UW-Stevens Point announces 2025-26 Theatre and Dance Season

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Department of Theatre and Dance offers shows themed with “Life, Longing and Legacy” this year, exploring the concepts through humor, song,

movement, mysteries and more on stage.

“Ultimately this season is about connection and how the past, present, and future align to create rich, full experiences,” said Michael Estanich, professor and chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance. “My hope is that the bold new stories and original dances this season remind you of the importance and impact that the arts have in our community.”

The first performances of the season will feature two short murder mystery classics. In “Shall We Join the Ladies?”, at a farewell dinner for guests at a country estate, they learn why they were invited and that one of them harbors a gruesome secret. “Trifles” follows Minnie Foster

Wright as she sits in jail, accused of murdering her husband. Officers and neighbors search the old farmhouse for evidence pointing to a motive.

Tickets for “Shall We Join the Ladies?” and “Trifles” are $10 and are available at tickets.uwsp.edu. Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18-20 and 2 p.m. Sept. 21 in  Room 221 at the Noel Fine Arts Center, 1800 Portage St., Stevens Point.

Individual and season tickets are now available for the 2024-25 theatre and dance season:

• “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” Oct. 17-19, 2025, a long-running off-Broadway absurdist comedy places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian café in 1904, just before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism.
• “Ride the Cyclone,” Nov. 7-9 and 13-15, 2025. The lives of six teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller invites each to play “the game” for a second chance at life.
• “Afterimages 2025,” Dec. 5-7, 2025, features original student choreography and staging.
• “She Kills Monsters,” Feb. 27-28 and March 1 and 5-7, 2026, a dramatic comedy filled with homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and 90s pop culture, pays homage to the geek and warrior within us all.
• “The Secret Garden,” April 10-12 and 16-18, features music by Lucy Simon, book and lyrics by Marsha Norman and is based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. This enchanting classic of children's literature is reimagined in brilliant musical style telling the story of 11-year-old Mary Lennox, orphaned in India, who returns to Yorkshire, England to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle and the ghosts of the past who dwell in the house.
• “Danstage 2026,” May 1-3, 2026, an evening of exciting works celebrating the range of dance as an artform by UWSP faculty and special guest artists.

First Nighter’s packages are available for this season’s performances, which include a pre-show cocktail hour, dinner and ticket to the opening night performances of the five featured mainstage and studio theatre productions. Packages as well as individual tickets are available by calling 715-346-4100 or online at tickets.uwsp.edu.

Learn more at uwsp.edu/theatre-dance/2025-2026-season/.