Backstage with the Reed College Theater Department

Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 22, 2024

The Reed College Theater Department continues to thrive: That’s what THE BEE was assured by Associate Professor of Theatre Kate Duffly.

Invited to see actors rehearsing for their production of “Everybody” – a play that explores themes of life, death, and human connection – gave us insight to the high quality of their productions.

“An interesting facet of this play is that at each performance, the roles are assigned to the actors by lottery; so, our student actors are prepared to play ANY of the parts,” Duffly explained.

Few Theater majors; many participants

“We have about seven students in each Bachelor of Arts graduating class — but many more students take our classes, and are involved in productions. In this most recent production, there were about 40 students involved,” remarked Duffly.

“Most of our theater-related classes, and all of our productions, are open to both majors and non-majors; and each year our productions involve many students from across campus in all aspects of production – from working on costume creation in the costume shop, to being a stage manager backstage or a performer onstage.”

Offers variety of genres

The Reed College theater “season” includes two “main stage” productions, as well as up to four “thesis” productions by students who are involved in Reed’s “Senior Thesis”, which is the final capstone project of their Reed experience.

“We put on a range of types of productions that tend to span many different types of theatrical genres,” said Duffly. “We try to select plays that will resonate with our students, and speak in some way to our current moment. As we often ask our students: ‘Why this play, why now?’”

Helps fulfill Reed’s mission

Duffly pointed out that Reed’s Theatre Department mirrors the college’s liberal arts mission – which is to make sure that the college’s Theatre students should have a broad education in theatre history, theory, and practice.

“As a department, we feel that theatre is essential to the liberal arts. We believe that with each play we study or perform, we learn about a different world, and delve into that world’s cultural values, social and religious practices, gender roles, race relationships, and political debates.”

Asked by THE BEE what is the best part of being in her educational role, Duffly responded, “Reed students are amazing to work with! They are both intellectually curious, and rigorous. They are excited about learning, and therefore make great collaborators. They love to do a ‘deep dive’ into a text, and really grapple with the complexities of whatever play we are working on.”

By the way, their productions are open to the general public. Tickets to all shows are priced at less than $10. Find more about Reed Theatre, and the plays they are presenting, at their website – http://www.reed.edu/theatre/productions/schedule.html