What’s on at the HRDC?

Receiving the Harvard theater season announcement at the end of each semester is an extremely exciting moment for the theater community and theater-goers alike. We are all dying to know what productions have been in the works. These are the shows we will join, audition for, play music for, and eventually enjoy in the theater—for the students involved, these shows may define their semester.

At the end of each semester, students gather teams for plays, musicals, and dance productions, and put together applications for space in the following semester’s season. The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) Board interviews these teams, deliberates, and allocates residencies to select shows before announcing the schedule to the theater community. The fall 2024 season was announced at the end of the spring semester (although updated more recently), presenting a promising array of shows in the Agassiz Theater, the Loeb Experimental Theater (the Ex), the Loeb Proscenium, and beyond. Let’s dive into what to expect!

The upcoming season is musical-heavy, which is typical for Harvard theater. All four shows in the Agassiz Theater will be musicals, one of which is student-written: Spurned: A Wild West Tale of Love, Revenge, and Assless Chaps. Spurned’s book and lyrics are by Olivia Data ’26, and it is composed by Preston Bushnell ’26. The title and description suggest a raucously good, classically wild-western time. Preceding Spurned will be The Human Comedy, a 1983 musical by William Dumaresq and Galt MacDermot, staged as part of a developmental residency in September, among other events and workshops hosted by the creative team. It has multiple professionals involved, including director Sammi Cannold EDM ’16, who frequently directs at the American Repertory Theater, housed in the Loeb Drama Center.

Rounding out the semester at the Agassiz are Aida and Pippin, two more well-known musicals. These promise a lot of fun. The former, by Elton John and Tim Rice, is a rock musical that reimagines the story of an Ethiopian princess who falls in love with an Egyptian soldier. The latter, written by Stephen Schwartz, follows a young prince’s journey to find meaning in life. Pippin derives its characters from historical figures of the early Middle Ages, creating a vibrant, memorable musical that is a patchwork of medieval and modern elements. While the Agassiz is a classic theater space, its size unfortunately limits these fairly established musicals to a smaller scale than the Loeb Proscenium. The extent to which the talented teams adapt the show to the space will certainly make or break these productions.

Anastasia will be in residency at the Loeb Proscenium from Oct. 14 to Nov. 10. Anastasia is a 2016 musical by Terrence McNally, Lynn Ahrens, and Stephen Flaherty, based on the 1997 animated film of the same name. As the only musical or play this fall on the Proscenium, Harvard’s premier 550+ person theater venue that also hosts the American Repertory Theater, this is certainly a season headliner. The technically and narratively complex production will be a massive undertaking for director Katie Runions ’25 and the large, experienced production team alongside her. Although divergent from its film source, the musical should prove a quite different, more family-friendly respite from the likes of Spring Awakening, Jekyll and Hyde, and Heathers, the last few musicals on the Proscenium.

There is also a strong lineup of straight (non-musical) plays in the Loeb Ex, Harvard’s black box theater. Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett is its only non-student-written play this fall. The one-actor show will be challenging both production-wise and content-wise; it is difficult to create an engaging production around a singular actor, and Beckett’s content is typically philosophically provocative and perhaps obscure for some viewers. It will be interesting to see how well the thought-provoking material will be attended and understood by a Harvard audience.

The other plays in the Ex continue the HRDC’s strong tradition of producing original student-written shows. The Penningtons, by Rave Andrews ’25, is advertised as a dark comedy and an “absurd, one-of-a-kind, Wes-Anderson-meets-Succession experience” with “Gucci, ferrets, and existential dread.” All ambitious and intriguing descriptions, making this one to look out for. Jest the Way You Are, by Mack Webb ’25 and Jack Griffin ’25, promises pure comedy in early December, although sprinkled with the profound—it seems the protagonists are disgraced court jesters who set out to find a brand new art form. This whimsical adventure sounds like it will certainly be one to follow closely—although we will have to wait until finals to see it completed.

The annual Black Playwrights Festival, presented by BlackCAST, is back for another edition in late October. Previous editions have featured multiple short-play readings written, directed, and produced by Black students, in addition to playwright talks and events—featured plays have even gone on to stage full productions later on, as was the case with last year’s. This year’s edition will surely reveal some great new material once again.

It is a pleasant surprise to see three dance shows in the Loeb this season as well. anthology: a contemporary modern dance experience is presented by the Harvard-Radcliffe Modern Dance Company (HRMDC) and will go up in the Loeb Ex after the Black Playwrights Festival. HRMDC is the oldest dance organization at Harvard and has put up several unique, evocative performances in the Loeb Ex in recent semesters. The marriage of HRMDC’s inventive choreography and the intimate space of the Loeb Ex creates a unique harmony, making anthology sure to be a must-see for anyone interested in dance or movement.

Following anthology will be a dance version of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Sponsored by the Hyperion Shakespeare Company, which typically puts on regular Shakespeare plays, this is an exciting new type of production for Harvard theater. Director and choreographer Adrienne Chan ’25 and choreographer Jimena Luque ’25 will tell a story that we all know and love through movement.

It will blend theater and dance unlike other shows and will conduct casting through HRDC Common Casting rather than an existing dance company.

Dawn, presented by the Harvard Ballet Company, will follow Anastasia on the Loeb Proscenium. The Harvard Ballet Company is a premier undergraduate dance troupe in the Boston area that has put on many successful and well-attended productions on the Proscenium in the past. Dawn will surely continue this tradition, bringing excellent ballet to Harvard’s campus.

There are, occasionally, shows put up outside of the traditional spaces on campus—these are put together by student teams who, independently of the HRDC, find their own space and team. On Nov. 17, one such play, SPEED BUMPS, written by Matthew Cole ’24 and directed by Ava Palotta ’25, will go up in the Hasty Pudding Institute. It will be great to see how they use this historic but underutilized space.

Beyond these shows, there are also plenty of performances by dance groups, improv troupes, and more—the only shows listed are those with an HRDC residency or those auditioning through Common Casting. There is ample opportunity here for a splendid season of student theater for the viewers, performers, and crews. In terms of auditions, some of the more drama-inclined, non-musical actors may miss out, but there are exciting opportunities for most. Common Casting preliminary auditions take place until Friday, Sept. 6, so get out there and get involved. Overall, the current outlook bodes well for the near future of Harvard theater, which will undoubtedly only continue to grow and thrive.

Full Residency Schedule:

Agassiz Theater

The Human Comedy (developmental residency) – Sept. 15 to Sept. 21

Spurned: A Wild West Tale of Love, Revenge, and Assless Chaps – Oct. 14 to Oct. 27

Aida – Nov. 4 to Nov. 17

Pippin – Nov. 18 to Dec. 8

Loeb Ex

Krapp’s Last Tape – Sept. 30 to Oct. 6

The Penningtons – Oct. 7 to Oct. 20

Black Playwright’s Festival – Oct. 21 to Oct. 27

anthology: a contemporary dance experience – Oct. 28 to Nov. 3

Romeo & Juliet – Nov. 4 to Nov. 17