The University of Iowa Theater Department encourages students to graduate with Honors by completing nine hours of Honors-designated courses, including three hours of an Honors thesis.

This year, four students have undertaken the task of staging a production for their Honors thesis — Bethany Jackson, Taylor Cook, Jacob Schiller, and Emilia Hodges. Jackson and Cook each wrote an original script and have been working on staging the shows for the past few weeks. They presented Puddin’ and Spot’s Community in the Theater Building’s Theatre B on Wednesday night and will do so again on Friday at 8 p.m.

Schiller and Hodges chose to collaborate on a presentation of Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs, which will take the stage Theatre B at 8 p.m. today and run again on Saturday at the same time.

"The Honors Projects are a way for graduating students to showcase their talents is the aspects of playwriting, directing, and acting," said UI student Damitri Taylor, a cast member in Jackson’s Puddin’. "Everyone is a part of bringing the playwright’s work to life."

The work allows the playwrights to assist in bringing their work to life and allows the actors to stretch their creativity and push their limits, highlighting what they have learned in their time spent in the Theater Department.