The Department of Art is thrilled to congratulate MFA Photography alumni Anna Rotty and Brianna Tadeo on the selection of their work for “FORECAST 2025” at SF Camerawork!
A Step into the Shadows: Ghost Sonata Haunts the Stage
The Student and Colonel’s Daughter are locked in a vice-grip, their hands glued to each other’s heads, rotating around, dipping and swirling, as it appears some great force has overtaken both. How can something be violent and tender? The Daughter is fighting something within that is about to burst out, and the Student is helping her keep it at bay. Eventually, the unknown force wins.
“The Ghost Sonata,” written by August Strindberg in 1907, is a surreal play that experiments with the human psyche-unraveling the dark secrets of a seemingly perfect and opulent house. The protagonist, a Young Student, has yearned to be a part of the upper class, but upon arriving at the higher echelon of society, finds it riddled with secrets and ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, and a beautiful woman who is doomed to illness.
Director Alejandro Tomás-Rodriguez, a member of the Theatre Faculty at The University of New Mexico, is taking an experimental approach to the work. He embraces movement as a storytelling device and is often seen out of his chair more than in it, crouching, crawling, and throwing himself around the rehearsal space as he encourages each actor to dive into their own embodied expression of the text.
The play explores some dark themes but does not succumb to what could be depressive tones. Instead, there are moments of snark, snideness, even humor as the Young Student uncovers the horrors of the house. There is even time for a chaotic and entrancing choreographed dance-fight
“The Ghost Sonata” is presented by The University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance as part of their current production season. Playing at Rodey Theatre in The UNM Center for the Arts on April 25, 26, and May 1, 2, and 3 at 7:30pm, and April 27 at 2:00pm.
Tickets are available at unmtickets.com or the UNM Bookstore.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
1. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY for “The Ghost Sonata,” by visiting https://www.unmtickets.com/events/detail/ghost-sonata-son1
What the land knows: the Radical Art ▽ Ecology Lab (RAVEL) in and around Los Alamos
The UNM Department of Art’s RAVEL Lab was featured in a recent e-flux journal article by Brian Karl. Published on June 13, 2025, as part of e-flux Education’s mid-June focus on U.S. institutions across the South and Southwest, the feature spotlights the RAVEL Lab within Art & Ecology program at The University of New Mexico.
Covington-Rhode Senior Prize Winners: Viola Murphy and Josiah Garza
The UNM Department of Art is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Covington-Rhode Senior Prize.