Each year, the DU Drama Ensemble (D.U.D.E.) provides a unique opportunity for DU students to showcase their talents. This opportunity is called New and Emerging Works (N.E.W.), and it features student-written, student-directed and student-acted plays. N.E.W. not only gives students the chance to get involved in theatre, but also allows people the experience of receiving feedback and workshopping to create a performance-ready production.

In the past, students have put on plays regarding anything from romance, murder and relationships to Juicy Fruit, art heists and Dungeons and Dragons. Some productions begin in N.E.W. and continue on to larger venues. For example, DU student Lexie Robbins wrote a play called “Beth.” The show was workshopped and performed for N.E.W. and was later presented as a DU Theatre Department main stage show in the winter of 2015, directed by professor Rick Barbour and starring a local professional actor. Another successful play is “Un-Speakable,” a show written by DU’s own H. E. Young. The play began as part of N.E.W., but it was later performed at The Bakery, a local venue in Denver. The student involvement continued through the show’s production, as the show was grant supported and performed by PartyHAT Productions, a professional theatre company comprised of DU alumni and students.

N.E.W. is a fantastic opportunity to be a part of, whether that includes submitting a play, running the event or simply coming to support DU comrades. The 2016 New and Emerging Works performance, free of charge and open to all, is Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Byron Theatre at the Newman Center.