Tantrum Theater announces its 2026–2027 season

Tantrum Theater, Ohio University's resident professional theater company, has announced its 2026–2027 season, featuring “Peter and the Starcatcher” and “Cabaret.” Tickets for the season are now on sale at https://www.ohio.edu/fine-arts/tantrum-theater.

Now entering its second decade, Tantrum remains committed to the belief that rigorous artistic practice and education are mutually sustaining pursuits. During the 2026–2027 season, students from Ohio University's School of Theater will collaborate with guest artists from across the country, ensuring that each production serves as a work of art, an opportunity for student development and a point of connection between the University and the surrounding region.

Tantrum gives Ohio University students a critical dimension of theater training: sustained experience creating work alongside accomplished professionals while pursuing their degree. Students contribute directly to the productions and learn the expectations of the field through the work itself. Guest artists working on the shows extend that exchange into classrooms and workshops, bringing current professional practice directly into the School of Theater curriculum. The result is an unusually direct pathway between a university education and a career.

This season’s productions reflect Tantrum’s ongoing commitment to stories that are artistically adventurous and deeply human. Together they demonstrate theatre’s remarkable capacity to strengthen the ties that bind communities together. 

Image

“Peter and the Starcatcher” 
Nov. 5–21, 2026

A play by Rick Elice 
Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Music by Wayne Barker
Directed by Brendon Fox

Embark on a wildly imaginative voyage with “Peter and the Starcatcher,” the five-time Tony® Award-winning play that brilliantly reimagines how a young orphan became “the boy who wouldn't grow up.” Overflowing with boundless creativity and a ton of heart, this hilarious romp of a play reminds us all that anything is possible when we dare to believe. 

“Cabaret”
Feb. 25–March 20, 2027

Book by Joe Masteroff
Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood
Music by John Kander Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Directed and choreographed by Eric Sciotto

Step inside the intoxicating world of “Cabaret,” where the hedonistic nightlife of the Kit Kat Club surrounds a cast of dreamers, performers and outsiders chasing decadence and freedom. Eerily relevant, “Cabaret” is a seductive and haunting celebration of living for the moment while the world around you teeters on the edge of chaos. 

“I believe deeply in the power of theater,” Artistic Director Ellie Clark said. “It gives us a glimpse behind the closed doors of someone else’s most private existence. It is where we gather to see ourselves—and one another—with greater clarity. It entertains us, but it also challenges and connects us; it reminds us that storytelling itself is a courageous act and a powerful form of resistance.

While seemingly vastly different, these two productions speak to one another in meaningful ways. “Peter and the Starcatcher” reminds us that curiosity, compassion and imagination are not naïve ideals—they are powerful acts. It reminds us that hope is not inherited; it is created through our actions, our courage and our willingness to choose it every day. “Cabaret” challenges that hope, examining how fear and indifference can erode a society as democracy gives way to fascism. Together, these works ask us to remain curious instead of fearful, engaged instead of indifferent and courageous instead of complacent.

“Beyond the focus of pursuing a career, it is essential that universities prepare students for citizenship and a life of meaning,” Rachel Cornish, Tantrum’s founding producing director, said. “The arts remain fundamental to this work because they cultivate the human capacity to encounter perspectives beyond our own. In my opinion, Tantrum demonstrates exactly what can happen when a university invests in the arts as both an educational endeavor and a public good. Last season, nearly thirty incredibly talented guest artists joined us in Athens to create work, mentor students and share their expertise in our classrooms. More than 100 student and professional artists help bring each production to life, creating extraordinary opportunities for learning and extraordinary theater! We are so very proud to offer our students experiences of this kind and equally proud to share this work with the community that makes it possible.” 

Work on the season is already well underway. Design meetings have begun, creative teams have been assembled and auditions for “Peter and the Starcatcher” were held in New York in mid-July as preparations continue for the fall production. Although audiences will not experience these productions until the coming months, the process of building them is in full swing with conversations and creative thinking among artists across the country and here in Athens.