The College of Charleston’s Department of Theatre will present the Stelle di Domani (“stars of tomorrow”) series as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival. The six events each feature some connection to the College or the theatre department.

Flight Out of Time: A Dada Cabaret (Surreal comedy) Are you finding it difficult to decide whether to laugh or cry about the state of the world? By drawing on texts by Hugo Ball, Emmy Hennings, and Tristan Tzara, Flight questions whether the absurdity of early in the last century is perhaps reflected in our own. This College of Charleston Department of Theatre production stages, with a razor sharp comic edge, the manifestoes, sound poems, music and surreal sketches which the Cabaret Voltaire hurled back at a civilization on the brink of self-destruction during World War I. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Theatre 220, Simons Center, 54 St. Philip St., Tickets: $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. May 27, 28, June 3, 4 at 9:30 p.m.; May 29, June 2 at 8:30 p.m. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47

One for the Road (Drama, 90min) is the dynamic and unique one-man performance written and acted by native Charlestonian, Bill Patton (a graduate of Rivers High School, former football player for the Charleston High School Bantams, and former adjunct theatre professor at the College of Charleston). It is the story of a despairing man contemplating his own fate by dealing at last with life-long conflicts between love and lust and between bondage and freedom. And in doing so, he finds himself exploring the political tensions of the Deep South through a complex interaction with his own ghost. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. May 29, June 4 at 6 p.m.; May 30 at 8 p.m.; June 2 at 9 p.m.; June 3 at 3 p.m. Tickets: $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47

The Understudy (Comedy, 95min) A recently “discovered masterpiece” by Franz Kafka in rehearsals for its Broadway premiere is the hysterical setting for Pulitzer Prize nominee Theresa Rebeck’s observations on the unpredictability of show business and of life. Roxanne, a lovesick and charmingly ditzy stage manager, tries to run the rehearsal complicated by a stoned light board operator, by the producers threatening to kill the show and by her own feelings about the actors and her past. Crescent Stage (alumni of the College and producers of previous Piccolo Spoleto hits ART and Reasons to Be Pretty) present this spirited and laugh-out-loud comedy that opens the door to the behind the scenes world of Broadway and to life as an Understudy. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. Tickets: $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors.May 27, June 3 at 6 p.m.; May 28 at 9 p.m.; May 29, June 4 at 8:30 p.m.; June 2 at 3 p.m.; June 5 at 8 p.m. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47

Under the Lights This production, (now in its fifth incarnation and an ever-increasing Piccolo favorite) showcases a series of original student written 10-minute plays. Included are the winners of the 2011 Franklin B. Ashley Playwriting and the 2010 Todd McNerney Student Playwriting Awards. College of Charleston student playwrights have an unprecedented record of 18 award-winning years – these writers represent that tradition. Join us for an evening focused on the new voices and new ideas of the next generation of American writers. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. May 31 & June 1, 6, 7 from 8-10 p.m. $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47

No Exit (Drama, 90 min) Jean-Paul Sartre’s classic existential play is deftly brought to the stage by the College of Charleston’s student production company, Center Stage. Three distinctly different (yet perfectly suited for each other) characters find themselves in a world where they may never sleep, never dream, never let go. The room’s only door offers no escape. No Exit is a disturbingly accurate depiction of human vices and deceptions and that the emotional tortures we create for ourselves and for others is far worse than any which could be created in Hell. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Theatre 220, Simons Center, 54 St. Philip St. Tickets: $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. May 27, 28, June 3, 4 at 7pm; May 30, June 1, 10, 11 at 8:30 pm; June 2, 5 at 6pm; June 6 at 7:30pm; June 8, 9 at 8 pm. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47

Shakespeare’s R & J (Drama, 90 min) Joe Calarco’s Shakespeare’s R & J is an arresting, vibrant & hot-blooded adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Presented by the Shakespeare Project at the College of Charleston, the story takes place after curfew in the repressive world of a parochial boarding school where four students discover Shakespeare’s incredible love story. What starts off as a lighthearted reading of the forbidden text gradually becomes more dangerous as these young people are allowed to explore their pent up energy and adolescent passion. Their experiment ends in an impassioned and honest performance of the play without the restrictions of gender or sexuality. Parental discretion is advised due to content, language and/or subject matter. Chapel Theatre, 172 Calhoun St. Tickets: $16 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors. May 27, June 3 at 8:30 p.m.; May 28, June 2 at 6 p.m.; May 29, June 4 at 3 p.m.; June 5 at 5 p.m.; June 8, 9, 10, 11 at 8 p.m. For tickets call (866) 811-4111 or visit http://www.piccolospoleto.com/?cat=47