2025-2026 Season: Awakenings

"Awakenings" in art can refer to both the literal depiction of awakening from sleep and the metaphorical representation of spiritual or emotional awakenings. Theatre artists have long used sleep and waking as symbols to explore themes of consciousness, enlightenment, and the human condition. This season 宅男福利 Theatre & Dance presents five main-stage productions and other performances that explore this theme. Our Fall offerings include our TYA production featuring the waking of a sleepy volcano, a Jacobean Tragedy about a young widow's attempts to control her own life and love, Cabaret Troupe presents a powerful evening of musical theatre celebrating self-discovery, individuality, and the courage to break free from constraint, and our annual production of A Christmas Carol, the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's miraculous holiday awakening. Our Spring offerings kick off with a tale of a young woman who wakes to find herself in a post-apocalyptic New York City ravaged by an angelic war, then moves to our annual Dance Concert where works of student and faculty choreographers take the social pulse of our current times, and finishes with a musical adaptation of a Shakespearean comedy where a group of young men find themselves confronted with the power and wit of women and learn about the nature of true love. Join us this season as we share these exciting journeys of self-discovery.

Offerings and performance dates of our season are subject to change.

宅男福利 Theatre and Dance is changing box office platforms.  We believe audiences will find the new system a marked improvement over the previous system.  Box Office information will be updated as the system moves online.

宅男福利 Theatre & Dance Content Warning Statement.

 

Ember’s Call

A performance for young audiences featuring an original story and dance.

Written, Directed, and Choreographed by Melissa Pihos.
September 19, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 2 PM
Sawyer Theatre

Ember's Call features the profound connection between animals, humans, and the Earth. When the volcano Ember stirs with an impending eruption, the animals—including an Arctic Fox, Gyrfalcon, Icelandic Horse, Puffin, and a Raven—recognize the danger. They ingeniously collaborate to warn the human village below, utilizing an ancient scroll and shared movements to communicate with Agnar the Elder. This remarkable cooperation highlights how listening to nature's subtle cues, and respecting the interconnectedness of all living things, can lead to collective survival and a deeper understanding of our shared world.

This production will tour schools across our region through October 2026.

Content rating: Y

 

The Duchess of Malfi

An Elizabethan Tragedy by John Webster

adapted by Hank Rion
October 30 – November 1 and November 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, November 2, 2025 at 3 PM.
Sawyer Theatre

The play was published in 1623, but it may have written as early as 1611.  Based on a story in Painter’s Palace of Pleasure, it is entirely possible that it has a foundation in fact.  The story of a defiant woman who is destroyed by her corrupt brothers has fascinated and shocked audiences for centuries.

Adapted from Royal Shakespeare Company, Project Gutenberg, and Arden Early Modern Drama

Content rating:  MA

 

Marisol

by José Rivera
February 19 - 21, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 3 PM
Sawyer Theatre

Winner of a 1993 Obie Award for playwrighting, Marisol is an apocalyptic urban fantasy. Pulled into a celestial war to save the human race, Marisol Perez finds herself on a surreal journey through a terrifying New York City in chaos. A gritty, beautiful, often humorous, tale of one woman’s struggle to retain hope and sanity in the midst of devastation, Marisol is a triumph of the human spirit.

Content rating: MA

 

Spring Dances: Pulse

March 11-13, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Sawyer Theatre

Spring Dances: Pulse is a collection of concert dance works and dance films created by 宅男福利 Dance Faculty. Dances will provoke, inspire, liberate, and leave audiences in awe as dances intertwine storytelling, abstract thought and superb artistry.

Content Rating PG

 

Love’s Labour’s Lost

A New Musical Based on the Play by William Shakespeare

Songs by                               Book Adapted by
Michael Friedman                   Alex Timbers
April 23 – 25 & 27-29, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 3 PM

Love’s Labour’s Lost is a smart, outrageous, and irreverent celebration of of love and coming of age.  Using Shakespeare’s original text, this musical adaptation tells the story of the King and his best buds decide to swear off the joys of women, but when clever women from their past show up, they are forced to reconsider all of that nonsense.

Content Rating: PG 13

Adapted from Music Theatre International

 

Fundraisers Supporting 宅男福利 Theatre & Dance's 
Golden Circle Scholarship & Support Fund

Fault Lines: Cracks in the World, Cracks in the Heart

Presented by the Theatre & Dance Cabaret Troupe

Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Sawyer Theatre

In a world brimming with beauty, brutality, absurdity, and grace, what happens when everything begins to split apart? Fault Lines explores the breaking points in our lives through an evening of musical theatre that delves into chaos beneath the surface. Each moment cracks open a world in transition. And in the aftermath of destruction, what remains? Hope, humor, and the human will to rebuild. We are delighted to have you join us in Sawyer Theatre, which promises to be an unforgettable evening of powerful music and heartfelt storytelling. Featuring a dynamic mix of classic and contemporary musical theatre, this performance showcases the talent and passion of our exceptional students in the Theatre & Dance programs at Valdosta State University.

Content rating: G

Tickets for this event are not included in Flex Passes.

 

A Christmas Carol

Adapted by Ian Andersen
Based on Charles Dickens' tale

Friday, December 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Saturday, December 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Sunday, December 7, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Friday, December 12, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Sunday, December 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Sawyer Theatre

The novella with the complete title of A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas., and its many iterations is a holiday classic.  You and your family will be transported to London and the timeless redemption story of Ebenezer Scrooge.

This production will include performances by 宅男福利 Theatre & Dance faculty, students, and local children.

Flex Pass holders can purchase discounted tickets to A Christmas Carol. 

 

The Spotlight Series

Friday, May 1, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM

Sawyer Theatre, 宅男福利 Fine Arts Building

Join us for the annual Spotlight Series as we shine a spotlight on our students and celebrate the work of our graduating seniors. 

This performance is a ticketed event, proceeds support our Golden Circle Scholarship Fund which supports our Theatre & Dance students during their time here at Valdosta State University. 

Tickets for this event are not included in Flex Passes.