Theatre and Dance

Welcome to our Department!

theatre entrance

The Theatre and Dance Department has a performance-oriented program offering undergraduate students, unparalleled opportunity to perform in major department productions beginning in their first year. Our campus is the most diverse in the entire CSU system and we have one of the most innovative theatre and dance curriculums in the state.

Former students work professionally and hold teaching positions locally and across the nation in Acting, Dance, Technical Theater, Design and Stage Management.

Blood at the Root

Cal State University East Bay Department of Theatre and Dance

in association with

Theatre Rhinoceros

presents

Blood at the Root by Dominique Morisseau

Directed by Darryl V. Jones

Choreographed by Laura E. Ellis

Streamed Performance Dates: November 6th at 7:30 pm

On-Demand Streaming Dates: November 7th until November 15th

Performance Location: Online Streaming of Recorded Zoom Movie

To purchase tickets, please visit: Blood at the Root Tickets

Check out our Blood at the Root Study Guide for more information about the play and the playwright.

Blood at the Root Study Guide

BLOOD AT THE ROOT. A striking new ensemble drama based on the Jena Six; six Black students who were initially charged with attempted murder for a school fight after being provoked with nooses hanging from a tree on campus. This bold new play by Dominique Morisseau (Ain't Too Proud, Sunset Baby, Detroit '67, Skeleton Crew) examines the miscarriage of justice, racial double standards, and the crises in relations between men and women of all classes.

Moving, lyrical, and bold, Blood at the Root probes the complexities of race, individual freedoms, and what justice means when biases have been normalized. When the central character, a black female student named Raylynn, decides it's time for a change in her high school, she sits under a tree around which only white students regularly gather. In response—as was the case in Jena—nooses are subsequently hung from that tree, causing many black students to erupt in protest. Things come to a head when six black students, including Raylynn's brother, attack a white student and are brought up on trumped-up charges.

Healing the Trauma of Racism Altar

The Departments of Social Work and Theatre & Dance are proposing the collaborative creation of an altar/installation dedicated to Healing the Trauma of Racism. We envision this as a project that students and faculty in our two departments will start, which can then be added to throughout the fall semester by students, faculty, staff, and community members across campus.

We would like the altar to be a creative site focusing on healing historical, intergenerational, persistent institutional, family, and personal trauma caused by racism. People can contribute images, meaningful objects, stories, poems, and other items, that address any of these themes:

1. Say Their Names: honoring the memory of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color killed by the police and white supremacists in the last two decades (or more);

2. Ancestral Healing: Connecting to our diverse ancestral lineages for rituals, stories, practices, and other healing elements;

3. Intersectionality: Exploring the intersectional webs of oppression, identity, and social justice activism;

4. Planting Seeds for a World Free of Racism: How do we envision a world without racism? What kinds of inclusive community structures do we dream of? How do we get there?

5. Loving and Inhabiting our Bodies: Making space for the unique body each of us lives in (the only one exactly like this, ever in the universe, throughout time.) How can we honor all of our emotional, spiritual, energetic, and physical experiences of racism, trauma, healing, and renewal from within our own bodies? How can we embody social justice now? How can we respect the inherent value and dignity of all bodies--and especially those very different from our own?

Submissions of material for the altar can come through electronic submission, mail, and/or by people who are coming to campus throughout the semester. We will follow university guidelines for making sure the process of contributing to the altar is safe and does not spread the coronavirus.

This altar-installation will be visible at all times through the glass doors of the theatre lobby. We will also photograph and video the altar to make it available online.

We envision a "world premiere" of the first cycle of the altar-installation to take place in conjunction with the opening of the Theatre and Dance Department's fall play, Blood at the Root, which addresses racism and trauma.

The initial ideas for this project are fairly open, so there is lots of room for new ideas and collaboration, as well as connection to fall semester coursework.

Find out more about our Healing the Trauma of Racism Altar

Welcome to our 2020 -2021 Season!

We have an unusual season this year, for the first time ever, we will be streaming all of our productions online.
This year will be different. Due to COVID19, we wanted to maintain the health and safety of our Faculty, Staff, and Students for our productions following the guidelines set by the state of California and California State University East Bay.

To do this, we thought we would try something new. We will be creating and filming our productions all online. Once our filming sessions commence, our Theatre and Dance events will be available to stream online from the comfort of your own home.

More information to come on our streaming services in the months to come.
We hope you will take part in this season and lend your support to our department and the arts as we create performances in this unique way and time.