Production Archive: 2024-2025

Thursday, November 14 and Friday, November 15 at 7:30pm
Saturday, November 16 at 2:00pm and 5:00pm
Monday, November 18 at 5:30pm and 8:30pm
Gordon Center Studio 3

These productions encouraged student artists to BREAK with familiar patterns, find the sparks of new ideas, let them BURN, and then BUILD new work.

Pieces include two short plays: Rabbit Rabbit by Shannon Wade and Nolan Ellsworth, directed by Bess Welden and What if this were a wedding? by Julia Jennings, directed by Braxton Rae ‘20.

Dance offerings include the annual first year dance project, led by Matthew Cumbie and Annie Kloppenberg and six new dance works choreographed by student choreographers.

Sunday, November 17 at 2:00pm
Benton, Maine Public Trails

TD262 led by Professor Gwynn Shanks with Allie Boucher ’26, Tyler Garvey ’26, and April Levy ’27 (photo by Melissa Blackall Photography)

This class explored the relationships among environmental studies, decolonial praxis, and performance. It culminated in a site-specific performance on the public trails in Benton, Maine.

Friday, February 7 at 7:30pm
Saturday, February 8 at 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Gordon Center Studio 2

Presented by the Departments of Music and Performance, Theater, and Dance:

Step beyond the theater and into the heart of the Broadway Boîte, an immersive haven where Broadway’s greatest hits come to life. This is no ordinary show; it’s a journey through music, drama, and decadence. As the lights dim, feel the power of iconic songs and magical performances sweep you away. Indulge in food and drinks crafted to elevate every moment as the drama unfolds, captivating your senses and leaving you spellbound. A night where music and emotion collide in perfect harmony—come, be part of something truly unforgettable.

Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8 at 5:30pm
Gordon Center Performance Hall

A choreographic collaboration between Nell Shipman, Artistic Director of the Portland Ballet and Annie Kloppenberg, Associate Professor of Dance takes as its inspiration Maine’s landscape, history and lighthouses as portals to explore our relationship to the land, water, wayfinding, and navigation in an original contemporary ballet.

The performance features an expanded Portland Ballet Company with dancers from Colby, who have joined the company for the month of January to develop this work and an original score by composer Caitlin Scholl, created and performed in collaboration with Colby student musicians.

Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11 at 7:30pm
Gordon Center Studio 2

As an international student, Xinyi Zhang ‘25 travels a lot. Through these journeys she’s observed how identity is shaped by staying in different places and interacting with different cultures. She’s experienced being welcomed in, being pushed out, or landing in between communities. This is not only an autobiographical performance that introduces her transnational struggle, but also an open invitation for you to reflect on how you, too, find yourself within, outside of, or between communities.

Sunday, April 13 at 2:00pm
Gordon Center Studio 2

What could we learn from a feminist adaption of Shakespeare’s Hamlet?

This staged reading of Her Hamlet is a new play in development by Ella Abisi ‘25, serving as her senior capstone in Performance, Theater, and Dance.

Saturday, April 26 at 7:30pm
Gordon Center Olentine Forum

The Garden of Trans Care is an interactive installation that looks at how queer and trans people have used plants as sources of sustenance, pleasure, community building, and self-determination. The installation will be activated in an evening of original performances devised by students that reflect on these themes and histories. Together we ask, how can we transform fear and pain into practices of care, knowledge, and celebration?