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Poster for Mr. Burns featuring a jagged fence with a cartoonish face on it

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play

After the collapse of civilization, a group of survivors share a campfire and begin to piece together the plot of The Simpsons episode "Cape Feare" entirely from memory.

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Orchesis Dance Company

Founded in 1969, Orchesis is Cal Poly's oldest concert dance organization. Orchesis provides exciting performing and educational opportunities and develops artistic and personal growth.

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Dead Man's Cell Phone

A work about how we memorialize the dead – and how that remembering changes us – it is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption, and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world.

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Dancers under red light

Retrograde - Orchesis Dance Concert

The theme of this year's concert is Retrograde, which is inspired by the namesake compositional tool that employs manipulating movement phrases in their pure reverse, like watching video backward.

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The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical

As the half-blood son of a Greek god, Percy Jackson has newly-discovered powers he can't control, a destiny he doesn't want, and a mythology textbook's worth of monsters on his trail.

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Somewhere, a Primer for the End of Days

Blood relations and found families rely on each other as they face new crises: a blight targeting tree roots, and the disappearance of insects. Is this our end? Or are we, like a butterfly, transforming?

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A group of people gather onstage and sing.

Company - A Musical Comedy

Company takes the audience on a comedic and heartfelt journey fueled by the complexities of love, commitment, and friendship that explores the modern reality of being alive.

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Orchesis Dance Company Documentary

Watch the Orchesis Dance Company create a full production, from first auditions to the final performance.

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Man standing onstage with three people hiding behind plants in the background.

Twelfth Night, Or What You Will

A story filled with love and loss, Twelfth Night has it all: music, shipwrecks, romance, mistaken identities, unrequited love, and even sword fights.

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Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea

What are the stories we tell ourselves about love? Dolan, a narrator who bears an uncanny resemblance to author Hans Christian Andersen, tries to tell a simple and sweet story about a rain cloud who falls to Earth when they become enamored with a human. But characters in the story keep turning into figures from Dolan’s own history of turbulent relationships, blending fantasy and reality.

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Working

This 2012 Musical Revival amplifies the American worker's story, highlighting the hopes, dreams, dignity, and sense of purpose shared by the modern workforce. Working is based on Pulitzer prize-winning author Studs Terkel's best-selling book. This sincere and captivating musical weaves together a collection of monologues and songs written by various composers/lyrists, including Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), Craig Carnelia, and James Taylor.

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Writer's Block

Have you ever wondered where stories come from? Journey with us to find out how the Sparks work their magic at StoryCorp. They churn out page after page, volume after volume, of your most beloved tales. From Romeo and Juliet to Transformers, they've thought of it all and deposited their ideas straight into the brains of the world's most brilliant storytellers!

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A woman looks up at the moon.

Our Town

This reimagining of Wilder’s classic story is a remarkably universal, yet personal portrait of our collective humanity; an American tale about family, love, death, and a life worth living.

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50 - Orchesis Dance Company

"50" celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Cal Poly Orchesis Dance Company

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Lysistrata women

Lysistrata

The premiere “make-love-not-war” play — Lysistrata, weary of the endless Peloponnesian War, persuades the other women of Greece to stage a sex strike against their husbands.

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Stop Kiss photo

Stop Kiss

Diana Son’s moving story of Callie and Sara's unexpected love provides a powerful snapshot of our contemporary landscape.

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The Tempest photo

The Tempest

A distant island… a storm… a shipwreck… and some magic in this reimagining of Shakespeare’s classical play.

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Dancers set against a purple and blue lit background.

Tabula Rasa - Orchesis Dance Concert

No drapes masking the backstage areas – pieces were created in multiple genres that embraced the idea of a blank slate, learned knowledge, and perception.

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Trust Fall

Daedalus is a gifted sculptor and celebrated inventor who designed the labyrinth. The real source of Daedalus’ inspiration, however, is his saucy model, Lydia. His son, Icarus, is a sweet, insightful simpleton. His agent, Takus, is a slick but ineffective capitalist. His most loyal customer, King Minos, plagues him with unusual demands. The adventures of Daedalus lead to imprisonment, a misguided escape and life as a fugitive. A comic saga of a man who creates problems that others must solve.

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Man stands under a platform with four pillars, set against a sunset background.

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

1930s Chicago - the Great Depression has laid waste to the city's grocery business. Along comes Arturo Ui offering small-time protection that quickly transforms into a menacing grab for absolute power.

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Dancers against a red background

'80s Mix Tape - Orchesis Dance Concert

In this 48th concert, all dances were choreographed to music recorded between 1980 and 1989! 80's Mix Tape featured the work of Cal Poly faculty and students, as well guest artists from SLO and beyond.

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A man sits on a couch next to an older woman in a blue robe.

4000 Miles

Arriving in New York City, Leo spends a month with his feisty 91 year-old grandmother. Together, the pair navigates a maze of heartbreak, humor, and healing.

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25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Six precocious sixth-graders compete to become champion, while reflecting on the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that led them to the Bee.

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The Other Shore

A narrative and non-verbal performance that highlights the struggle between the collective consciousness and the right to be an individual.

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