The 2023 edition of Columbia College Chicago‘s student-powered Manifest Arts Festival takes place Friday, May 12, to celebrate student achievements at the end of the 2022-23 school year, and the Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department is proudly participating, with performances in the areas of Playwriting, Musical Theatre, Stage Combat, Solo Performance, Devised Performance, and Comedy Writing and Performance, as well as an exhibit of work by students in the department’s Theatre Design and Technology program. All Theatre Department events are free at the historic Getz Theatre Center of Columbia College, located at 72 E. 11th St. in Chicago’s South Loop. Events include:

Combat! – a rip-roaring, high-paced, full-out display of stage fighting under the direction of faculty member David Woolley, coordinator of the Theatre Department’s Stage Combat Minor – 1 to 1:45 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Sheldon Patinkin Theatre.

Good Time Girls – sketch comedy by an all-female comedy team under the auspices of the Theatre Department’s BA Program in Comedy Writing and Performance – 1 to 1:45 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Courtyard Theatre.

Puxatawny Beauty Pageant to Save the Children Musical – sketches, songs, and mayhem from Columbia College’s up-and-coming comedy troupe – 1:45 to 3 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Courtyard Theatre.

Advanced Playwriting – A showcase of work by students in the Theatre Department’s Playwriting Program led by faculty coordinator Paul Amandes – 2 to 3 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Sheldon Patinkin Theatre.

Playwrights Aloud – A fast and fun student-produced program featuring a collection of captivating short plays from the up-and-coming talent of Columbia College Theatre – 3 to 4:15 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Courtyard Theatre.

Solo Performance – One-person original performances by student actor-writers under the guidance of faculty member and Columbia College alum Stephanie Shaw ’92 (Theatre), MFA ’09 (Creative Writing) – 3:15 to 4:15 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Sheldon Patinkin Theatre.

Writing for Musical Theatre – Showcase of new work by student librettists, lyricists, and composers – 5:30 to 6:30 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Sheldon Patinkin Theatre.

Sunday in the Park with George – Cabaret-style performance of songs from the Theatre Department’s recent 2022-23 Mainstage Season production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine – 5:30 to 6:30 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Courtyard Theatre.

EKSTASIS: Encounters with Dionysus – Graduate students in the Theatre Department’s cutting-edge MA/MFA Program in Acting and Contemporary Performance Making present a series of site-specific performances inspired by Euripides’ The Bakkhai. This promenade-style performance will involve moving from one location to another within and outside the Getz Theatre Center, with no walk being longer than three minutes. The performance includes strobe lights. 7:30 to 9 PM, Getz Theatre Center.

Also, throughout the day, a Senior Showcase of the work of students in the Theatre Department’s Theatre Design and Technology BA Program highlights the diverse talents of our costume, scenic, and lighting design and stage management students – 1 to 6 PM in the Getz Theatre Center’s Studio 404.

For a full college-wide schedule of Manifest events, click here.

In addition to the free events at Manifest, the Theatre Department’s BA/BFA Musical Theatre Program will present The New Kids in Town, a cabaret showcase of performances by graduating seniors, on Friday, May 12, at 8 PM at Davenport’s Piano Bar and Cabaret, located at 1383 N. Milwaukee in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets for this off-campus event are $15 plus a two-drink minimum; must be 21+ to attend. For tickets, click here.