Dear Friends of OSU Theatre:

I just celebrated my first anniversary of being Chair for the Department of Theatre and look back over the 2005/06 academic year with great pride and much anticipation for an even more exciting future. This issue of Encore attempts to share with you some of the highlights of our year and to catch you up on the activities of our faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends.

In autumn 2005, we launched our new partnership with CAPA with a highly successful production of The Rocky Horror Show. Produced in the historical Southern Theatre, this show marked a further extension of the College of the Arts’ commitment to bring the arts to downtown Columbus. As part of the department’s commitment to Outreach and Engagement, the graduating class of ten Master of Fine Arts in Acting students wrote and performed Hidden Voices. This original work focused on the issue of domestic violence and was developed in partnership with Turning Point, a domestic violence shelter located in Marion, Ohio, forming the capstone experience for our graduating class. In spring quarter, we joined forces with the School of Music in presenting a production of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock for a nearly sold out run in the Roy Bowen Theatre. In addition to these three productions, we also produced An Evening of Sam Shepard Shorts, Gogol’s The Government Inspector and Tony Kushner’s A Bright Room Called Day. This eclectic season was seen by over 5,000 students and provided numerous opportunities for scholarship and learning.

Undergraduate students successfully established a chapter of the national theatre honorary Alpha Psi Omega, to further recognize student achievement. As has been the custom, a spring quarter banquet was held to distribute scholarships and academic achievement awards and to reflect on the busy past year. Many undergraduates participated in the Denman Research Forum in the spring and both Betsy Pandora and Tyler Sieple were awarded honors in the Arts and Architecture categories that day. Jen Schlueter received the Graduate Teaching Award, and faculty member Tom Postlewait was named a University Distinguished Scholar. Turning Point, our partner for the Hidden Voices project, was recognized with the Excellence in Community Partnership Building Award from the University Service Learning Initiative and the Organization of Chinese Americans Columbus Chapter honored the department with their Celebrating Diversity Award.

We hosted guests from South Africa, Korea, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic and Romania. Performers and lecturers included: Robbie McCauley, Carlyle Brown, Dr. Harry Elam, Dr. Allan Munro and Ron Pitts of the Ujima Theatre. the Department of Theatre was formally recognized for our commitment to diversity during the Ohio State-Michigan State football game half-time ceremony.

When people ask me about how my move to the upstairs corner office has gone, I like to say that I still remain fundamentally a resource manager, just like any technical director. The key difference is that the resources I now work with are far more complex, significantly more demanding and produce achievements well beyond the scenic environments that I have had the pleasure of building these past many years. You have an important connection to our department and we couldn’t do all that we do with out your continued friendship and support. Enjoy this issue of Encore and let us know what you have been up to this past year.

Please be in touch,

Mark Shanda
Chair/Professor