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An actor in a cream vest stands with arms raised against a towering white paper glacier on the Continuity set, with a painted mountain backdrop behind her

Drama

Continuity Leaves No Footprint Behind

November 5, 2026

Inside the fully sustainable UCI Drama staging of Bess Wohl’s climate dark comedy

A low-angle view of the Contemporary Arts Center, with bronze letters spelling its name along a red-orange entrance canopy, a facade of teal and navy glass panels and a red brick wall against a clear blue sky.

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UCI Arts Summer 2026 Faculty Highlights

October 23, 2026

A look at faculty news and creative activity from summer 2026

On a sunlit wooden stage dressed as a beachside boardwalk, with signs for “Windsor Cove” and “Shallow’s Surf Shack,” a laughing man in an open white shirt dips a smiling woman in a yellow polka-dot top and full yellow skirt as she kicks one leg high. Audience members seated around the stage edge look on and smile.

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At New Swan Latine Artists Bring Themselves to Shakespeare

October 12, 2026

A fall panel looks back at The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove and the artists who shaped it

Emily Parise, in a white sweater and periwinkle dress, smiles beside a railing on the River Thames, with Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament in the background.

Drama

UCI Arts Alumna Emily Parise Joins Baylor University Faculty

October 9, 2026

The Shakespeare scholar and dramaturg begins a tenure-track position in theatre arts

Nine OC Arts Awards honorees in formal attire pose together on a staircase with glass railings in a bright, modern lobby. A grand piano is visible behind them.

Dance

Drama

OC Arts Awards Recognize 26 Years of Creativity and Community

October 7, 2026

Representatives from dozens of local arts organizations gather to honor Ann Phong, Eli Simon, Janet and Walke Ray and other influential arts figures and organizations

Kurt Kana, wearing a plaid shirt over a white tank top, speaks on stage with his hands open beside a camera on a tripod. A projection behind him shows a black-and-white close-up of a face and the words "Mr. Ken Narasaki, Actor, Playwright, 'No-No Boy' (2007)."

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Artists to Watch Series: Kurt Kana

October 6, 2026

A Q&A with the Drama M.F.A. candidate ahead of his third solo show

Lourdes Castillo as Juliet, arms outstretched and smiling on a balcony in a pale nightgown and robe, in New Swan Shakespeare Festival's Romeo & Juliet.

Drama

Three UCI Drama Artists Nominated for Orange Curtain Review Awards

September 29, 2026

Nominations recognize work at the UC Irvine Department of Drama and the New Swan Shakespeare Festival

Drama

UC Irvine Drama's 2026-27 Season

September 29, 2026

Six productions explore ambition, identity and the courage to connect

Performers in trench coats and fedoras point upward in unison onstage in a production choreographed by Andrew Palermo, with an orchestra and chorus seated behind them.

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Already in Practice

September 28, 2026

At UCI Arts, curriculum and collaboration turn arts education into a professional pathway

Production photo from Mother Russia, a small lit shop set cluttered with boxes and shelves of goods sits onstage as a man writes at a desk, beneath a giant painted face looming in the darkness above

Drama

Vincent Olivieri's design for Mother Russia selected for U.S. National Exhibit at 2027 Prague Quadrennial

September 22, 2026

Design and score from the Seattle Repertory Theatre premiere will travel to Prague