Student Handbooks

Undergraduate Handbook

Production Lecture Series

The Department of Theatre and Drama and the Theatre Circle co-sponsor an ambitious series of pre-show talks, inviting scholars from across the university to speak about the plays we produce in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.

These informal lectures engage our audiences in a unique kind of dialogue. Sometimes the speaker brings to the podium a point of view about a play that is different from the one embodied in our production; often the discussion and the production end up supporting one another in an interesting and symbiotic manner. The series of talks present an excellent opportunity for theatre audiences to acquire a sense of the play, its history and how it may have been interpreted by other theatres in other times.

Pre-show talks are given on the opening Friday at 3:00 P.M. in the theatre where the play will be presented. Some invitees are in the process of accepting their invitations to speak, but at the time of this printing, the following speakers have agreed to discuss the plays in our season.

October 6, 2006 Ruth N. Halls Theatre – The Birthday Party - Tom Shafer, Theatre and Drama

October 20, 2006 Wells-Metz Theatre - Urinetown - Heather May, Theatre and Drama

November 10, 2006 Ruth N. Halls Theatre – The Crucible - Nick Cullather, History

December 1, 2006 Wells-Metz Theatre - Reel - Paul Shoulberg, Dennis J. Reardon and Jonathan Michaelsen, Theatre and Drama

February 2, 2007 Wells-Metz Theatre– Side Man - David Brent Johnson, host of WFIU jazz programs

February 23, 2007 Ruth N. Halls Theatre – Twelfth Night - Jerry L. Findley, English

March 23, 2007 Wells-Metz Theatre – Big Love - Ronald Wainscott, Theatre and Drama

April 13, 2007 Ruth N. Halls Theatre– Nine, The Musical - Peter Noble-Kuchera, film reviewer, WFIU and The Ryder