Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alums and faculty are on the production team of National Merit, BoHo Theatre‘s first mainstage production of 2022. This world premiere runs August 25 through September 25  at Theater Wit, located at 1229 W. Belmont in Chicago’s Belmont Theatre District. For tickets, click here. Student and teacher discounts are available.

The show’s scenic designer is Columbia College alum Shayna Patel 22, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Theatre Design and Technology. The choreographer is Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member Tommy Rivera-Vega. The show is produced by BoHo Theatre’s artistic director, Columbia College Theatre Department faculty member Elizabeth Swanson. And BoHo’s development and operations associate and social media coordinator is Columbia College alum Leo Batutis ’20, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Writing for Performance program with a Minor in Theatre Directing.

In National Merit, seven students embark on an intensive PSAT prep program in the hopes to become National Merit Scholars. As pressures rise, these high school juniors question what it means to achieve National Merit status, who gets to achieve it, and what it costs.