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Productions

The Drake Theatre Department understands that students in the arts must have real, meaningful production and performance experience to solidify their classroom learning. A typical academic year for us includes two productions in our larger, proscenium, Performing Arts Hall (one musical and one non-musical) and three to five productions in our “black box” performing space, the William S.E. Coleman Studio Theatre. All of these Main Stage productions are mounted with the support of a production budget, allocated labor and the exclusive use of the facilities.

Starting with the Neighborhood Playwrights Series competition that began in 2023, (expanding to the Iowa Playwrights Series beginning in 2025) we invite playwrights from across the state of Iowa to submit work for consideration for the upcoming year. Please see the rules and information about how to apply here.

*NEWS* The Department of Theatre Arts at Drake University is pleased to announce that the winning playwright for this year’s Playwrights Series is Karen Schaeffer. Karen’s winning entry, HEAD VOICES, was selected by a committee comprised of Drake Theatre students and faculty. HEAD VOICES will be produced as a staged reading Friday, September 13th and Saturday, September 14th in the Turner Jazz Center as the first production of our 2024-2025 Main Stage Season. The reading will be directed by Drake Associate Professor Erin Degner.

This is Karen’s second win in the NPS competition. Her play PROLOG (co-written with her son, Alex Schaeffer) was the winning entry in 2023. Congratulations to Karen and we hope you will join us for the reading of HEAD VOICES in September.

Illustration depicting a female with voice bubbles around her head.

The possibility of additional performance opportunities, created by student directors (with the supervision and guidance of faculty) also exists.

Auditions

Auditions for ALL Main Stage productions are held at the beginning of the academic year. See page for specific dates, times and audition requirements. Auditions are open to any Drake University student enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours.