TAPS BA Performances | Spring 2026

Gabriel Brumberg is an actor, musician, and writer from Washington, DC. After catching the performance bug at a young age and variously pursuing magic, ventriloquy, stage acting, and folk singing, he came to UChicago, where he learned to overthink and write long essays about art and philosophy. Newly infected with the ‘theory bug,’ he double-majored in Theater and Fundamentals, conducted research at Court Theatre, and ventured into dramaturgy, working with playwright Heather Raffo on her Migration Play Cycle. Still a performer, his credits include: UT: Red Rex, Cactus Flower, Twelfth Night; TAPS: The Ballad of Oedipus; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Noura; Variations Theater Company: Capriccio Radio. As a multi-instrumentalist and jazz pianist, Gabriel has performed around the DC area at cafes, blues clubs, community markets, and private events. Huge thanks to his parents for their endless support, and for raising him on the songs to which his thesis is an homage!

Ready, Aim, Sing!

Throughout the American Folk Revival, artists weathered party infighting, FBI surveillance, and even violent riots in their quest to change the world through song. This solo performance––part play, part concert, part lecture––traces the history of folk protest music in the United States, interrogating the belief that “my song is my weapon.”

Camille Cypher is a writer from Oakland, California, majoring in Creative Writing, Public Policy, and Theater and Performance Studies. While she originally planned to study Economics, she quickly fell in love with comedy through Off-Off Campus. Over the last four years and alongside her dear friends, she’s put up sketch shows at the Second City, directed ripaway pants montages, and even created a short film! Her work is informed by interviews, her background in creative nonfiction, and the wacky things she doesn’t quite understand about the world (aka politics and investment bankers). When she’s not writing, she’s playing soccer, tending to her many plants, and making faces with and at her friends, her family, and babies on the train.

INVESTED.

When a cutthroat group of investment bankers in a weekly improv workshop is asked to put on a show at the company holiday party, they must risk embarrassing themselves in front of their colleagues to build genuine relationships.

Emily is a fourth-year Public Policy and Sociology major and TAPS minor. After four years, she has accumulated over 30 UT/TAPS credits as a lighting designer, actor, and curator. The has also just concluded a year-long term as UT Committee Chair that (she hopes) imbued an affinity for action items in everyone she interacted with. Jokes aside, this thesis is her love letter to lighting design, University Theater, and the amazing people she has met along the way that have loved, befriended, and mentored her through all that UChicago had to offer. She would like to extend thanks to Garrett, Devon, and Julia for helping her develop this project. She would also like to extend special thanks to her amazing cast: Anya, Rachel, Robert, and Maggie (extra special thanks to Maggie for her amazing choreography) for letting her shine bright lights at them while they do things!

Altered Perception(s)

Situated in the context of Carol Churchill's Love & Information, design comes to the forefront in an examination of how storytelling can occur through light and how a repetitive manipulation of perception can alter meaning.

Joseph DePaula is a Medieval Studies & History double-major (and TAPS minor!) from Hammond, Louisiana. He's served on the University Theater Committee for two years and the Cup of Theater & Attori Senza Paura boards for three, and he’s gotten to take photos of every UT and CoT show that has gone up over the last two years! Throughout his time at the University, he's also been involved as a director, stage manager, production manager, dramaturg, and actor. After graduation, well, the wind bloweth where it listeth! But in the meantime, he’d like to thank his family and his friends—all of whom have improved his life immensely, and if not for whom he would never have done or stuck with theatre, which he's been doing for most of his life. This script is a product of his 15-some-odd years in the theatre and his lifetime spent in the Gulf South.

A Plot to End This Town

When a scholar shows up claiming that this small, Southern town has a more nuanced past than previously known, its people are forced to grapple with the past as they struggle to decide how to move forward.

Alex Flores is set to graduate with a degree in Molecular Engineering and a minor in TAPS. He does not really know what to write for his bio, so he’ll just let you know that he likes theater because it keeps him sane. He considers himself to be a halfway-decent writer and a passable actor. He cannot wait to graduate and go back to Texas. Ok, that’s all. Move along.

