CSU Theatre is excited to announce our 2025-2026 season: Seasons of Love and Adventure!

Men on Boats kicks things off! In 1869, John Wesley Powell famously explored the Colorado River with a group of men. Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus reimagines the expedition and casts this all-male moment in history with a group of non-male performers. Men on Boats disrupt the foundations of history and theatre with a bright, comedic edge. Dr. Wesley Longacre will direct this adventure down the Colorado River.

The second production in Fall 2025 will transform the studio theatre into the Cherryfield Toy Company. Audiences will be guided in small groups through this immersive theatre experience written and designed entirely by CSU Theatre majors! Guided through a curated environment, you will be introduced to the secrets of one powerful family and discover what happened at the Cherryfield Toy Company. Associate Professor Saffron Henke is directing the production.

In Spring 2026, CSU Theatre presents The River Bride by Marisela Treviño Orta. The play begins with a mysterious man fished from the Amazon River three days before a wedding. Set once upon a time in a small Brazilian fishing village, The River Bride is a tale of true love and regret, as well as two sisters who struggle to be faithful to each other and their hearts. Dr. Javier Hurtado will direct The River Bride as part of a multi-day residency by award-winning playwright Marisela Treviño Orta, who will join Hurtado for a post-show talkback, a playwriting master class, and a reading of one of her other plays as part of the ON THE BRINK Series.

The 2025-2026 season closes with Rent, the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning rock musical about love, loss, and community surviving a pandemic. Set against the edge of the millennium, Rent follows a group of friends as they try to survive an economy in flux and an AIDS pandemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This tour-de-force musical will be directed by Assistant Professor of Musical Theater Noah Racey.

In addition to CSU Theatre’s main stage season, Debbie Swann and the ON THE BRINK Company will curate the annual reading series. The 25/26 ON THE BRINK season will continue to amplify marginalized voices and offer students the opportunity to explore plays by and about BIPOC, queer, and women artists from around the world.

Finally, the season includes a series of showcases celebrating the dynamic and exciting work occurring in CSU Theatre classes. These showcases are free and open to the public and include the First Year Verbatim Project, scene study performances from acting and directing classes, an author’s reading by student playwrights, the Monologue and 10-Minute Play Festivals, and a showcase of design portfolios.

Dates will be announced soon. We hope you’ll join us!