For a little drama, outside of real life, the Sacramento State theater department has it all.

Ann-Marie MacDonald’s “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)” opened to a packed house Oct. 13. College lecturer Constance Ledbelly, played by Katherine M. Old, is working toward a PhD, but her progress is impeded by all of the work she’s doing for professor Claude Knight, played by Ernesto Bustos, the object of her unreciprocated affection.

Sadly, Constance has become a laughing stock in her small academic circle because of her obsession with an odd philosophy: that Othello and Romeo and Juliet are actually hasty rewrites of earlier plays and were turned into comedies. She has an old manuscript that she’s sure will prove she’s right … if only she could decode it. Connie’s world is flipped upside down when she’s taken to far-off lands occupied by characters from Othello and Romeo and Juliet.

“Goodnight Desdemona” runs Oct. 21 to 24.

The play proved to be humorous, after a slow beginning, especially when the characters added anatomical parts. The dialogue was hard to follow initially but once the actors were comfortable, the play was easy to follow.

Coming up from the theater department is “Lady From the Sea.” Ellida’s, the main character, husband treats her like a daughter instead of a wife. He idolizes her, but in doing so, he places her in a position of idleness and dependency.

Ellida becomes more carefree, indulging in her whims. When her ex-fiance and partner returns from his exile at sea, she is forced to choose between leaving with him and staying in her unhappy marriage. “Lady From the Sea” runs Nov. 5-7 and 11-14.

Opening Nov. 19th, “The Trail of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae” is a satire in which Mammy Louise and her daughter are called upon to defend themselves against charges that they are perpetuating the stereotype of African- American women. It runs Nov.19-21 and Dec. 2-5.