Theatre 

Meet the Faculty | Departmental Information Sheets | Department Website

Our Mission
The mission of the Theatre Department is to provide students with rigorous pre-professional theatre training within the context of a traditional liberal arts college education. The degree options offered by the Theatre Department are designed to equip students with the skills required to succeed in the professional theatre, graduate school, and a wide range of vocations.

Our Uniqueness
The Emory & Henry Theatre Department operates in association with the Barter Theatre, a professional LORT C Equity company located in Abingdon, Va., ten minutes from the E&H campus. This association offers theatre majors opportunities for professional internships, mentoring, workshops, and master classes throughout their college career. Barter staff members often serve as adjunct faculty and guest artists in the Theatre Department. In addition, E&H theatre majors have the opportunity to attend professional rehearsals, participate in “talk backs” with the actors and crew after Barter performances, and serve as understudies in Barter Theatre productions. The Emory & Henry Theatre Department offers students the combined strengths of a small liberal arts college and the type of pre-professional experiences often found only in large conservatories. 

Our Growth
The E&H Theatre Department has seen remarkable growth since it was established. The departmental goal is to maintain a department of fewer than 70 students in order to ensure the personal attention resulting from a low student/faculty ratio and provide students ample opportunities for practical experience.

Areas of Specialization
In addition to its broad-based General Theatre major and minor, the Theatre Department offers separate “tracks” in four areas of specialization: acting, directing, musical theatre, and production/design. Each of these pre-professional tracks is a separate, sequence-based training program with specialized course work in the chosen area. Both the General Theatre major and the four specialized tracks combine in-depth academic preparation with extensive production work.

Internships & Auditions
In addition to its broad-based General Theatre major and minor, the Theatre Department offers separate “tracks” in four areas of specialization: acting, directing, musical theatre, and production/design. Each of these pre-professional tracks is a separate, sequence-based training program with specialized course work in the chosen area. Both the General Theatre major and the four specialized tracks combine in-depth academic preparation with extensive production work.

Facilities
A $7 million renovation and expansion of Byars Hall was completed in the summer of 2008. Byars houses theatre classrooms, faculty offices, and work spaces for costume construction. Performances and classes are held on the three-quarter thrust stage of The Studio Theatre and the larger proscenium stage of Wiley Auditorium. A scenic construction shop is located in a separate building near Byars Hall and The Studio Theatre. A new multi-million dollar Center for the Arts is currently in the design and fund-raising stages.

Production Season
Each year, 100 percent of Theatre Department students participate as cast or production crew members in at least one departmental production. The E&H Theatre Department stages four main productions encompassing a range of material, including musicals, contemporary plays, classical pieces, and new or experimental works. All shows are directed by E&H faculty, Barter Theatre staff, or guest directors from New York or other metropolitan areas. In addition, up to five student-directed “showcase” productions are produced each semester, offering further opportunities for students to be actively involved in practical production work as actors, directors, designers or technicians.

Student Success
In the past five years, E&H theatre students have passed through the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s qualifying auditions at a higher rate than those from any other private college in Virginia. In 2008, Eric Eteuati with partner Laura Crockarell won the Region IV Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition at the Kennedy Center/ American College Theatre Festival in Clemson, S.C. Eric was one of only 16 college actors in the country invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Alumni
The E&H Theatre Department has a proven track record of graduating successful alumni. Over the past six years our graduates have secured theatre-related jobs, internships, and advanced degrees at professional theatres and graduate schools in more than 15 states.

Alumni and current students have worked at the following theatres: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Louisville, Ky.; Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern, Atlanta, Ga.; Arena Stage, Washington, D.C.; Barter Theatre, Abingdon, Va.; Blowing Rock Stage Company, Blowing Rock, N.C.; Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C.; Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Boulder, Co.; Flat Rock Playhouse, Flat Rock, N.C.; Florida Repertory Theatre, Fort Myers, Fla.; Hippodrama State Theatre, Gainesville, Fla.; Horn in the West Outdoor Drama, Boone, N.C.; Jenny Wiley Theatre, Prestonburg, Ky.; Johnny Appleseed Outdoor Drama, Ashland, Ohio; Lost Colony Outdoor Drama, Manteo, N.C.; Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke, Va.; New York Theatre Workshop, New York, N.Y.; Old Creamery Theatre, Amana, Iowa; Portland Center Stage, Portland, Md.; Post Playhouse, Chadron, Neb.; Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre, Barrett, Minn.; Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, Winchester, Va.; Stephen Foster Outdoor Drama, Bardstown, Ky.; Theatre IV, Richmond, Va.; Thin Air Theatre Company, Cripple Creek, Colo.; Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama, Big Stone Gap, Va.; Unto These Hills Outdoor Drama, Cherokee, N.C.; and Wolfhart Haus Dinner Theatre, Wytheville, Va.

Alumni of the Theatre Department have been accepted into graduate programs at Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Michigan University, Emerson College, Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder, Indiana University at Bloomington, Radford University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Oregon and Western Illinois Graduate School.

Theatre department alumni and current students have been employed as actors, choreographers, directors, stage managers, musical directors, house managers, designers, theatre development officers, lighting/sound, theatre and dance teachers, technicians and carpenters.

Faculty
Department Chair
Biliana Stoytcheva-Horissian (acting, movement, professional theatre experience, auditions). M.F.A., National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts, Bulgaria; Ph.D., University of Oregon. 276-944-6667 or biliana@ehc.edu

Kelly Bremner (directing, theatre history, script analysis, devised theatre). B.A., William Smith College;  M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison. 276-944-6901 or kbremner@ehc.edu

Christianne Roll (musical theatre, voice for the stage, vocal performance, aural skills). B.F.A., the CAP21 musical theatre studio at New York University; M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University. 276-944-6164 or croll@ehc.edu

Daniel Wheeler (design, technical direction, stagecraft, scenography). B.A., University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire; M.A., University of Wisconsin - Superior; M.F.A., University of Southern California. 276-944-6227 or dwheeler@ehc.edu