The Theatre Arts program is the main provider of performing arts opportunities in northeastern Nevada. Not only does the program serve students who are directly involved in productions on campus, but it provides cultural opportunities for audiences throughout the region. Just as a community college has an open-enrollment policy, the Theatre Program has an “open-casting” policy; that is, anyone who wishes to perform in a play is given the opportunity to do so. To accommodate the policy, many productions are “double cast.” Considerable effort is made to match more experienced actors with less experienced actors in the process. The result is a highly collaborative learning environment with students learning from one another as well as from their instructor or director.

Each theatre season features a variety of genres of theatre: plays by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, and Tom Stoppard, and musicals and operettas. The seasons are designed so that a student can participate, either as an actor or as a member of the audience, in classical, modern, and contemporary plays and musicals during a two-year period. In 2002/2003, the program is staging four productions: The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov; Inspecting Carol, by Daniel Sullivan and the Seattle Repertory Theatre; Oklahoma!, by Rogers and Hammerstein; and The Great Basin Theatre Marathon, an invitational theatre event featuring works by theatre companies from throughout the region. (A list of the works produced by the theatre program since its inception in 1996 is found in Exhibit 2.34.)

General Education. The general education offerings from the Theatre Arts Program are Fundamentals of Acting, THA 130; Appreciation of Theatre; THA 200; Oral Interpretation; THA 221; and Fundamentals of Speech, SPTH 113. Each course must pay a significant amount of attention to developing oral and written communication skills, critical and creative thinking skills, personal wellness, and personal and cultural awareness. All of the classes give students an opportunity to develop their body and voice as flexible and creative tools. Students must keep a private journal, from which they must synthesize a critical and creative self-evaluation composition. Performance, whether it is on-stage or as a public speaker, is one of the most mentally and physically demanding tasks a student can undertake. The courses require study and practice in the mechanics of the voice and body.

Community Outreach. Each year, K-12 students from throughout the College’s service area are provided with an opportunity to watch a live theatre performance produced by GBC students. The program has been successful in writing grants to the Nevada Arts Council that have helped to fund these programs. Students are bussed to the Elko campus for performances and are invited to remain in the theatre following a performance for a “talk-back” session with the cast and director. Those experiences have resulted in a surge in theatre activity at elementary, middle, and senior high schools throughout the region. The Theatre Program at GBC has been a catalyst for performing arts in elementary and secondary education and the community at large. For example, the Carlin Combined Schools of the Elko County School District initiated a theatre program after seeing a GBC production and engaging in a “talk-back” with faculty and students on the GBC campus. The Carlin program is particularly interesting, in that it involves students from both the middle and high schools in productions. It has been designed so that “upper classmen” serve as mentors to the younger students, much as the GBC “open casting” policy helps more experienced actors work with those with less experience. The Office of Continuing Education on the GBC campus presents a summer theatre program for elementary students with former GBC theatre students as instructors.

The Theatre Program can also offer “compressed” acting classes to students at the branch and satellite campuses, sites where qualified adjunct faculty are not always available. Classes are designed to run from Monday through Friday for three hours a day for two weeks. The classes meet on Saturdays for eight hours each day. The condensed program was offered in Summer 1998 for a dozen non-traditional students. It will be repeated in Spring 2003 at GBC’s Ely campus.

Guest Artists. The Program has been successful in securing professional theatre artists for residencies at the College. The guest artists direct, act, and design productions for the program, and students work side-by-side with the guest artists on projects. The guest artists also conduct free workshops for community members in their field. The Office of Academic Affairs has been supportive of the guest artist program. The Theatre Program has also been successful in securing grants to help fund the guest artist program. (See Exhibit 2.35 for list of guest artists.)

Faculty. The Theatre Program has one full-time faculty member, John Patrick Rice. Rice has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to 1996, he was an adjunct faculty member at the College of Eastern Utah, teaching at the Blanding and Monument Valley, Utah, campuses of that institution. He specializes in working with theatre arts students who have little or no previous stage experience. In addition to Rice’s work in the classroom, he directs two or three productions each year and produces four events each year. Before beginning a teaching career, he worked as a professional actor, appearing in productions in New York and in regional theatre across the nation. He also appeared in television and film. He continues to practice his craft as an actor, performing in projects outside of the College, as well as appearing alongside his students in plays produced on campus. Rice also served as GBC’s Faculty Senate Chair for a two-year term, 2000-2002. Generally, about half a dozen adjunct faculty will join Rice during the academic year. Most teach and supervise the technical aspects of the program’s productions—designing and creating costumes, sets, and lights.

