UMBC Theatre presents John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower, directed by Susan Stroupe. In a high school English class, a group of lively teens are studying “The Crucible” while navigating young love, sex education, and the founding of a feminist club. Holding a contemporary lens to the American classic, the kids uncover more than one school scandal and discover their own power in the process. Alternately touching and bitingly funny, this new comedy runs on pop music, fury, and the audacity of a new generation coming-of-age.

UMBC Theatre presents in the darkest forest, directed by Nigel Semaj. Inspired by the aesthetics of horror films, Semaj and company go on a journey into Shakespeare’s “forest” plays where characters find adventure, terror, and transformation. This new work combines elements from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth to explore how the wildness of the psyche is mirrored in the wildness of the natural world.