LITTLE ROCK — More than seven months after Arkansas Tech University canceled all spring theatrical performances, the school plans to let students perform publicly once again.
The announcement came after an outside report that praised theater faculty but said production resources were inadequate for students and teachers, who had indicated frustration over the problems.
Last week, though, the university’s board of trustees agreed to spend $840,950 to build a new home for the theater program in the Techionery, where it was housed until Sept. 14, 2011. The administration closed the theater portion of the building then over safety issues.
The school also announced last week that students will present the play Pelleas and Melisande next month and that the public may attend — the first such event the university has allowed since last fall.
Last winter, the university canceled all spring performances, including one of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and all oncampus theater practicum courses.
Those actions also came after critical statements in the review conducted by three external reviewers — all faculty members from four-year institutions outside Arkansas.
Their report said that while waiting for the theater’s renovation, the theatrical production resources “are not adequate for teaching or student learning.”
“There is currently little way for students to get practical knowledge for technical theatre and there is no way for students to practice performance in a live forum,” the report said.
The reviewers applauded the faculty for focusing during this time on other forms of theater.
“Yet, students and faculty must have a way to learn and teach set construction, lighting designing/hanging, makeup application, costume construction, and sound engineering in a theatre space,” they added.
“Students also must be able to experience performing for audiences that are not fellow students in a classroom experience. Currently, these resources are not available,” the reviewers wrote.
They said the situation has had “a negative effect” on student learning and teaching effectiveness.
In a May memorandum to the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Anthony Canton — head of the department of speech, theater and journalism — noted that the reviewers commented “several times” about “the difficulties that have arisen in the Theatre program due to the closure of the Techionery.”
“The Department understands these issues and stresses that this is a temporary setback, as the University is actively taking steps to rectify the situation,” Canton wrote.
Last year, university President Robert C. Brown blamed two theater professors for letting “that theater get in an appalling situation.”
He identified them as Ardith Morris, who had been theater director there since 1982, and Valerie Brugh, who also was the program’s principal designer and technical director.
The university later replaced Morris, who remains a tenured faculty member, with another professor, David Eshelman, as interim director.
Brugh — whom the report praised as having a “wonderful” teaching style — resigned June 20.
In the announcement last week, the university said it invested $176,510 starting last spring “in restoring the [theater] facility to a safe and acceptable operating condition.”
“Crews removed 22 tons of debris ... in the first phase of renovation,” the news release added.
Construction on the new theater will take place this academic year and should be ready for the fall 2013 semester, the school said.
“The renovated theater will include a performance space with seating for 144 audience members, classroom space, storage areas and space for set creation,” the school said.
Last year, the university said the Fire Department had found a variety of problems, from obstructed emergency exits to wiring problems to unsafe storage of combustible materials.
Morris said at the time that the area was “messy and ... overcrowded.”
She said the facility had inadequate space for classes, a stage and storage. “For years, we’ve been asking for help,” she said.
In an e-mail, university spokesman Sam Strasner said the second phase of renovation — preparing the Techionery for theatrical productions again — could not begin until floor plans were developed and appropriate funding found.
In the report, the reviewers said, “A safe, working practical theatre space is priority.”
They said, for example, that costume, construction and storage areas are needed and that lighting equipment needs “up-to-code safety upgrades.”
One reviewer wrote, “Unfortunately, I witnessed a lot of frustration by faculty, students, and administration regarding the closing of the Techionery space. ... Ultimately, this hurts the program, the outcomes, and the education of the students.”
The reviewer also spoke of the need to make “communication lines clearer and more effective.”
The reviewer said students’ “passion and enthusiasm has been overshadowed by what they said they felt is an uncomfortable and discouraging environment.”
This fall’s play was written in 1893 by Maurice Maeterlinck and translated from French to English by Eshelman. Performances will be in the Doc Bryan Student Services Building Lecture Hall from Oct. 18-20 and at Witherspoon Auditorium from Oct. 25-26.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 09/27/2012