Headlines from UW Drama

"References" Opens November 30, 2009

A soldier and his wife at the center of School of Drama's new production
University Week article, November 19, 2009

UW Drama’s  Joel McHale
stars in new NBC Comedy, Thursday Nights at 8:00

Joel McHale, (MFA’00), (host of  The Soup) stars in NBC’s new sitcom, Community.  It airs on Thursday evenings at 8:00 pm, one hour before The Office (with Rainn Wilson, who also took classes here) and co-stars comedy icon, Chevy Chase.  So tune in at 8:00 Thursday nights and cheer him on!

UW’s Historic Playhouse Theatre Opens
after Renovation with New Name

After a nearly two year and $10M renovation, the Jones Playhouse was officially dedicated on October 30, 2009.  In attendance were University dignitaries, State officials as well as participants in the renovation and School of Drama donors, faculty and staff.  The inaugural production was Shakespeare’s The Tempest, featuring MFA and undergraduate actors and designs by three MFA designers.  Directing the show was alumnus M. Burke Walker, founder of the iconic Empty Space Theatre in Seattle.  The historic building was previously home to the Seattle Repertory Playhouse, which in the 1930’s housed one of the most successful Federal Theatre Projects and FTP/ Negro Theatre Units in the country.

UW Students Win Prestigious
“Best Newcomer Award of 2009”
at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The UW School of Drama is proud and thrilled to announce that the UW’s TBA Collective’s production of The Grind Show has won the Edinburgh Festival Insider Best Newcomer Award 2009. According to the Edinburgh Festival Insider, the performers were chosen “For their infectious enthusiasm, for their dark and cleverly-realized vision, for their patronage of fellow performers throughout their visit, for their encapsulation of the spirit of the Fringe - and most of all for the fact they deserve all the encouragement they need to return here again next year with another show which will no doubt surpass the already wonderful Grind Show.”