About How Can I Keep From Singing

Following the death of their parents, the four O’Connor siblings are struggling through their grief. When Aidan, the baby of the family, is publicly outed as a “Queer Catholic” in the local newspaper, the family unit splinters. Each one of them is trying to balance their identity, faith, family, and chosen community in their quest to find wholeness. Aidan, bolstered by the members of his campus LGBTQ+ group, struggles to discover his voice as he bridges the worlds of his faith, his family, and who he truly is. This vital new play is UP Theater’s first commissioned piece: written by queer playwright Claire Willett, who is a Portland native, former Catholic youth minister, and active member of the parish of St. Andrew’s. This production is sponsored through generous support from the Kunal Nayyar fund.

University of Portland

The theater program is a strong liberal arts training program designed to provide students with a foundation in the areas of performances, design and technology, and history and literature. In addition, students are required to choose an emphasis in performance, design and technology, or production management to study at an advanced level. Throughout a student's years in the program, there are ample opportunities to apply both academic knowledge and acquired skills to a variety of live production experiences. A senior project in a student's particular area of emphasis serves as a capstone to culminate four years of study. All of this theoretical and hands-on learning takes place in a personal, supportive, collegial environment. We pride ourselves on personal mentorship of each theater student. As a theater major or minor, you will find tremendous opportunities both on-and-off stage to fulfill your artistic goals and cultivate a lifelong connection to theater.