Hiram College Theater

My passion for theater education comes from my own wonderful experience as a student at Hiram College. I want to give young artists the kind of opportunities and support that I had as an undergrad.

I was lucky enough to go to a college theater program where I heard YES all the time. Every project I wanted to take on was met with, “YES, and how can we help?” I directed every year, I had frequent meetings with my mentor during every project, and I learned a ton.

Some highlights:

My junior year, I wanted to direct <em>Antony and Cleopatra</em>. My department ended up not only approving the project and letting me do it as my capstone, but offering to make it the department’s mainstage production for the spring semester, including a sizable budget and all the design and construction resources that went with it.

In my senior year, I did a series of staged readings of plays that connected with specific academic disciplines, using professors from those disciplines as actors. This allowed other academic departments to connect with the theater and opened the arts as a venue for exploration to their students.

Also in my senior year, the faculty member who taught design and technical classes asked me if I would direct him in <em>Krapp’s Last Tape</em>. He hadn’t acted in decades, but this was a dream role for him, and he said he wanted me to work with him on it. This was a challenging process, but deeply moving and full of growth opportunities for both of us.

Reflections on my work at Hiram College