed by Ingrid DeSanctis on Sunday, January 28th at 2:00 PM

Aya Nassif is a Lebanese American woman fluent in English, French, and Arabic. She is a recent graduate of JMU, where she studied theatre and psychology. What began as a final project in a solo performance class at JMU, has evolved into a full-length piece about identity, childhood, and peanut butter. In Cooking with a Small Arab Girl, Aya creates American cuisine with a Lebanese twist and, also, randomly sings in French, engages with the audience, and makes a bit of a mess. On this week’s cooking show, Aya is determined to recreate the different peanut butter sandwiches she was mesmerized by in her childhood. While this tumultuous cooking journey unfolds, Aya uncovers stories of being a Lebanese American woman making sense of her past and the present in a creative, funny, and moving manner.

The Little Mermaid (Spring 2024)

Location: MainStage Theatre, University Commons at Eastern Mennonite University
Dates and times: April 5, 7, 11, 12, and 13 at 7:00 PM
April 6 and 14 at 2:00 PM

Book by Doug Wright
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater
Based on The Little Mermaid by John Musker, Rom Clementis and The Litttle Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen