Practically Perfect: WMU Theatre Presents UTOPIA

An Evocative, Joyful Celebration of Love, Life, and Community 

KALAMAZOO, MI - Western Michigan University Theatre opens its 2025–2026 season with Utopia, a play by Charles L. Mee, reimagined and directed by Joan Herrington. Performances run September 26–October 12 in the York Theatre at the Gilmore Theatre Complex. 

Unlike a traditional, plot-driven play, Utopia is an experience — a mosaic of stories unfolding in a café. A mother and daughter sit with coffee and croissants, listening as people around them reveal their lives in moments of love, hope, heartbreak, and delight. Imagine overhearing conversations at nearby tables, each filled with its own blend of tenderness, whimsy, and reflection. That is the world of Utopia. 

Dialogue, monologue, poetry and movement collide in this experience of what it means to commit fully to another person. "Loveliness" is at the heart of this production: the beauty of connection, the warmth of community, and the quiet joy of small, shared delights.

Director Joan Herrington explains, “When you produce a play by Charles Mee, he offers the opportunity to re-envision the work. His plays are not meant to be staged exactly as written but to be ‘remade.’ This version of Utopia includes text from several Mee plays, poems by Pablo Neruda, and music by Vivaldi and Bach. The poetry and music allow the characters to share their inner fears, passions, and turmoil — the joy and pain of finding and losing love. These interludes, part of Mee’s larger collage, serve as windows into the soul.” 

Audiences can expect an evening that feels both intimate and expansive: a tapestry of human voices that is funny, tender, whimsical, and quietly profound. 

“Utopia can be enjoyed as respite, a candy-coated breather from the horrors just outside our window... The dialogue, a bouquet of near non-sequiturs, tends toward the precious.” — The New York Times 

Performance Schedule: 

Location: York Theatre, Gilmore Theatre Complex, Western Michigan University | 1351 Theatre Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008 

Tickets: Available now at wmutheatre.ludus.com or by calling the box office at (269) 387-6222. 

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Western Michigan University Theatre’s full season includes beloved classics, iconic musicals, and bold contemporary stories, all created with the artistry and energy of WMU theatre students.