Students Hit Their Mark on Stage

Although a theatre minor has been offered at JBU since 2015, when Josiah Wallace, associate professor of speech and theatre, arrived at JBU in 2018, no students had officially declared the minor. The theatre program primarily consisted of workshop credits for involvement in productions.

“Students were not gaining the knowledge and skills found in the classroom that makes production work a deeper and a more specialized academic endeavor,” Wallace recalled.

Since then, Wallace and various staff have solidified the nature of the JBU theatre program. Now, about half-a-dozen students in each year’s enrolling class declare a theatre minor and about 60-100 students participate in theatre productions each year. The program’s success led to the recent addition of a minor in musical theatre in 2020.

Theatre has a rich history at JBU that can be traced back to the days of the founder, John E. Brown Sr. Wallace mentioned that years before the building of the Cathedral of the Ozarks was complete, a musical was presented on the cathedral’s concrete foundation — still open to the air. Various faculty and student clubs pioneered the presentation of plays, and eventually, the increased interest created a theatre track of study in the English and communication departments. During this time, the music department also presented musical- and opera-based performances, highlighting the talent among JBU students.

The department of music and theatre was established in the early 2000s, and now two plays and two musicals are presented each academic year. Offered theatre classes cover many areas — including acting, directing, stagecraft and theatre history.

“In addition to these more traditional theatre classes, students are expected to receive workshop and practicum credit by being involved in the design, technical and performance areas of our plays and musicals,” Wallace said.

Theatre participation benefits those involved, even if they are not theatre minors. Students learn soft skills like self-confidence and collaboration, but they also learn about vocal control and expressiveness, project completion, resourcefulness and design and technical skills in using tools, materials and technology.

Nathan Hahn, a sophomore psychology major with a minor in theatre, has been acting for seven years. He took a theatre class at JBU while still in high school and loved the knowledge he acquired.

“I wanted to do theatre regardless of what path I was going to take,” Hahn said. His two favorite performances so far have been last year’s “Tartuffe” and this fall’s play “Murder on the Orient Express.” Currently, he plans on focusing more on behind-the-scenes areas like scenic design.

Four years of participating in JBU’s productions are not enough for some. David Burney ’08, director of student financial services, was involved during his student years at JBU and has been part of almost all the theatre productions in some capacity since. Acting as Milky White in last fall’s musical “Into the Woods” allowed the busy Burney, a father of two young children, to relax and distance himself from his full-time job at JBU.

“Theatre is my creative outlet; I don’t need to worry about administrative tasks [when involved in theatre]. From here, I can easily get into the creative side of my brain,” Burney said.

The JBU theatre program is a part of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), a national program dedicated to improving collegiate theatre in the United States. Involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities, KCACTF frequently recognizes JBU through nominations and merits. Over the past four years, various students have been nominated for awards including ensemble work, directing, lighting design, sound design, costume design and scenic design. Wallace was particularly pleased when the production of “Tartuffe” was selected as one of only five plays at the KCACTF regional festival, especially when JBU’s work was presented alongside theatre programs with up to 150 students in their major.

Burney said he remembers theatre at JBU being seen more as a niche when he was a student. Mostly friends and family were the only ones to know about and attend productions. Burney has since seen a shift where the theatre program has a much more significant presence, and he said the benefits that theatre has brought to the lives of its students are endless.

The addition of the 29,000-square-foot Berry Performing Arts Center (BPAC) in 2010 provided a full stage, half fly, set construction area, costume storage, full dressing room and makeup area, increasing the capabilities of the program and overall event attendance.

“Because of BPAC and the theater minor, JBU can do a much larger range of shows,” said Burney, “Even those who worked in a big theatre in high school can show off their depth of talent.”

With growing recognition, Wallace said the benefits of the theatre program remain the same.

“In a world where we continue to find our live human interactions minimized and polarized by technology, health crises and politicization, the theatre gives us a space to spend time with one another in the same space to tell and listen to stories,” said Wallace. “We can delight in the creative gifts God has given us, be challenged by the human experience and hopefully recognize the beauty and truth God intends for his creation to grasp.”

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