Recent News

Read the latest happenings with our faculty, staff, students, and alumni!

Dec 30, 2020

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March 2026

• Urinetown "The Musical" directed by Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen received raving reviews. Read the article about it here. 
• Cal Poly Theatre Major Millie Harrison's play, A Paracosmic Odyssey, was one of four one-acts featured as a staged reading at the American College Theatre Festival, Region 8 conference in Glendale. The reading was directed by Selena Constantini and featured actors Peter Valentin, Jake Gustafson, Jane Amador, Jaiden Weid, David Agomuo, and Jose Luis Garces. After responses from professional theatre artists Zoe Saba and Carmen Rivera Tirado, the play is now being considered for the virtual national festival later this year. A Paracosmic Odyssey had its world premiere, which Millie also directed, at Cal Poly in December 2024, as part of the Theatre & Dance department's Student-Directed Project series.

January 2026

• Assistant Professor Ramón Esquivel completing a playwrighting a residency with Marfa High School in Texas. Read the article about it here. 

October 2024 

• Shae Palic held a Theatrical Intimacy Workshop for Cal Poly students to introduce them to theatrical practices surrounding intimacy in shows.
• Peter Hadres held a Stage Combat Workshop for Theatre & Dance majors & minors.
• Assistant Professor Ramón Esquivel new play Fallenstar: The Watchoverers premiered at the New Native Theatre. See a feature about the play here. 

September 2024

• Associate Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen became the Associate Chair for the Theatre & Dance Department.

August 2024

• Associate Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen taught a Movement Intensive with PCPA.

July 2024

• Professor Thomas J. Bernard submitted for publication his book "Historical Pattern Archives 2: Women's Clothing from Historic Clothing Collection 1820-1938". Look to purchase your copy in 2025. This is a sequel to his first book with Marcy Linton.
• Costume Shop Manager Laina Babb designed costumes for the ballet "Peter and the Wolf" with SLO Movement Arts Collective as part of Festival Mozaic.
• Technical Director Richard Jackson attended an OSHA 10 Training to further his knowledge of current safety practices in the workplace.

June 2024

• Professor Thomas J. Bernard designed costumes for The Play That Goes Wrong at PCPA. Read a review of the play here.
• Assistant Professor Ramón Esquivel presented a staged reading of his new play Watching for Sasquatch in the Theatre & Dance Dept's Black Box Theatre. This work was funded through a Cal Poly RSCA grant.
  • Student performers included: Michelle Pellegrin, Tien Nguyen, Isaac Lewis, John DeVries, Niah Pratt, Colin Elman, Steffan Evans, and Alli Zamora. 
  • Dramaturgy was by Millie Harrison
  • Stage Management was by Drew Mahecha-Sherrard.

May 2024 

• Assistant Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen has been promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure.
• Associate Professor Brian Healy was featured in two Mustang News articles about the critical lack of space at Cal Poly. They can be found here and here.
• The Theatre & Dance Department hosted playwright Larissa FastHorse for a Q&A panel discussion.
• The Theatre for Young Audiences class took their show "Loose Threads" out to the local community, touring the show to 12 schools in San Luis Obispo county. The class spent the winter quarter devising and workshopping a new show and continued this spring quarter by rehearsing, designing, and creating technical elements for the show before it went out to the schools. 
• Assistant Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen performed at SLO Rep in The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse.
• Costume Shop Manager Laina Babb worked on alterations for the Janet Jackson Together Again Tour - 2024.
• Andrew Saito, the Susan Currier Visiting Professor, presented Ocean Aria, a culminating lecture/performance for his work at the university during the spring quarter.
• Theatre lecturer Hala Baki presented a stage reading and discussion of Passage by Christopher Chen. The interdisciplinary panel consisted of Visiting Professor Andrew Saito and Social Sciences Lecturer C.T. Aradanas. Look to see a full-length version of this show in the Cal Poly Theatre & Dance 2024-25 season.
• Professor Diana Stanton choreographed student dancers for the Music Deparment's Soundings performance.
  • Student dancers included: Dylan Hahn, Aviv Kesar, Carly Morris, Kaitlyn Kelly, Hannah Bielcik, Melissa Nemec, Emily Olster, Melissa Evans, Chloe Rosero, Eleanor Simon, Gracie Mitchell, Ellie Johnson, and Katya Tsikina.

January 2024 

• Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein received a glowing response to her direction of A Cat Found God from a KCACTF respondent. Linnaea Marks and Kennedy Martin received Irene Ryan Acting Nominations for their performances in the show and Jenna Brock received a Certificate of Merit for her work as the stage manager for this production. 
• Jordan D'Acquisto was featured in the January 10 Cal Poly Report for her work on the 2023-24 Rose Float. 
• Katherine Konjoyan served as Music Director for Morro Bay High School's production of "Little Women."
• Ashli St. Armant, creator of NORTH: The Musical, had a special conversation with theatre students about her approach to writing and developing a musical for young audiences. Ashli is known for her award-winning work in children's education and entertainment, and her Audible mystery series, Viva Durant. 

December 2023

• Rachel Kupfer-Weinstein presented A Cat Found God, her student-directed production, in the Cal Poly Black Box Theatre. This production was entered into the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) and may be eligible for invitation to the regional festival.

October 2023

• Larry Southall presented a Hip-Hop Master Class in the PAC Pavilion. 
• Assistant Professor Ramón Esquivel's play Dulce is currently being performed at PCPA as part of their Outreach tour this season. The show will be touring the Central Coast bringing the experience of professional live theatre to a wide variety elementary schools throughout Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

September 2023

• Shae Palic held a Theatrical Intimacy Workshop for Theatre & Dance majors & minors. She has been working as an Intimacy Professional since 2018 after training through the SAG accredited certification program IDC Professionals. Shae is the Intimacy Coordinator for the fall production of Dead Man's Cell Phone.
• Gale McNeeley joined the Theatre Improv class for a workshop on Commedia Characters. 

July 2023

• Various members of the Theatre & Dance Department's faculty, staff, and students were involved with Festival Mozaic's summer music festival.
  • Costume Shop Manager Laina Babb designed costumes for Appalachian Spring and A Soldier's Tale.
  • Students Julia Neils and Natalie Rathle assisted Laina with costumes as part of their Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP+) project. You can find an article about their experience here.
  • Dance Lecturer Maartje Hermans was a principal dancer in Appalachian Spring.
  • Assistant Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen directed A Soldier's Tale.

June 2023