News

Hancher Auditorium’s doors opened with fanfare Sept. 9, and in the nearly nine months since, more than 100,000 people have stepped into a new era for the University of Iowa’s premiere arts and entertainment venue. The first year has flown by for Chuck Swanson, Hancher’s executive director.
“It is so hard to believe,” he said. The staff received the keys to the building June 1, and now that the first season has ended, he said it feels like the fastest of his 32 years with the organization.

Ahead, the 2017-2018 season, the 45th season, at Hancher Auditorium is coming out.
Chuck Swanson, the executive director, sat down with KCRG-TV Nine's Chris Earl for a live interview on what to watch for.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from /peh-LO-tah/. A new, multi-disciplinary work considering soccer and the African American experience. But Thursday night rolled around and it was showtime. The front half of Hancher’s theater was packed, and there was a certain excitement in the air, the excitement coming from not knowing what to expect. That feeling continued even as the lights went down and the show started.

Devout fans of literature and aspiring writers sat down under the lights of the beautiful Hancher Strauss Hall to hear a reading from multi-genre author and Pulitzer-Prize finalist Kelly Link.
Link began the reading with a haunting yet humorous passage from her short story, “I Can See Right Through You.” In a somewhat conversational manner, she functioned as a ghost-story teller by the campfire, depicting the tale of an actress’ run-ins with fame, a demon lover, and a missing nudist colony.