As a live, interactive, embodied art form, Theater has the potential to catalyze difficult conversations, to ask important questions about cultural representation, and to provide a site for interrogating power dynamics and centering marginalized voices. With this knowledge in mind, the Theater Department has begun to explore new ways that we can engage with our diverse campus community in regards to the representation of culture, race, ethnicity, socio-economic class, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and disability on and off stage.
We hope both to create more opportunities for students who have been historically underrepresented on our stages and to consider the ways the department can move beyond the bounds of the traditional Theater space to support and promote the wealth of performance already taking place around campus. In addition, we are establishing new relationships with organizations in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, and catalyzing performance projects and Theater initiatives across campus to better connect with and represent our college community.