YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – University Theatre at Youngstown State University will offer a couple of classics – “Arsenic & Old Lace” and “Kiss Me, Kate” – and some newer works in its 2025-26 season.
Season subscriptions and single tickets will go on sale HERE at 10 a.m. Aug. 4.
Performances will start at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
The season will open with “Arsenic & Old Lace,” a dark comedy written by Joseph Kesselring. The play follows Mortimer Brewster, a drama critic who discovers that his elderly aunts have been poisoning lonely men as acts of kindness. Hilarity ensues as Mortimer tries to free his family from the insanity that has claimed their minds.
“Arsenic & Old Lace” will be performed Oct. 3-5 and 10-12 in Ford Theater, on the lower level of Bliss Hall.
“Be More Chill,” a musical based on Ned Vizzini’s novel of the same name, will be performed Nov. 14-16 and 21-23 in Spotlight Theater, also on the lower level of Bliss Hall.
The musical made its Broadway premiere in 2019. It revolves around Jeremy, a social outcast at his high school. He takes a pill containing a supercomputer known as SQUIP to become more popular. It leads to an exploration of identity, technology and the pressures of fitting in.
“Episode 26” will be the first show of the new year. It will be performed Feb. 13-15 and 20-22 in Spotlight Theater.
The play is an affectionate and ingenious send-up of early sci-fi genre serials like “Buck Rogers” and “Flash Gordon.”
Concluding the season will be “Kiss Me, Kate,” the iconic musical by Cole Porter and Bella and Samuel Spewack.
Centered around a production of William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” the show follows the on- and off-stage conflict between its characters – particularly exes Fred and Lilli and their turbulent relationship as they both start seeing other people.
“Kiss Me, Kate” will be performed for one weekend only, April 16-19, in Ford Theater.