Knox College Theatre Season Showcases Student Creativity and Collaboration

The Knox College Department of Theatre will offer its usual busy year: three faculty-directed performances, a student-directed play as part of an Honors Project, and student-directed studio-theatre productions. 

“We have faculty-directed productions in each term,” said Chancie Ferris Booth Distinguished Service Professor of Theatre Craig Choma. “Then, depending on student interest and progress, we also have student-directed productions in our black box space. 

The fall term’s feature production is All Nighter, about a group of roommates working to finish their last assignments before graduation. Associate Professor of Theatre Jeff Grace is directing the production. The play will run November 5-7 at 7:30 p.m., with an additional showing on November 7 at 2 p.m., in Harbach Theatre.

“Directing is my main focus this term, but we have a lot of students involved,” Grace said of his cast which includes students majoring in history, Asian studies, creative writing, political science, biology, biochemistry, computer science, and music. “If you look at the cast and crew working on our fall show, there’s one theatre major, a few theatre minors, but that’s what a liberal arts education is all about—it doesn’t have to be part of your major to be involved in something.”

Students will participate both on and off stage, led by Nida Baig (Biology Major) ’26, who is serving as lighting director after serving as assistant lighting director on a production last year.

“Lighting was definitely something I stumbled upon. I took Chancie Ferris Booth Distinguished Service Professor of Theatre Craig Choma’s Lighting Design and Set Design class my sophomore year,” Baig said. “It was something I liked and was into. Last winter, I was assistant lighting designer for Birthday Candles. It was more in-depth than what we touched on in class; it was great, exciting, and a good first step toward doing this thing I had a little experience in, but not at a professional level. This year, as part of my independent study, I’m the lead lighting designer for All Nighter, so it’s all me; the cards are in my hands.”

WINTER TERM

In the winter, Assistant Professor of Theatre Deana Nichols will direct the winter term production of The Moors. The production, also in Harbach Theatre, will run February 25-27 at 7:30 p.m. and include an additional performance on February 27 at 2 p.m.

“It’s a kooky play, a satire of the Brontë sisters,” Nichols said. “I told students, if you wish Jane Eyre were funnier and weirder and sexier, this is the play for you. Two characters are animals played by actors, so it’s odd. It’s fun. It’s delightful, so I’m excited to do that.”

Students will have a hand in the production not only on stage, but behind the scenes as well.

“Designing for Deana’s winter production and having student Emily Kunkel (English Literature Major) ’27 work with me will be exciting,” Allison Smith Hahn ’10, lecturer and supervisor of the theatre costume studio, said. “Emily took my class two years ago; she’s a teaching assistant now. As a student, she did well and approached me about working together, so it should be very exciting for the three of us to collaborate on this.” 

During the winter term, a Knox student is also getting involved on the directing side. Senior Delany Edsall (Theatre Major) ’27 will present her senior Honors Project. Edsall’s production of Maria Irene Fornes’ Fefu and Her Friends is already drawing interest from Knox theatre students and faculty for its creativity.

“It’s going to be massive because the play is written to be staged in multiple different locations; the audience moves around from place to place as the scenes happen simultaneously,” Nichols said. “It’s a cool play that is going to happen in the winter.”

Edsall also drew inspiration from her research into the Women of Anderson House, an experimental self-governing dorm with no house mother and no hours for a select group of senior women at Knox College.

“The reason I chose Fefu and Her Friends is that in the middle, it splits into these four scenes and then the audience is then split into four groups and they rotate through each of the four scenes in different parts of the theatre building itself,” Edsall said. “I think that the play itself acknowledges the way that space impacts community or the narrative of how we understand something.”  Edsall will be including elements of her scholarly research into Anderson House in her Honors Project written thesis about the creative project of directing the play.

SPRING TERM

The spring production is one of the Theatre’s classics: William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Chair & Smith V. Brand Distinguished Professor of Theatre Elizabeth Carlin Metz. The performance takes place in Harbach Theatre on May 6-8 at 7:30 p.m., with an additional performance on May 8 at 2 p.m.

Once again, students will have the opportunity to work on the production's design. Additionally, the performances will be shadow signed by ASL translator Dareann Pettis ‘29 (theatre major).  With a cast of 17, it is very likely that majors from across the disciplines will be frolicing about in the magical woods of “the dream.”  

“I’m also waiting to see what students are really interested in working on Midsummer,” Smith Hahn said. “It’s the perfect show to bring students in as an assistant or co-designer.”

Beyond giving students a chance to explore the many creative opportunities available in the department, the Knox theatre faculty also want to boost interest about and encourage students to dive into one of Knox’s signature immersive experiences: Repertory Term.

Repertory Term, or Rep Term, is the only undergraduate theatre program in the United States that embeds academic study of theatre within the experience of forming a repertory company that produces two fully staged productions. Its success depends on intensive collaboration between faculty and students, and it gives participating students an unforgettable 10-week immersion in theatre. While Rep Term isn't on the academic calendar until winter term of 2028, it is never too soon for students to get used to the rigors of putting on a production while also learning the basics of theatre.

“We love talking about all the ways to get involved. Even with Rep Term, you don’t have to be a theatre major or minor; we want you to take a class, either in design and technology so you have some understanding of how things work, or a course in beginning acting,” Choma said. “You can be a chemistry, history, or women’s studies major and still sign up. You can be an art major, because what is costuming? It’s wearable art. I’m not sure enough students are aware of all the things they can do in theatre that relate to other courses of study, and how the experience and opportunities can be life-changing for them.”