What the Constitution Means to Me
Sep. 19–23, 7:30 p.m.
Sep. 24, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Katherine Hammond
Beginning in middle school, Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.
2023-2024 Season
What the Constitution Means to Me
Sep. 19–23, 7:30 p.m.
Sep. 24, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Katherine Hammond
Beginning in middle school, Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Purchase Tickets>
The Women of Troy
Oct. 12–14 & 18–21, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 22, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
Written and directed by Deborah Wallace
Produced by ODURep
Another senseless war is won, a great city is reduced to ashes, and the women of defeated Troy must pay the reparations with their lives - through enslavement or death. In Argos, the bereaved and embittered Queen Clytemnestra awaits the return of the victors with a furious vengeance that has been brewing for a decade, since Agamemnon’s sacrifice of her beloved daughter to appease Artemis and speed Grecian ships to their attack on Troy.
Be careful who your hubris offends! The gods interfere in human affairs for their own amusement and purposes - all too often there is a shockingly high cost for both the guilty and the innocent.
The Women of Troy, produced with the generous support of the Hellenic Studies Endowment, is the final chapter in Deborah Wallace's visually stunning and powerfully evocative Apollo & Artemis Trilogy, the sequel to Niobe and Artemis, I.
Free parking is available in Constant Center/45th St. Garage.
Blood at the Root
Nov. 9–11 & 15–18, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Brittney S. Harris
In 1939, Billie Holiday sang, “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” In 2006, white high school students in Jena, Louisiana hung nooses on their campus tree, igniting the ever-present racial powder keg. The school fight that resulted ended with the Jena Six, all Black students, being arrested for attempted murder.
Blood at the Root is a striking drama based on these true events. This bold, lyrical play or “choreopoem” by Dominique Morisseau reveals our criminal justice system’s ingrained white supremacy, the exhausting persistence of racial double standards, and the resulting effects on the lives of Black people and their families.
As Maya Phillips, for American Theatre (TCG) writes:
[Blood at the Root] aims to take the language of incrimination, of privilege, of prejudice, and transform it into poetry, music, and choreography that does not obscure the underlying sociopolitical messages, but rather highlights and recontextualizes them, steering them away from the straightforward black and white of the issue to instead probe the grey areas of politics and social culpability.
Amid music, choral performances, and dance, each student explores his or her proximity to the events and determines their place within a tradition of hatred and segregation.
Free parking is available in Constant Center/45th St. Garage.
What the Constitution Means to Me
Sep. 19–23, 7:30 p.m.
Sep. 24, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Katherine Hammond
Beginning in middle school, Heidi Schreck earned her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this hilarious, hopeful, and achingly human new play, she resurrects her teenage self to trace the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives. Purchase Tickets>
The Women of Troy
Oct. 12–14 & 18–21, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 22, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
Written and directed by Deborah Wallace
Produced by ODURep
Another senseless war is won, a great city is reduced to ashes, and the women of defeated Troy must pay the reparations with their lives - through enslavement or death. In Argos, the bereaved and embittered Queen Clytemnestra awaits the return of the victors with a furious vengeance that has been brewing for a decade, since Agamemnon’s sacrifice of her beloved daughter to appease Artemis and speed Grecian ships to their attack on Troy.
Be careful who your hubris offends! The gods interfere in human affairs for their own amusement and purposes - all too often there is a shockingly high cost for both the guilty and the innocent.
The Women of Troy, produced with the generous support of the Hellenic Studies Endowment, is the final chapter in Deborah Wallace's visually stunning and powerfully evocative Apollo & Artemis Trilogy, the sequel to Niobe and Artemis, I.
Free parking is available in Constant Center/45th St. Garage.
Blood at the Root
Nov. 9–11 & 15–18, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 19, 2 p.m.
Goode Theatre
By Dominique Morisseau
Directed by Brittney S. Harris
In 1939, Billie Holiday sang, “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” In 2006, white high school students in Jena, Louisiana hung nooses on their campus tree, igniting the ever-present racial powder keg. The school fight that resulted ended with the Jena Six, all Black students, being arrested for attempted murder.
Blood at the Root is a striking drama based on these true events. This bold, lyrical play or “choreopoem” by Dominique Morisseau reveals our criminal justice system’s ingrained white supremacy, the exhausting persistence of racial double standards, and the resulting effects on the lives of Black people and their families.
As Maya Phillips, for American Theatre (TCG) writes:
[Blood at the Root] aims to take the language of incrimination, of privilege, of prejudice, and transform it into poetry, music, and choreography that does not obscure the underlying sociopolitical messages, but rather highlights and recontextualizes them, steering them away from the straightforward black and white of the issue to instead probe the grey areas of politics and social culpability.
Amid music, choral performances, and dance, each student explores his or her proximity to the events and determines their place within a tradition of hatred and segregation.
Free parking is available in Constant Center/45th St. Garage.
About ODURep
ODURep is the production arm of the Old Dominion University Theatre Program. The goal of ODURep is to give a voice to student and professional artists as we create theatre together for the Hampton Roads community.
Department of Communication & Theatre Arts
Theatre@ODU is home to passionate artists seeking to explore the possibilities, excitement and energy of the performing arts. ODURep is the production arm of the Old Dominion University Theatre Program in the Department of Communication and Theatre Arts.