After a busy semester of shows, the School of Dramatic Arts is looking forward to a mix of plays and musicals as part of its Spring 2025 mainstage productions. With everything from a Shakespeare classic to a musical about hating the bard, there is something for everybody coming up. This will be the second full semester putting to use the brand new Sanctuary Theater in the Dramatic Arts Building — to be renamed the Dick Wolf Drama Center in the spring.

In addition to these exciting performances on the SDA mainstage, there will as always be independent student productions, class productions and staged readings of new works from the SDA Master of Fine Arts Dramatic Writing students. The latter will be announced at a later date, while independent student productions will be announced on a rolling basis as the semester progresses.

With three plays and an awe-inspiring musical, SDA students will surely be busy bringing theater to the greater University community and beyond.

Troilus and Cressida
“Troilus and Cressida” was written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s. Over 420 years since its inception, it will take the stage at the Bing Theatre from Feb. 14 to 23, 2025. After an exciting rivalry victory for USC football against UCLA, the University can shift its focus to another Trojan rivalry: that of the Trojan War.

The play tells the story of the titular Trojan prince, Troilus, who — in classic Shakespearean fashion — has fallen head over heels for Cressida, who feels the same way toward him. Conflict arises when Cressida is traded to the Greeks in exchange for a Trojan prisoner. With a tale that delves into love, betrayal and war, the Trojans — the USC kind — will surely find themselves invested in the events that will unfold.

“Troilus and Cressida” has already been cast and is set to star Oscar Salvaggio, a junior majoring in acting, stage and screen, as Troilus and Toni Willis, an MFA theater as well as film and television production as Cressida. Shakespeare can be done many ways, and based on SDA’s past innovations, it will be interesting to see the direction taken for this rendition.

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Blue Stockings
“Blue Stockings,” by Jessica Swale, will inhabit McClintock Theatre from March 14 to 30, 2025. The show was first produced in 2013 at The Globe in London and is set in 1896. The Globe production had mixed reviews, with many critics mentioning the potential the show has that was not capitalized on.

The show tells the story of the first British university to accept students who are women. The story focuses on four students and their efforts to fight for their educational rights, underscored by larger ideas of women’s suffrage. Actors and production crew will be challenged to bring a new light and maximize the show’s potential at the McClintock Theatre.

Something Rotten!
In a season that already promises to transport audiences to various time periods, “Something Rotten,” conceived by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick, is there to say, “Welcome to the Renaissance.”

If Nick Bottom, the show’s main character, had a chance to see the upcoming SDA season, he would surely cringe at “Troilus and Cressida,” as he states in a very catchy tune, “God, I Hate Shakespeare.” Coming in as SDA’s Spring 2025 musical, with open auditions for all USC students regardless of major, “Something Rotten” has been done time and time again and for good reason.

The musical comedy will bring a sea of laughter to Bing Theatre from April 4 to 12, 2025. The show follows the Bottom brothers and their attempts to make a show that tops their biggest writing rival, Shakespeare himself. Through hijinks, fortune tellers and a myriad of fun references, “Something Rotten” is one of the leading musicals of the last decade.

Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches
“Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches” is the first of two, oftentimes presented separately, parts of the full Angels in America story. The show is written by Tony Kushner and is known as a cornerstone of American plays.

The show will be the final mainstage production of Spring 2025, running from April 18 to 27, 2025, at the Sanctuary Theatre. The show is a powerful story set in the middle of the AIDS crisis and the Reagan era. Taking home in such a unique venue, there is good reason to believe that this will be a fantastic addition to the SDA repertoire, with audiences getting a slice of what theater has the power to do.