The regular season features five shows and the Lab Series for original and experimental works. The season holds timeless classics as well as contemporary marvels, including Shakespeare’s Scottish play, a modern take on a 15th-century morality play, our annual dance show, an adaptation of a work by one of the first female playwrights, and a Sondheim blockbuster.
All performances are at the Marshall Performing Arts Center (MPAC) at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Tickets, including season subscriptions, will go on sale this summer.
Department head Rebecca Katz Harwood says, “The selected works will allow UMD students to shine while bridging past, present, and future. On behalf of all the students, faculty, and staff who bring our shows to life, we look forward to welcoming you to another year of fantastic performances at the Marshall Performing Arts Center.”
“UMD Theatre not only offers transformative experiences for audiences, but for the students honing their crafts on and off stage,” says Jennifer Brady — Interim Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. “I hope many in the Twin Ports community join me in supporting our scholars as they bring these works of art to life.”
This announcement comes as UMD Theatre concludes a successful 2025-2026 season bookended by popular productions of Anne of Green Gables and The SpongeBob Musical. The main stage was also host to UMD’s beloved annual dance show, as well as guest appearances from Ragamala Dance Company and a sold-out travelling production of The Gales of November. In the department’s black-box space, gripping productions of The Women of Lockerbie and The Baltimore Waltz dazzled audiences with intimate stories imaginatively told.
2026-2027 Season Selections
Macbeth
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Guest Artist Sarah Lynn Brown
October 2-10, 2026
Marshall Performing Arts Center Main Stage
This adaptation of Macbeth, rooted in Shakespeare’s classic poetry, will explore fresh perspectives and find resonance with the present moment. With an energetic, fast-paced narrative, this story is both refuge and reckoning, embracing the bonds of kinship, the wonder of mysticism, and the haunted beauty of a homeland that is fiercely worth the fight.
Everybody
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Local Guest TBA
November 6-14, 2026
Marshall Performing Arts Center Dudley Experimental Theatre
In this inventive adaptation of the 15th century morality play Everyman, we follow the allegorical character “Everybody” on a journey to face Death, a quest about what it means to live a good life that is by turns irreverent and profound. Embodying life’s unpredictability, certain roles at each performance will be assigned by lottery.
DanceWorks 2026
Artistic Directed by LilaAnn Coates White and Brianna Hall-Nelson
December 4-6, 2026
Marshall Performing Arts Center Main Stage
Join us again for another showcase of the incredible talent of UMD’s dance community. Past DanceWorks programs have delighted with pieces featuring a wide range of styles, including tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, and ballet.
Rhythm, Ruin, Rise
Adapted by Jenna Soleo-Shanks
Based on a play by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim
Marshall Performing Arts Center Dudley Experimental Theatre
This new work created by UMD students and faculty — based on a 1,000-year-old Latin play by the first known female playwright — transforms a medieval story into a modern exploration of a young woman finding her voice against oppression.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
Directed by Thomas Jacobsen
April 16-24, 2027
Marshall Performing Arts Center Main Stage
Revenge is best served in a flaky crust in this gothic musical thriller, one of the most popular of all Sondheim shows. Betrayed by an evil judge, our titular barber returns to corrupt London with a score to settle. With a little help from his downstairs neighbor, pie shop owner Mrs. Lovett, the bodies of his unlucky customers become the main ingredient in the hottest dish in town.
Lab Series
Ongoing
Discover new works and new perspectives on existing work. These original and experimental projects will be showcased throughout the entire season, pushing boundaries and exploring new creative horizons.