In Darkness, Audio Flowers Bloom follows a group of teenagers who meet in secret to learn about music amid a hundred-year government ban. Created by playwright and theatre professor Alvaro Saar Rios, the world premiere production is presented as part of the UWM Department of Theatre’s New Dramaworks series.
As a teenager, Saar Rios discovered a love for music that would later shape his identity and art. The idea for this play emerged when he asked what might have happened if he had never found that passion and what an absence of music would look like on a larger scale.
Saar Rios began writing what would become In Darkness, Audio Flowers Bloom in 2019.
“Most of my ideas start with ‘What if?’” Saar Rios explained. “Part of it came from my love of music, but then to see if I could create a piece that celebrated music even though it didn’t exist in this world.”
Curated by Saar Rios, the New Dramaworks series brings together students from various theatre disciplines to collaborate throughout the new play development process, shaping a piece through their experiences and ideas.
“The idea behind the New Dramaworks series is to be able to give students the opportunity to work on a new play,” said Saar Rios. “We want to allow students the opportunity to see what it means to work on a play that is not particularly finished.”
Following the collaboration with students, In Darkness is set to be produced at four more theatre companies—and counting—across the United States.
Director Katie Avila Loughmiller brings her background in multidisciplinary art and activism to the production. From the beginning, she asked students to explore the story’s themes and consider how they reflect the world today.
“We started by diving into the script and asking ourselves what the story was about and how it is relevant to today,” Avila Loughmiller explained.
A major focus of her approach is community building. Under her direction, each performance features a partnership with a different nonprofit organization, in hopes that audiences will be inspired to take action.
“I hope people come to see this show and think about what it means,” said Avila Loughmiller. “I want people to think about what it means, what we could be doing, and how we can work against these forces.”
In Darkness, Audio Flowers Bloom runs through November 9, 2025, at Kenilworth Five-0-Eight. For more information and tickets, visit the PSOA events calendar.
Story by Payton Murphy ’27 (BFA Film) | Video by Cameron Wise ’26 (BFA Film)