I’m sure that most of you agree that one of the most important aspects of education is relevance; if remaining relevant drives the arts and education, from production to playwriting, from criticism to dance.
Our professors know that to best prepare students for careers in the arts, they, themselves, must work diligently to keep up with current trends; the days of teaching from yellowed note pads are over, in other words. And while we must embrace the past, paying homage to traditions and always learning from history, we must also carefully critique the world in which we live, and our particular place in it, to decide how best to convey information to our students.
In a School as large as ours, this means that professors must often consistently seek training that keeps us abreast of the technology, trends and culture of 21st century. But one of the reasons we are such a vibrant community is that our professors continue to work to further creative and scholarly contributions to national and international fields of study. Such study not only drives us spiritually, but works also to keep us relevant and to show the art world just how much professors at Texas Tech contribute to furthering our myriad fields of interest.
As you can imagine, maintaining a commitment to our School, our home life, and our own particular interest areas means that we have very little free time, but our research guides and defines us. Below you will find a partial list of faculty research at the current time; this is by no means all of us, nor is it every avenue we are pursuing, but I asked my colleagues to share just what they are in the process of researching right now. I'm sure you will be as impressed as I am at the breadth and depth of what we are accomplishing.
Andrea Bilkey is designing the scenery for Outpost's first fully produced show Gloria this spring, and she also is the faculty member on our team for the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) – United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Venue Renovation Challenge, a biennial competition which challenges schools to theorize local or campus venue projects.
Andrew Gibb is currently working on an essay that addresses the historical continuity of border issues in the Southwest through the nineteenth-century New Mexican folk play "Los Tejanos."
Norman Bert and Dr. George Comiskey of Tech's Addiction Recovery Program have initiated plans to edit and publish a collection of the "Plays on Tap" that our students have written over the past 5 years in observation of the annual National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. In collaboration with PhD student Garret Milton and as part of a grant by engineering professor Dr. Ali Nejat, Bert is writing a 45-minute play about recovering from a disastrous tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, for presentation at a national conference in Colorado in the summer of 2019.
Mark Charney is collaborating on two plays, Public Domain: A Play with Footnotes and Empty Roads with Cars, the first to be performed at the Second Middle Eastern Theatre Festival at the University of Sharjah, and the latter to be performed at the Annual International Theatre Festival at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey.
Linda Donahue is directing the final show of fall 2018, Elephant's Graveyard, at the TTU Equestrian Center, and has been invited to present a lecture in March at King's College (London), titled "US Arts Funding during Difficult Political Times in America."
Paul Reinsch is currently co-editing (and contributing to) an edited collection of new essays about soundtrack albums from across media for Routledge press.
Ali Duffy is collaborating with a jazz composer and ensemble on a Flatlands Dance Theatre production called Speakeasy; she is writing a chapter in the forthcoming book Dancing Across the Lifespan; and she is revising two articles – one about women's leadership in dance and the other about immersive performance practices in Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return.
Tanya Calamoneri is writing a book entitled Butoh America, under contract with Routledge, that traces the history of this Japanese avant-garde art form as it landed in the United States and Mexico in the 1970s and migrated throughout the continent, merging with the existing performance art community and punk rock scene. She is also working on a creative project with three Mexican artists (Esparta Martinez of Dairakudakan, Eugenia Vargas of Cuerpos en Revuelta and Tania Galindo of Butoh Chilango) and Rosemary Candelario of TWU, premiering in El Paso in February 2019.
Bill Gelber is writing a book about the ways that the theatrical methodologies of Bertolt Brecht can be taught in light of a renewed interest in Theatre for Social Change.
Dean Nolen was just published in Texas Theatre Journal (Fall 2018) and in May, he will begin rehearsals for the off-Broadway premiere of Rob Ackerman's Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson, with which popular American playwright Theresa Rebeck will make her NYC directing debut.
Dorothy Chansky presented work from her current book project (supported by a TTU Presidential Research Professorship) at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers conference, where her 2015 book, Kitchen Sink Realisms, was a nominee for the "Best Book" award.
Rachel Hirshorn-Johnston's research examines the intersection of various performing arts methodologies on atypical and often underserved populations, including patient, female, and veteran populations, those living in comparatively isolated communities, and those with limited financial means.
Sarah Johnson presented an article in progress on Paula Vogel's use of autobiography in her plays at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers and is collaborating with Robin Reese at Penn State Altoona on an applied theatre project tackling the opioid crisis as a dramaturg.
Mallory Prucha completed a costume design for Steve Martin's Picasso at Lapin Agile at Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland, OR.
Finally, the School of Theatre and Dance encourages you to see our last show of the semester, George Brant's Elephant's Graveyard at the TTU Equestrian Center. It speaks very well to our creative research endeavors, and while you may not have heard of the show, it deserves an audience. It speaks to what we are experiencing in the country right now, especially in terms of mass hysteria, and will both entertain and challenge you.
Wishing you the best of the holiday season ahead, and looking forward to seeing you in the New Year, the last semester we will spend in our current building!