About Scotch'n'Soda Theatre

Student theatre at Carnegie Mellon since 1938

Scotch'n'Soda Theatre is one of the nation's oldest student theater groups, and is one of the oldest and largest student organizations at Carnegie Mellon University. Student theatre began in the fall of 1907 with The White Friars Club, providing a theatrical outlet for the students of the Carnegie Technical Schools. Their first production, in the spring of 1908, was entitled "All in a Dormitory" and gave a comical look at life on campus. The White Friars Club was short-lived, as student theater went on hiatus during World War I. It wasn't until 1932 when a student theater group called The Bacchanalians formed to produce a musical for Carnegie Tech's Spring Carnival. The organization took its current name in 1937 during a vote by the membership, producing "No Strings" as their first musical under the name Scotch'n'Soda Theatre during the Carnival of 1938.

Not satisfied with only doing musicals for Homecoming and Carnival, Scotch'n'Soda introduced the campus' first long-form improvisational comedy production in 1988. This began a 20-year period of growth and change for the organization. In the early 1990s, they expanded to a three-production season. In 1993, a subsidiary group that existed for one year called Club Soda formed, which taught new skills to the diverse membership. This led to more submissions of both student and professionally written plays, and in 1994 the theater company began regular theater "seasons" of three shows plus the Spring Carnival Musical. In 1998, Scotch 'n Soda expanded to a permanent five-production season. The organization has also founded several troupes, creating open and creative spaces for improv comedy, sketch comedy, and playwriting on Carnegie Mellon's campus.

Today, Scotch'n'Soda proudly produces six to seven shows each season, ranging from full-scale musicals to intimate black box plays, performing in a variety of spaces in the University Center and elsewhere on campus. With a strongly committed and talented membership spanning all six of Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate colleges and representing over 30 different majors, Scotch'n'Soda is growing still and is well poised to continue providing student-run theater to the Carnegie Mellon campus community for years to come.

All Groups

Mainstage

Every year, Scotch'n'Soda mainstage puts on four shows: big musicals in October and April, and smaller performances in December and February. Mainstage performances also feature the most tech of anything in S'n'S, with every show including full lighting, sound, costumes, props, hand-built sets, hair, and makeup, and actors are often mic'd in the large musicals.

"The Dungeon" (a.k.a. our scene shop)

Most of our technical endeavors start in our sceneshop, which we lovingly call The Dungeon. It's in the basement of the University Center building and houses our expansive inventory of props, costumes, lighting fixtures, paint, instruments, and stage platforms, as well as a plethora of power tools. It's run by our dungeon staff, who are selected by the Board of Directors at the start of each academic year. Both the Board and dungeon staff are listed at the bottom of this page.

Troupes

Tisbert Sketch Comedy

Tisbert is Carnegie Mellon’s premier Sketch Comedy Troupe! We have weekly writing meetings open to all CMU students, leading up to our semesterly show. At Tisbert, writers and actors of all skill levels are welcome! Visit us at any of the links below.

2026-2027 Tisboard:
Artistic Director – Jacob Ellis
Head Writer – Summer Heyburn
Secretary – Maya Pandey
Community Coordinator - AJ Smiler
Show Coordinator: Ansh Gandhi

No Parking Players Improv Comedy

The No Parking Players is a long form improv troupe currently offering improv workshops for anyone to join! We started going to festivals in the spring of 2016, and have since performed at SteelStacks in Bethlehem, PA, the Del Close Marathon in New York City, and a number of college festivals. We are proud of our growing relationship with nearby theaters (Arcade and SCIT), our supportive alumni, and fellow college troupes across Pennsylvania and Ohio.

2026-2027 Executive Board:
Artistic Director – Moira Dolittle
President – Kaya Kozlowski
Troupe Manager – Rachel Laurence
Social Chair - Vicky Yan
Historian - Alex Newkirk
Detour Artistic Director - Zachary Smentek
Detour Executive Producer - Taejun Kang

New Works Coffeehouse

New Works Coffeehouse is all about student written work. We give young playwrights the opportunity to have original works of theatre produced, providing the campus with experimental and new theatre. New Works is also dedicated to improving and editing works in any way that serves the population of passionate playwrights, whether through workshops or individual meetings.

2026-2027 New Works Board:
Artistic Director – Nicole Heydemann
Head Writer: Kaia Mueller
Publicity Coordinator - Casandra Skebeck
Interim Secretary - Matthew Nemerofsky