Blurring the Line

I present my TAPS thesis and there are no issues whatsoever. There are definitely no fictional characters that come to life. I mean why would they even show up: nothing goes wrong and everyone is fine.

A Political Science and TAPS minor at the college, born and raised in San Juan Puerto Rico. You might have seen her in Student productions with University Theater, working on events at the Institute of Politics, or exploring the cities many restaurants and dance clubs.

The Two Storms: A story of life during Maria

When a devastating Category 5 hurricane approaches Puerto Rico, three teenagers shelter together and must confront not only the storm outside but the painful question of whether their future lies on the island they love or somewhere beyond it.

Nina explores storytelling through writing, acting, and filmmaking, to name a few. She is fascinated by the little moments that reveal and capture how people move through the world. Curious about what motivates us, what we carry close to our hearts, and how storytelling can be immersive, she hopes her creations help people feel seen and connected. Next, she is excited to play with performance in business contexts, more mediums, and, increasingly, art as a means of both introspection and inter-spection amongst humanity. Nina is grateful to have recently performed in TAPS' Pro Shows, the opening piece in Sharing the Story and Happy Birthday Mars Rover (ensemble). She looks forward to being a part of Manual Cinema’s Dream Delivery Service this spring.

Ten Fingers

After experiencing an unexpected loss, a quiet, creative-minded college student must confront unsettling forces to reconnect with her purpose.

Anya Moseke is a TAPS minor and is earning her BA in Creative Writing (poetry emphasis) and Art History (contemporary art emphasis). She is based in Chicago and intends to work as an actor and poet after graduation, particularly excited to focus on Shakespearean texts. This summer she will serve as an Acting Apprentice and understudy in Oak Park Festival Theatre's production of Hamlet. Recent credits include holding an ensemble role in the autumn TAPS Pro-Show, Happy Birthday Mars Rover; Helena in All's Well That Ends Well (RADA), Barbara in The Arsonists (UT), and Queen Margaret in Richard III (The Dean's Men). Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Gratitude to everyone she's ever loved!

Reading a Sample from "Mother Body"

Anya will read and perform a selection of poems from her poetry thesis which focus on themes of girlhood, motherhood, and bodies of water.

Jo is an energetic multi-hyphenate theatremaker who loves experimenting with gender performance onstage. They pride themselves on their adaptability, dedication, and compassion as a collaborator. As an artist, Jo combines rigorous dramaturgical analysis with ensemble-based devising techniques to create performances that delight in defamiliarization. A recent fascination of Jo’s (and major source of inspiration for master of none) has been exploring the violence that objects onstage (props, scenery, costumes) are subjected to over the course of a performance. (De)construction, (non)binaries, and the lasting effects of performance post-curtain call are some tensions to note within this piece. They are extremely proud of their ensemble and cannot wait for you to see everyone’s hard work in action. A special thank you to Alex Wilson and Emma Lin for their help during rehearsal, as well as Marissa Fenley, the best thesis advisor imaginable. For more about Jo, feel free to visit their website: joselmeczy.com.

master of none

Jack is a teenage boy who wants to know what it means to be a man. Over the course of three days, he learns.

Ilie Sturhan began acting as a child in Texas, appearing in her first feature length film, Shilo, at the age of ten. At UChicago she has appeared in Arcadia (Valentine Coverly) and Cactus Flower (Toni Simmons). She currently is pursuing both her acting career and her undergraduate degree in Theater and Performance Studies.

The Odysseus Project

In the Odysseus Project, follow Odysseus as they take you on a nonlinear journey through myth and mental illness that is filled with moments of isolation, temptation, and endurance.

Hello! I'm a New York City-based actor, singer, and dancer. I currently attend the University of Chicago, where I regularly perform in musical theater productions, vocal concerts, and full-length ballets. Most recently, I loved playing Olive Ostrovsky in University Theater’s production of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. After graduating, I plan to return home to NYC and continue pursuing musical theater and performance, bringing my love of storytelling, music, and movement to every project I work on!