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The Mill Theatre

Elmhurst is large enough to offer a very strong theatre program, but small enough that even freshmen can get involved and make a difference. Our Mill Theatre offers a full season of productions each year, including musicals, straight plays, a one-act festival of student directing projects, and a children's theatre production. The 2004-2005 season included more than nine separate productions, as well as performances by the improv troupe, Wasteful Thinking, and professional artists-in-residence, Sense of Urgency Productions.

Recent successes have been the Broadway musicals Cabaret, Into the Woods, and HONK!; the contemporary dramas Prelude to a Kiss, Waiting for Godot, and I Stand Before You Naked; and the classics The Importance of Being Earnest, Lysistrata, and Much Ado About Nothing. Original scripts and student directed and designed productions are frequently staged. Students have also staged a critically acclaimed production of The Vagina Monologues in cooperation with the international V-Day movement.

The Mill Theatre complex includes a full scene shop, costume shop, state-of-the-art light board, sound board and equipment, full inventory of lighting equipment, costume storage, and ample furniture and properties storage.

Theatre majors and non-majors have plenty of opportunities to gain experience in design, construction, performance, and management. Elmhurst College actors, designers, and technicians compete annually in the American College Theatre Festival. Guest directors and writers come to campus to share their insights; many students participate in our London theatre travel course during January Term.