With their spring musical, “Next to Normal,” All Student Theatre (AST) intends to use the power of storytelling to start more conversations about mental health on campus and to make audiences question what “normal” really means. 

“What’s gonna happen…”
Audience members sat patiently, holding their breath, eyes fixed, as with three words Taylor Mac called the room to action in the Clark-Fox Forum at Hillman Hall. The biennial Helen Clanton Morrin Lecture Series invites renowned artists and colloquium speakers to discuss the power of theater beyond entertainment.

From Oct. 23 through Oct. 26, WashU’s All Student Theater (AST) will perform “The Rest is Silence,” their immersive adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy “Hamlet.” Rather than the typical proscenium setup, where the audience sits directly facing the stage, AST’s fall performance throws the audience directly into the action. The performance takes place in the Village Black Box Theater (on the lower level of Village House), where AST’s crew has transformed the space into a winding collection of rooms and scenes, complete with props, lighting, and sound design. 

Melding tragedy, comedy, and romance into one, “The Winter’s Tale” is the story of a king mad with envy that escalates until the queen’s statue comes to life. The students take center stage, and it is their interpretation of the characters and their mastery of emotions that ultimately reveals the weight and nuance of forgiveness. 

This past Saturday, Feb. 24, was the 10th anniversary of Harold Ramis’s death, most well known for his involvement in films such as “Animal House” and “Ghostbusters” (in which he played Egon Spengler).

Two organizers of the radical performance activism group Earth Church, William Talen and Savitri D, gave a sermon and answered a series of questions posed by Professor Leigh Eric Schmidt in the second installment in the “Reverent Irreverence” series. The event was hosted by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics in Emerson Auditorium, Feb. 6. 

A person wearing a white tank top with the words “the purple shirt” written on it was thrown into a mini-inflated pool. The other cast members then dumped purple Kool-Aid all over them, drenching them from head to toe.

When the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adds comedy as a team sport, Washington University’s Kids On Campus is a sure bet to be crowned the #1 seed in collegiate humor. In a rollicking two-hour show Saturday night at the Village Black Box Theater, the cast and crew slayed the packed house with a freight train performance of sketches and filmed parodies accompanied by the eccentric funked-up energy of the KOC Band.  

If you’re looking for a cultural experience in St. Louis this summer amidst games of die and brunch at Meshuggah’s, I highly recommend the Black Rep’s “Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea.

Participants in Thyrsus’ event love the chance for experimentation and low-stakes commitments to theater.