10/02/2024
By Patricia Coffey

UMass Lowell is proud to be a major partner with Merrimack Repertory Theatre and encourages students, faculty, and staff to take advantage of the generous available discounts to attend performances there.

  • $15 tickets for UMass Lowell students (the only better deal is $5 preview - the first Wednesday of a show or $10 "Lowell" night which is the first Thursday of a show).
  • There are discounts for faculty/staff on subscriptions. They are available on the ticketing website MRT Subscriptions (when selecting a day, choose the UML option from the drop-down menu).

Seats can be reserved at www.mrt.org/subscriptions or by calling 978-654-4678. If interested in bringing a UML group to a show, please contact Patricia_Coffey@uml.edu.

Upcoming shows include:

THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
By Jane Wagner
Oct. 2 – 20, 2024
Intertwining colorful, complex, and hysterically funny characters, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is a timeless play about what makes us human. In a role originated by the formidable Lily Tomlin and written by Emmy Award Winner Jane Wagner, the story holds lasting and quick-witted power as an examination of American society.

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN
By David Catlin
Nov. 8 – 24, 2024
A dark evening of ghost stories springs to haunting life in this adventurous adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous novel. Replete with love, horror, power and unholy experimentation, Frankenstein illuminates the question: what makes us monsters?

A CHRISTMAS CAROL
By Courtney Sale
Dec. 14 – 29, 2024
A holiday treat for the entire family. Experience Dicken’s timeless story of redemption, featuring Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, ghosts, and all your favorite characters including some played by local youth. Spooky, heartwarming, and joyful—with a touch of Lowell lore, it’s the perfect way to recapture the spirit of Christmas and make it last throughout the year.

ELEPHANT AND PIGGIE’S “WE ARE IN A PLAY!”
Book and Lyrics by Mo Willems
Music by Deb Wicks La Puma
Jan. 25, 2025, | Public Performance
When Gerald and Piggie get together, anything is possible. They might get invited to a fancy pool costume party, learn a crazy new dance, or decide to spend the day skipping and playing ping-pong in silly hats. These two pals and their devotion to each other through ups and downs will remind you of how good it feels to put friends first.

LAST DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR AND GRILL
By Lanie Robertson
Feb. 5 – 23, 2025
March 1959. Billie Holiday gives the greatest concert of her life in a South Philadelphia bar. And you have a front row seat. One of MRT audiences’ favorite plays of all time, Lady Day elucidates the life and artistry of Billie Holiday. With songs like Strange Fruit and God Bless the Child, this intimate cabaret experience will leave you breathless.

THE COMEDY OF HAMLET! (A PREQUEL)
By The Reduced Shakespeare Company
March 12 – 30, 2025
Nothing is rotten in the state of Denmark as young Hamlet leaps into action to save the nunnery with Ophelia and Yorick the jester—nothing could go wrong. A fast, funny, and physical extravaganza filled with scary ghosts, wee Scots, singing nuns, and a mysterious vassal in the castle. MRT friends, The Reduced Shakespeare Company, take a deep, irreverent dive into the greatest play ever written.

WHAT YOU ARE NOW
By Sam Chanse
April 23 – May 11, 2025
Set in Lowell, What You Are Now follows Pia, a passionate young researcher investigating new ideas about how to heal the mind from traumatic memories. Her interest is deeply intertwined with her family’s history. When a figure from the past shows up, urging Pia’s mother to testify about her experiences during the violence of 1970s Cambodia, unresolved histories are brought to the surface. what you are now is a thrillingly insightful new play that asks the audience to move through the shifting dance between the past and present, and to consider how with new understanding we might change “who you were then” to “what you are now.”