By Jenny Johnston
Editor
Commentary
The Park University Theater Department has undergone significant changes in the past year. Last spring, it was formally announced that the theatre major would be taken away. The department was also turned upside down when Directors Marsha Morgan and Mark Robbins left and Technical Director Jon Young transferred. The department was left without a major or any full time faculty.
As the old saying in theatre goes, “the show must go on.” Adjunct Professors Janie Peak and Andrea “Andy” Southard, stepped into the spotlight and restored the life of the department. They are diligently working to make positive changes so all Park students can take advantage of the new program.
“We are trying to rebuild the program in a different way than the past,” says Southard. “What was in place before, wasn’t the right thing for Park and especially this campus. Park is actually a large university, but this campus is small and intimate. That’s something we want to build on.”
One of their goals is to create a strong connection between the theatre program and the faculty, staff, students and community. They would like everyone to work together to create a unique experience. The original major was written in part by Dr. Robert Pevitts, husband of former Park President Dr. Beverley Byers Pevitts, and only available for four years.
“It was based on what he experienced nationwide in other large venues,” says Southard. “Eventually, things kept getting added to it and it became more of a specialty program and felt like a conservatory which is not what this university is. It was too exclusive to specific areas like acting and directing and we weren’t developing students who were just interested and wanted to be involved in theater.”
Right now, they say their focus is on the shows and the minor, but they would eventually like to have a major available again.
“We want to build the minor back up to Marsha’s standards,” says Peak. “We want students to feel like they can come in and be a theatre minor who want to learn and have self assurance. Theatre is for everybody.”
Currently, the theatre minor only requires 21 credit hours. What students may not know, they say, is theatre isn’t just about acting or performing. It teaches a variety of skills like public speaking, giving presentations, staying calm and collected under pressure, dealing with different types of people and situations, having a sense of self awareness with body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, and many more things that can be advantageous in any field of work.
“We want to give students a foundation that they can apply to their major,” says Peak. “Anyone can benefit from a minor. There are so many practical applications.”
One of the challenges of the minor is working within a small budget. The program receives money which provides operating expenses for shows and classes. It has to be spread out to cover the cost for costumes, make up, lamps, hardware and even carpenters to build the sets. To earn extra money, the department is selling shirts with the program’s new branded logo. Trevis Martin created comedy and tragedy masks, which is the symbol for theatre, and Southard and Peak thought it was a great idea to use them to create a new brand for the program.
“These masks are going to be on everything--the website, programs, shirts, tickets...” says Southard. “They are the only ones like it in the entire country, so it will be special and unique to Park.”
The shirts are selling for $10 at Alumni Hall and the profits will support Park theatre.
Southard and Peak deserve a lot of credit for not only keeping the program on it’s feet, but implementing new ideas to attract people to support or become involved in theatre.
“We work very well together,” says Peak. “Under the circumstances, we work as one person for one position. We easily put in over 40 hours together.”
“I’ve already retired and yet I’m still here,” says Southard. “I still have the love of doing something that I loved my whole life.”
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