Swarthmore College Department of Theater

06/06/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT: This Fall 2025, Swarthmore Theater's Production Ensemble course presents The Threepenny Opera in a new production directed by Assistant Professor Jude Sandy and performed in November on the LPAC Mainstage. This play with music, singing and ensemble movement shines a spotlight on a society devoid of morality, and the hunger for human connection that lives within us all. Participation is open to all Swarthmore Students for course credit! Interested performers please register for THEA 022: Production Ensemble.

05/09/2025

Swat Theater Senior Sophia Pereda-Echeverry ('25) has been described by their professors as visionary, and their work proves it. This year, they led two honors projects--one in playwriting and another in directing. These two pieces--this light says i love you and see u soon dont get microwaved--capture our current moment, and the way it shapes the relationships between individuals. As a people-centric director and playwright, they are able to build strong ensemble of performers who trust and support each other. Their wholehearted approach to ensemble building will serve them well as they move into the professional theater world.

Congratulations Sophia and all the best in your next endeavors!

Photo 1 - A shot from Sophia's Honors Senior Thesis in Directing, this light says i love you (2025) Photo by Eli Eisenstein
Photo 2 - Sophia in a talkback for their Honors Senior Thesis in Playwriting, see u soon don't get microwaved (2024) Photo by Howard Wang.
Photo 3 - Sophia in An Evening of Devised Theater (Spring 2022) Screenshot of a video by Jean Tierno

05/08/2025

Clara Mulligan is a Special Major in Taiko, but their knack for rhythm has served them as an actor for Swat Theater as well. Known to be curious, they bring an investigative quality to their character building. Their generous spirit, and incisive determination give them a magnetic quality on stage. Last seen in this light says i love you, Clara used dance further explore the character that they built alongside with the rest of the ensemble. We have so enjoyed having them at Swat Theater!

Congratulations Clara!

Photo 1 - Clara in this light says i love you (2025) Photo by Eli Eisenstein
Photo 2 - Clara Mulligan in a photo from The Wolves (2022)

05/08/2025

Alora Young is an Honors Special Major in Spoken Word Pedagogy, and her work proceeds her. An intrepid writer, she signed her first book deal at 18, making her the youngest speaker of the Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau. Her soulful and capacious work was highlighted in her most recent solo show: Teaching Eurydice How to Love Again. A naturally gifted performer, we were so lucky to work with Alora during her time at Swarthmore. We wish her the best in graduation!

Congratulations Alora!

Photo 1 - Alora in her solo work Teaching Eurydice to Love Again (2025). 📸: Howard Wang

05/07/2025

We are honored to highlight graduating theater senior Selma Wu. An innovative thinker, Selma's double major in Art makes her a creative force both in the classroom and on stage. Her generous spirit serves her well as a collaborator, and her thirst for adventure drives her big character choices. Watch out world for this bold maker!

Congratulations Selma!

Photo 1 - Selma in The Skin of Our Teeth, (2022)
Photo 2 - Selma along with Seniors Martín and Panhovoan in Senior Company's Speech and Debate (2024)

05/06/2025

Panhavoan Reth, a Swat Theater Major, has been a staple of our department since he started four years ago. A perceptive actor, he works hard to bring every detail of his characters to life, whether that be as a tortured writer in The Pillowman or as an eager student journalist in Speech and Debate. He is clever, and always cheerful--two qualities that make him indispensible in a rehearsal room. We are so lucky to have had him in the Frear!

Congratulations Panhavoan!

Photo 1 - Panhavoan in an excerpt from The Pillowman in Night of Scenes 2023. 📸: Tehya Basileia
Photo 2 - Panhavoan in Everybody (2023) 📸: Cara Anderson

05/06/2025

Theater Senior Madison Burch--better known as Murch to her friends--is a passionate theater major with a taste for the idiosyncratic. Her imaginative mind made her an essential collaborator in the creation of 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go, the latest Production Ensemble. We wish this wild one all the best as she moves on to her next challenge!

Congratulations Maddie!

Photos 1 + 2 - Madison Burch in 32 Very Short Plays About Letting Go. Photos by Jaime Alvarez and Howard Wang

05/05/2025

Throughout this next week, we want to take this opportunity to celebrate our graduating Senior Theater Majors. First up is Martín Villagra-Riquelme, a Theater and Education/Psych Special Major. Known for being caring, energetic and candid, Martín has taken to the Frear stage as a director and an actor.

They were most recently seen in Senior Company's Speech and Debate. To catch their directing work, come out to Night of Scenes this week to see their culminating coursework for the Directing II Class! And we are excited to see what they get up to after they graduate

Congratulations Martín!

(Photo 1 - Martín in an excerpt from Thanksgiving Play as a part of Fall Night of Scenes 2023
Photo 2 - Martín leads their actors in an excerpt from Glass Menagerie in the Fall Night of Scenes 2022
Photo 3 - Martín in Senior Company's Speech and Debate 2024)

04/29/2025

Up Next at Swat Theater: The Spring Directing II students present their annual Night of Scenes as the final piece of their coursework this May. Advised by K. Elizabeth Stevens, these young directors follow their interests and hone their skills through intensive work crafting one act performances performed by Swat students. Mark your calendars for this exciting night of new work!

May 6th + May 7th at 8:00 PM -- Frear Ensemble Theater

04/16/2025

Happy Opening Weekend to Archduke at the Wilma Theater! Associate Professor Matthew Saunders returns to the Wilma with this upcycled design. The set for Archduke was built completely out of used shipping pallets and other recycled materials. No new steel or wood was purchased to complete the design! Check out his model here, and a selfie from Matt on the built set

Archduke runs through May 4th and features Swat Alum Suli Holum ('97). Get your tickets now!

04/02/2025

Up Next for Swat Theater: this light says i love you, an honors thesis in directing and a new piece of dance theater from Sophia Pereda-Echeverry.

a new piece of dance theater created by Juno Chang '24, Keira Dandy '25, Joe Fox '27, Montana Hamel ‘26, Ivy Hoffman '27, Nico Johnson '26, Emily Lathers '25, Clara Mulligan '25, Aviva Nathan '28, Izzy Reel ‘28 and Sophia Pereda-Echeverry ‘25

Friday April 18 8:00 PM
Saturday April 19 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM
Sunday April 20 8:00 PM
Frear Ensemble Theater
Free and Open to the Public!
For More Information, please contact [email protected]

new roommates share space as once-close friends grow distant. while someone grows into the person they’re meant to be, another learns new ways of moving through the world. amidst the honk of geese and the punch of shrimp, two friends share an embrace. this light says i love you is a dance theater piece that explores human connection through closeness and across distance. created collaboratively by the cast, this brand new performance asks what it means to be near and far from the bodies around us.

03/14/2025

Congratulations to Professor Isaiah Wooden being granted continuous tenure and his recent promotion to Associate Professor! Isaiah talks about his time with our Swat Theater students in the most recent edition of the Swarthmore Bulletin! Check it out here!

When Isaiah Matthew Wooden stands before his occasionally distracted students in his Theater and Performance class, he reminds them that he is a performer, too. As Wooden sees it, his job is to expose his students to theater’s power. The power to foster a unique kind of attention, and to summon a ...