Northwestern’s Wirtz Center announces MFA Lab Series

Evanston, Ill. --- Northwestern’s Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts kicks off its annual MFA Collaboration series on Friday, Nov. 22 with a gripping drama about four roommates whose Sunday morning drinks lead to explosive revelations. Productions continue into the winter and spring quarters of 2025.

The MFA Lab series brings together Northwestern’s second-year MFA theater directors with MFA designers, creating collaborations that represent the future of theater. All productions will be staged in the Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater, 1949 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus.

Performances for all MFA Lab Series productions are Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $8 in advance for Northwestern students (or $12 at the door).

More information and single tickets are available on the Wirtz Center website. Tickets are available by phone at 847-491-7282 or in person at the Wirtz Center Box Office, located in the lobby of the Ethel M. Barber Theater, 30 Arts Circle Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

2025 MFA Co-Lab Series

“Sunday on the Rocks”
Nov. 22-24
By Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Mariana Parejo Molinares

On a beautiful Sunday morning in mid-October, three housemates decide to have scotch for breakfast. As they drink and joke, Elly, Jen and Gayle try to figure out what it means to be a woman in the world. Everybody is having a great time until Jessica shows up, their fourth roommate, who apparently has everything under control. This feminist comedy by Theresa Rebeck serves up honesty, hard choices and A LOT of scotch. 

“Wink”
Feb. 14-16
By Jen Silverman
Directed by Claire Bauman

“Wink” follows unhappy housewife Sofie and her breadwinning husband, Gregor, who both receive weekly counseling from an unorthodox therapist, Doctor Frans. Their current topic of tension is their cat, Wink. When Wink goes missing, violent desires, domestic anarchy and feline vengeance emerge, threatening the neatly ordered reality of Sofie, Gregor and Doctor Frans. A dark comedy about the thin, thin line between desire and deconstruction.“Mancub”
May 16-18
By Douglas Maxwell
Directed by Christopher Michael Richardson

“Mancub” is the beautiful and absurd story of Paul, an unremarkable teenage boy who seems to be turning into animals. While facing the usual struggles of growing up — fighting with his dad about the milk, soccer practice and flirting — Paul also faces an atypical challenge. His reality keeps shifting, as the lines blur between the human and the beastly.