Ada, Photo by Maggie Hall
The Empty Space Theater
The Empty Space Theater (TEST) is Babson’s premiere, faculty-led theater company cosponsored by BabsonARTS and the Division of Arts and Humanities.
TEST’s objective is to produce socially relevant, thought provoking and compelling plays and musicals. All TEST productions are directed by Babson faculty members or theater professionals, and we seek to strengthen and formalize curricular ties, making the classroom-to-theater experience highly integrated, intellectually and artistically challenging, and rewarding to both participants and audiences.
TEST gave me an amazing opportunity to not only grow as an actress, but to grow as a person. Being involved in theater at a school like Babson isn’t very typical, but it made my college experience 10x better.”
Chloe Clifford ’26
Ada, Photo by Maggie Hall
The Adaptions cast with playwright Aran Glynn and Director Beth Wynstra, Photo by Kyle Soule
Everybody, Photo by Maggie Hall
Everybody, Photo by Maggie Hall
Everybody, Photo by Maggie Hall
Kingdom City, Photo by Maggie Hall
Kingdom City, Photo by Maggie Hall
Kingdom City, Photo by Maggie Hall
What We Do
TEST produces two full-scale performances each year and sponsors several workshops, staged readings, and master classes throughout the fall and spring semesters. TEST also supports and facilitates the integration of performing arts into course curricula.
Faculty members who direct TEST productions teach theater and music courses at Babson such as:
- Fundamentals of Acting and Improvisation
- Global Pop
- Dramatizing the American Dream
- Constructing and Performing the Self
- African American Music in the United States
- European Theater in Theory and Practice (abroad course)
- Politics and Performance in San Francisco (abroad course)
TEST gave me an opportunity that budding playwrights, and business students especially, rarely get: to freely develop my creative perspective and grow alongside a community of like-minded theater makers. It gave me the support to take my passion for writing seriously, and that confidence in my potential as a storyteller has shaped my life since.”
Aran Glynn ’25
Past Productions
| 2025 | Ada by Aeneas Sagar Hemphill |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Everybody by Branden Jacobs Jenkins Storying Our Selves: A Night of Original Solo Performance |
| 2023 | Kingdom City by Sheri Wilner |
| 2022 | Storying Our Selves: A Night of Original Solo Performance |
| 2020 | Altered States: A Digital Theater Production |
| 2019 | The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow by Rolin Jones Storying Our Selves: A Night of Original Solo Performance |
| 2018 | The Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker |
| 2017 | Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris |
| 2016 | Dead Man’s Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl Storying Our Selves: A Night of Original Solo Performance |
| 2015 | Falsettoland by William Finn and James Lapine Provincetown Four (four one-act plays: Suppressed Desires, Freedom, Lima Beans, Constancy) |
| 2014 | Urinetown by Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis Midsummer: A Play With Songs by David Greig and Gordon McIntyre |
| 2013 | Avenue Q by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx, and Jeff Whitty The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee |
| 2012 | Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl Working by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso |
| 2011 | The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Group |
_Moment.jpg "Clybourne promo video still")
Clybourne Park
Cast members and Artistic Director, Prof. Beth Wynstra, discuss the 2017 production. Watch on YouTube
TEST helped me explore a whole new side of Babson. Trading my Excel spreadsheets for scripts encouraged me to build confidence on stage, sharpen my textual analysis skills, and get freakishly good at quick costume changes. It was the perfect recipe to evolve as a person and make lifelong friends.”
Madison Roberts ’25