PHI ALPHA GAMMA

Two years after a gay-bashing scarred the fraternity’s reputation, how will the brothers react when someone comes out of the closet?

Bring this powerful award-winning play to your campus.

MUST SEEThe most remarkable thing is how even-handedly he treats his characters in a setting less talented writers would populate with broad stereotypes … a winner

ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

How do your students learn about boundaries?

Meet Dan Bernitt, the creator of Phi Alpha Gamma.

Know this: Phi Alpha Gamma is about far more than homophobia. 

In the video above, he discusses how this play can help start a conversation on your campus about creating, holding, and honoring boundaries—and how to build stronger relationships and communities of respect and dignity.

REMARKABLE

City Pages

INTENSE

Nuvo

CHILLING

Lavender
Magazine

A RICH, DEEPLY MOVING EXPERIENCE

Twin Cities Daily Planet

AN EXCELLENT FIT FOR YOUR CAMPUS

Explore the range of audiences, academic disciplines, and student services you can involve

LGBTQ, DIVERSITY + INCLUSION

The play explores the fears underneath hatred. As a gay man, it was difficult for Dan to be compassionate for the people who were hostile toward him. He realized through writing that love was the path to understanding.

GREEK LIFE

Joining Greek life, or any social club, can be enormously beneficial and build a profound sense of community. The play shows what can happen when honesty, integrity, and compassion are tossed aside.

FIRST-YEAR ORIENTATION

Instead of a lecture talking at students, use the power of a dramatic story to drive home important first-year student skills like responsibility, decision-making, cultural sensitivity, and handling conflicts

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Dan's creative work focuses on why people behave the way they do. Several social science fields of study will see their concepts revealed in the story, including psychology, sociology, gender and masculinity studies, organizational behavior, criminal justice, and violence.

PHILOSOPHY AND ETHICS

Our ethics and morals guide how we approach our lives and resolve conflicts. In the play, we see what can happen when we deny others empathy or fail to connect with our emotions.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

As students begin their careers, they'll work with a variety of personalities in the workplace. True leaders listen, plan, and engage. In the play, we witness the fraternity's leadership spiral from fear and ultimately make destructive decisions.

MENTAL HEALTH

Dan's play takes place on a college campus. Being a student can be fraught with life changes, stress and anxiety, and crises. Some lessons of the play are to work through emotional issues, nurture strong relationships, and establish boundaries with those who try to deceive us.

CREATIVE WRITING

Writing this play fundamentally changed Dan as a person and a writer. By seeking to understand perspectives he opposes, not dismissing them, he learned to use language and emotion to build a bridge instead of furthering a divide.

THEATER AND PERFORMING ARTS

In addition to his work as a touring performing artist, Dan has worked in marketing, sales, project management, and human resources. He brings an interdisciplinary approach to how the performing arts can inform a variety of career paths.

Who is Dan Bernitt?

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Dan Bernitt is an award-winning playwright, performer, and teaching artist.

Hailed as “one of America’s next great monologists,” he’s been performing and touring his work in venues across the United States since 2004. He’s also performed internationally in Ireland and Italy.

A recipient of the Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian and Gay Playwriting, his books, Dose: Plays & Monologues and Phi Alpha Gamma, were named finalists for the Lambda Literary Award.

Regularly a guest teaching artist at colleges and universities, he has served on the faculty at Amherst College and Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and is currently assistant professor at Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

BEST OF THE FEST

MINNEAPOLIS CITY PAGES

Robert Chesley Award for Lesbian & Gay Playwriting

WINNER

Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship

WINNER

Lambda Literary Award for Drama

finalist

ForeWord Magazine Drama Book of the Year

finalist

MUST SEE

ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

WATCH AN EXCERPT

In the clip above, we meet one of the characters: Aaron, a young man now in prison for committing a gay-bashing. He’s writing a letter to one of the brothers still in the fraternity.

Options for Campus Activities

See the many ways you can include this play in your events schedule

VIRTUAL EVENT AVAILABLE!

Individual Performance

Present one performance of Phi Alpha Gamma, and, immediately following the play, Dan Bernitt or a member of your community will facilitate an audience Q&A and discussion

VIRTUAL EVENT AVAILABLE!

Performances + Workshops

Hosting multiple performances and adding workshops or class visits help to more deeply integrate the play and Dan Bernitt's visit to your campus. Using theater and writing workshops, your students will broaden their worldview by exploring themselves and different perspectives

Artist Residency​

For the greatest impact on your campus community, combine Dan Bernitt's solo performances Phi Alpha Gamma and Yelling at Bananas in Whole Foods with a writing and performance workshop for your students to generate a deeper discussion over several days
BEST VALUE

WHAT STUDENTS AND ORGANIZERS SAY AFTER WORKING WITH DAN BERNITT

Dan let me see that even if I’m writing about a topic people would turn away from or would hate me for it that it was okay to write it. He let me know that I can write about my culture even when most people would shut me out and ignore the words that I had written. He encouraged me to write more about it and let the world know that I cannot silence my voice.

Student

Dan broke down walls we didn’t even know we had, got us to feel strong emotions, and then channeled those emotions into our writing. He taught us how to dig deep within ourselves so that our audience can feel what we feel.

Student

You encouraged me to find my voice in a way that I had never imagined. Your prompts and speeches led me to new edges I didn’t know existed for myself, and I’m glad to say that I have confidence in tackling them after working with you.

Student

Thank you for contributing to a conversation that goes beyond the basic principles of tolerance and diversity. It’s a long process and I’m so glad you were here to further it.

LGBTQ Coordinator


Give your community an opportunity to say the same.

Bring this event to your campus!

Submit the form below, and we can discuss your programming needs. 

All that’s required to start a conversation is your name, email address, and phone number—but if you have everything else, that’s great, too!

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