Hancher Auditorium’s multidisciplinary arts festival Infinite Dream returns to Iowa City September 24-26, exploring the shape, depth, and complexity of the American story.
“If we want to see what’s happening in performing arts right now, Infinite Dream is our door to the field and its most adventurous creative voices,” says Hancher executive director André Perry. “All these artists circle our loose theme, reflecting on America and modern life in their own way. Taken together Infinite Dream’s presentations might feel like a collection of essays, poems, or stories—all of them opening us to new possibilities in artmaking across the disciplines.”
The festival’s Thursday and Friday events will happen in Hancher’s intimate venues—the 195-seat Club Hancher configuration in Strauss Hall and the Hancher Up Close setup with artists and audiences together on the auditorium’s Hadley Stage. Events on Saturday occur in downtown Iowa City arts venues.
The festival opens on Thursday, September 24 with dance artist Monica Bill Barnes’s new dance-theater work, Many Happy Returns in the earlier part of the evening. Actor, filmmaker, and musician John Cameron Mitchell performs later with his band. Mitchell, fresh from his celebrated lead role in the Broadway hit Oh Mary!, will also screen his cult film Hedwig and the Angry Inch at a special, pre-festival event on Wednesday, September 23 at FilmScene at the Chauncey.
Returning to Hancher on Friday, composer and singer Gelsey Bell presents her opera [morning, mourning], a speculative fiction illustrating a future wherein all humans have left the earth. For the late set, drummer and producer Kassa Overall and his band play songs from his 2025 album CREAM, which reimagines golden age rap classics as jazz standards.
The festival travels to downtown Iowa City on Saturday with four events. In the afternoon, The James Theater hosts two shows by duo ensembles: a concert by violist Ayane Kosaza and cellist Paul Wiancko (both members of Kronos Quartet and Owls) followed by harpist Mary Lattimore with vocalist and synthesist Julianna Barwick performing selections from their 2026 album Tragic Magic.
Infinite Dream closes with two keynote events at the Englert Theatre. Artist, filmmaker, writer, and contemporary arts icon Miranda July will discuss her career in conversation with writer and UI professor Melissa Febos. July’s latest novel, All Fours, was a finalist for the 2025 National Book Award. Comedian Mo Amer, from the acclaimed Netflix show Mo, delivers the final set of Infinite Dream. Amer’s perspectives on life in America, his Middle Eastern roots, and what it means to be a citizen are revelations that inspire deep self-analysis and uproarious laughter. Amer’s appearance in Iowa City will precede his debut at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Tickets are on sale now. For more info, please visit: hancher.uiowa.edu.
Day Dreamer Pass (Pick any 4 events): $75 general public, $25 for students and youth
Infinite Dream Pass (Pick all 8 events): $150 general public, $50 for students and youth
Individual tickets range from $20-$45 for the general public and are $10 for students and youth
Full Festival Schedule:
Wednesday, September 23
Pre-Festival Kickoff: 25th Anniversary Screening of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Post-Screening Q&A with filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell At FilmScene at the Chauncey, 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 24
Many Happy Returns by Monica Bill Barnes and Company at Hancher Auditorium (Hancher Up Close), 7:00 p.m.
John Cameron Mitchell: Songs and Stories In Club Hancher, 9:00 p.m.
Friday, September 25
Morning, Mourning by Gelsey Bell at Hancher Auditorium (Hancher Up Close), 7:00 p.m.
Kassa Overall in Club Hancher, 9:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 26th
Ayane and Paul at The James Theater, 1:30 p.m.
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore: Tragic Magic at The James Theater, 3:30 p.m.
Miranda July in conversation with Melissa Febos at The Englert Theatre, 6:00 p.m.
Mo Amer at The Englert Theatre, 9:00 p.m.