Department of Theatre and Dance

Main Stage Show Times*:
Wed - Fri: 8pm | Saturday: 7pm | Sunday: 3pm
Plus 1/2-price Late Night Show at 11pm on the second Saturday!

Ticket Prices: $12 for students | $16 for University Faculty/Staff, Military and Seniors 60+ |
$18 General Public

Box Office: 777-2551
Box office opens 1 week prior to each production run.
The Box Office is located in Longstreet Theatre, 1300 Greene St. Enter from the breezeway off of Sumter St.

Theatre Locations
Longstreet Theatre -- 1300 Greene St., corner of Greene and Sumter
Drayton Hall Theatre -- 1214 College St., corner of College and Sumter

*Dates, times and locations are subject to change.

Theatre South Carolina welcomes this one-man tour-de-force produced by USC alum Cindy Murphy and starring Broadway veteran Lawrence Hamilton (Ragtime, The Wiz, Jelly’s Last Jam) as Alonzo Fields, grandson of a freed slave, who became the first African-American Chief Butler of the White House. Looking Over the President’s Shoulder gives audiences an intimate, behind-the-scenes look into the personalities of Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower during some of the most tumultuous events of the 20th century. Recalling his momentous journey, Fields reflects on the promise and realities of life with humor and pride. “A personal story about thriving within what life gives us, and … a fascinating window into the White House” (Arkansas Times).

Take a walk on the Wilde side and enjoy our “swinging sixties” take on Oscar Wilde’s comic masterpiece, complete with go-go boots and bad boys in bowler hats! Yet, while the setting changes, this beloved classic comedy remains just as deliriously funny! The Importance of Being Earnest follows the exploits of Jack Worthing, a socialite leading two lives: he’s the well-respected “Jack” at his country estate, while, in the city, he assumes the identity of his imaginary brother, the loose and freewheeling Ernest. When his good friend Algernon discovers the deception, he decides to get in on the action, leading to mayhem that threatens to get the best of them both! Filled with hilarious plot twists and Wilde’s singular wit, The Importance of Being Earnest is high farce at its finest!

Described by LA Weekly as “a compelling take on the issues of sexual identity and artistic freedom now entrenched in our own culture,” Jeffrey Hatcher’s Compleat Female Stage Beauty is a darkly comedic exploration of a celebrity’s fall into obscurity. The 17th century social world seems to orbit around the actor Kynaston, a glittering star famous for his portrayals of female characters, when King Charles II signs a law allowing real women to take the stage. Challenged to his very core, Kynaston’s domain of privilege is shattered, and he must confront his own sense of self-worth as an actor…and as a man. Compleat Female Stage Beauty contains adult situations and language, and is intended for mature audiences only.

February 22 - March 2, 2013

Boeing-Boeing
by Marc Camoletti
Longstreet Theatre

The New York Times raved that the 2008 Tony®-winning production of Boeing-Boeing “soars right out of its time zone and into some unpolluted stratosphere of classic physical comedy.” Well-regarded as the most performed French play throughout the world, Boeing-Boeing tells the raucous tale of Bernard, an American businessman living in 1960s Paris who juggles affairs with three airline hostesses whose flight schedules are perfectly timed to keep them unaware of each other. The introduction of ever-faster jets quickly takes his high-flying ruse off-course, however, and a furiously funny crash of fiancées is just over the horizon!

April 19 - 27, 2013

King Lear
by William Shakespeare
Drayton Hall Theatre

Shakespeare’s gale-force tragedy rips back the curtain on a family torn by greed and an unquenchable lust for power. The aging King of Britain, Lear, decides to split his kingdom between his three daughters, but tests their loyalty first to finalize the arrangement. When his most devoted daughter, Cordelia, refuses to flatter him, the king disowns her, paving the way for a venomous plot to usurp the throne concocted by his remaining heirs. The King flees, leading him on a spiraling descent into madness as he fights to regain control. A riveting drama about the corruptive nature of power and a broken man’s agonizing struggle for redemption, Ben Brantley of The New York Times says that King Lear includes “some of the most beautiful and devastating observations ever uttered about the human condition.”

Location: 1400 Wheat St, between Sumter and Pickens, across from Blatt PE Center

Show Times: 8pm nightly

Ticket price: $5. Ticket available only at the door. Arrive early for best seating.

October 11 - 14, 2012

August Snow
by Reynolds Price
Directed by Patti Walker

Reynolds Price, described by TheatreWeek as “one of the great writers of our generation,” relates the trials of the Avery family, led by widowed matriarch Roma, during the time of the Great Depression. August Snow centers on the coming-of-age of Roma’s recently married son, Neal, who struggles to uphold his responsibilities to his wife and family. “Two of the great strengths of Mr. Price’s writing are his pitch-perfect ear for dialogue and his keen eye for the minutiae of daily life.” -- The New York Times

November 15 - 18, 2012

The Rose Tattoo
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Rocco Thompson
(Supervised by Robert Richmond)

Winner of the 1951 Tony® Award for Best Play, Tennessee Williams’ classic The Rose Tattoo still soars with delicious melodrama and Williams’ signature gift for language. Serafina is a Sicilian seamstress living in the American South, who has withdrawn from society (and forced her daughter to do the same) after the tragic death of her husband. Only a stranger with an odd resemblance to her husband can bring her out of her despair and back to life and love.

February 7 - 10, 2013

How I Learned to Drive
by Paula Vogel
Directed by Eric Bultman

Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Paula Vogel’s How I Learned to Drive was described by The New York Times as “one of the most discomfiting love stories to emerge from the American theater.” Vogel’s affecting drama traces the coming-of-age of main character Li’l Bit, whose life is forever changed by the sexual relationship she develops with her uncle. How I Learned to Drive is the story of a woman who learns the rules of the road and life from behind the wheel.

February 28 - March 3, 2013

Twelve Angry Jurors
by Reginald Rose
Directed by K. Dale White
(To be performed at Benson Theatre, 226 Bull Street)

Reginald Rose’s adaptation of the Emmy® Award-winning television film Twelve Angry Men by Sherman Sergel is an unflinching look at a jury deciding the guilt or innocence of a 19-year-old accused of fatally stabbing his father. What appears to be an open-and-shut case quickly explodes into a tense fight among the twelve men and women, as they struggle to decide the ultimate fate of the accused. Rose’s script won the 2005 Tony® Award for Best Revival of a Play.

April 25 - 28, 2013

Becky Shaw
by Gina Gionfriddo
Directed by David Britt

The blind date from hell opens up a pandora’s box of familial and romantic entanglements in Gina Gionfriddo’s razor-tongued comedy Becky Shaw, a 2009 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. “Blithely cynical and devastatingly funny…witty observations on the emotional damage inflicted by neurotic people in the name of love…Gionfriddo is some kind of genius.” —Variety

Coming to the Main Stage and Lab Theatre
in 2012-13*

THEATRE SOUTH CAROLINA
MAIN STAGE

Coming to the Main Stage and Lab Theatre in 2012-13*

THEATRE SOUTH CAROLINA MAIN STAGE

Coming to the Main Stage and Lab Theatre
in 2012-13*

THEATRE SOUTH CAROLINA
MAIN STAGE