Loyola University Presents “Critters,” a New Play by Theatre Arts & Dance Alum Emma Schillage

The Department of Theatre Arts & Dance (TAD) at Loyola University is pleased to present "Critters," a play about belief, transformation and what it means to face the unknown together, from Nov. 13-22, at Marquette Theater, on the Loyola campus.

Written by Loyola TAD Alum Emma Schillage '19, Critters opens in a small patch of forest, where a group of animals is busy preparing for An Actual Birthday Party. Fawn announces to the rest of the critters that she has an Odd Feeling that The World As We Know It is coming to an end.

Most of the critters brush off her warning, but unease begins to spread. Days later, fear takes hold when several animals make a startling decision: They plan to Become Human.

As the group splinters, the critters face impossible questions. What does the end of the world actually look like? Is becoming human the key to survival of who they are? Must everything change in order to endure? And if the world is ending, how do you choose the right path forward?

Helen Jaksch, chair of the Theatre Arts & Dance department and a professor of practice in Theatre Arts, is directing the play. She said she commissioned Schillage to write Critters to give students a truly unique experience that would be both positive and rigorous, and to trust the education that Schillage received at Loyola.

"We're putting our money where our mouth is," said Jaksch of Schillage, a queer, Southern Gothic playwright based in New Orleans and New York City, who went on to earn her MFA at Columbia University. "We trust the training we're giving to our students."

The musical runs 90 minutes, with performances on Nov. 13-15 and Nov. 19-22, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 for students with an ID; $16 for senior citizens, and Loyola faculty and staff with an ID; and, $21 for adults.