7:30 p.m. on Friday, and 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday

Note: The performance on Jan 25 has been canceled due to weather.

This is an in-person event that will also be streamed live.

MODfest 2026

Opportunities in Acting, Directing, Stage Management, Design, and Dramaturgy.

Vassar is taking student play submissions for its 2025–26 Playwriting Awards (due Jan 19, 2026); winners can earn $1,000 and a staged reading.

Join us for an exciting live interview and award ceremony with actor, singer, and composer Ethan Slater ’14, who was named as the recipient of the Young Alum Achievement Award by the AAVC in 2024. Moderated by Chris Grabowski, Professor and Chair of Drama, and Shona Tucker, Professor of Drama on the Mary Riepma Ross ’32 Chair.

Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, December 6 at 2:00 p.m.

Oct. 30: 8:00 p.m. 
Oct. 31–Nov. 1: 7:00 p.m.

This film, created by Ahmed Moussa, takes you behind the scenes of The Garbage Monster, an innovative theatrical production that toured Cairo in June 2024, using applied theatre to spark conversation and action around climate change and garbage pollution.

Four dates of new and original plays written by Drama students who have studied the art of playwriting. Open to the public, reservations requred.

Anne Washburn’s imaginative dark comedy—a play with music featuring songs by Washburn and Michael Friedman—propels us forward nearly a century, following a new civilization stumbling into its future. Reservations required.

Campus community only, please.

A play by Robert O’Hara. Guest Director, Taylor Reynolds. Barbecue is about a dysfunctional family staging an intervention. Campus guests only, please. Reservations required.

The Drama Department is delighted to welcome Leigh Silverman, a two-time Tony nominated director, who will speak with Professor Amanda Culp about her varied and impressive career and reflect on the ever-evolving landscape of American theater. Open to the public, reservations required.

A dance workshop featuring Dance student participants. Open for observation, first come/first served. Refreshments will be available.

Campus community only, please.

The Ghost Sonata (1907) by seminal Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912), translation by Evert Sprinchorn, follows a young man’s increasing realization of the world’s wickedness. Open to the public. Reservations are required.  

Author Elyssa Maxx Goodman will speak about her book Glitter and Concrete: A Cultural History of Drag in New York City and discuss drag’s effects on the culture of the city and the U.S. overall.

A play and a senior Drama project.

Campus guests only, please. 

Reservations required: please contact boxoffice@vassar.edu.

A reading of a play by Foster Schrader ’25, recipient of the Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 Annual Playwriting Award, Spring ’24. A reception will follow.

Campus guests only, please. Reservations required.

Dr. Shapiro will be speaking about his new book, The Playbook, which documents the history of the Federal Theater Project (1935–1939). The project was helmed by Vassar’s own Hallie Flanagan, under whose stewardship the Vassar Drama Department was first established.

Campus community only, please. Reservations required.

The Marilyn Swartz Seven ’69 Award was established by friends and classmates of the late Ms. Seven to support an annual playwriting competition open to all Vassar juniors and seniors from any discipline. 

In recognition of their extraordinary writing of an original play, the Drama Department will present two events featuring the work of Angelina Papa ’24 and Foster Schrader ’25.