University Players (UP) is an undergraduate run theatre production company at Indiana University. Theatre for students by students since 1997! Our goal, as a team, is to offer a hands-on, collaborative theatrical experience during a student's tenure at Indiana University no matter how much or how little experience they may have
University Players makes an impact on nearly 1,300 students per year. Our student support is rapidly growing and our performances continue to sell out. All of our productions are free admission: we want theatre to be accessible to all. Last year, nearly 1,000 students attended our shows. Each production has an average cast size of 20 students and a production team of 15-20 additional students. While many Theatre and Musical Theatre majors are involved in our productions, our UP community is made up of students of all majors and career paths.
"This is an untraditional production of Sweeney Todd with unique casting. My vision for this show is to cast all female identifying/non-binary performers except for Judge Turpin who must be a white or white passing male identifying actor. I want to emphasize what I believe is the most important message of the story, which is that Sweeney Todd is not evil, he is a human who is pushed to do evil things out of desperation and powerlessness. Patriarchy and governmental power are the oppressive evils of the story since Judge Turpin’s abuse of power is the real villain, not Sweeney Todd. I will not be making any changes to the script (pronouns will stay as written) and have changed the keys of many songs to accommodate for gender flexible casting. I find it increasingly relevant to explore themes of feminine rage and rebellion, especially now that we are living in a time where people with uteruses no longer have the freedom of choice over their bodies." - Hannah Kulwiak, Director