Students. There are strong enrollments in all courses. Early in the program’s history, many non-traditional students from the community enrolled in courses. As the average age of GBC students has fallen, the profile of theatre students now reflects a more traditional college student. Students are also staying more involved in Theatre Program activities, starting with fundamentals of acting classes and moving on to participate as actors and directors in productions throughout the rest of their tenure at GBC.

Resources. The Theatre Arts Department facilities include:
• A 256-seat indoor theatre with state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems, built in 1994.
• A 600-seat arena-style outdoor amphitheatre, completed in 2001.
• A 24 by 40 foot rehearsal space.
• A small costume shop.
• A mid-sized costume storage area in the theatre building.
• A small scene shop adjacent to the theatre.
• The department shares a $4,500 annual operating budget with the Humanities Department.
• The budget covers day-to-day operations and production costs. Ticket sales supplement the operating budget for productions.
The department has been successful in gaining grants from public and private benefactors. These monies have helped to pay for guest artists and special project supplies. The department is also granted equipment money from the institution to upgrade lighting, sound, costume, and scene building equipment.

Significant Changes
• As baccalaureate programs were developed, the Theatre Arts Department responded with the rest of the academic arm of the institution and restructured the courses it offers in the General Education curriculum.
• New Courses: Upper-division courses have been developed in coordination with the Art Department, and courses have been developed to support the college’s baccalaureate degree programs. EDU 334, Theatre Arts Methods has been developed for the Elementary Education program, and INT 339, a humanities integrative seminar entitled Villains, Victims, and Heroes: Exploring Archetypes in Film through Art and Theatre has supported the baccalaureate programs. • The Theatre Program has adapted two classes and is in the process of adapting others to fit into the “Tech Prep” program offered at area high schools. The program allows high school students to enroll in college programs for both high school and transferable college credit. The Theatre Program now offers THA 200, Theatre Appreciation, and SPTH 113, Fundamentals of Speech, through this program.
• The Reynolds Amphitheatre was built during the campus enhancement project of 1999-2000. The Theatre Arts Department has thus far mounted just one production outdoors, Really Rosie, in Summer 2001. More energy has been devoted to bringing music to the amphitheatre. In Summer 2002, The Great Basin Summer Music Series brought a variety of artists to the community, including jazz musician Curtis Stigers, The Bearfoot Bluegrass Band, and Ian Tyson. It is the intention of the Theatre Program to expand The Great Basin Theatre Marathon into the summer months, bringing theatre companies to perform in the amphitheatre. Currently, the amphitheatre has no permanent lighting or sound equipment. It will be necessary to outfit the amphitheatre with that technical equipment.

Analysis
The Theatre Program shares a $4,500 operating budget with the Humanities Department. The budget must fund classes in theatre arts, music, foreign languages, philosophy, and sign language. Ticket sales help to pay production costs. While the program has been successful in securing grants to fund other programs, such as guest artist and community outreach programs, there is inadequate time for a single full-time faculty member to secure enough funding to expand and improve the program. With the introduction of the General Education curriculum, the program was successful in redesigning its offerings in a way that made assessment more objective than subjective. Research and writing requirements assure that students have a stronger academic foundation in their theatre studies. In the past, the emphasis had been on theatre and acting “craft.” Now the student’s experience of “craft” is supported by a more rigorous academic preparation.

STRENGTHS
• One full-time instructor and up to six rotating adjunct guest artists.
• Excellent performance facilities.

CHALLENGES
• Maintaining department’s offerings with a single full-time faculty member.
• Obtaining lighting and sound equipment for the outdoor amphitheatre.
• Limited rehearsal and storage space.
• Limited scenic and costume shops.
• Limited budget.

RECOMMENDATIONS/ACTION ITEMS
• Develop an emphasis area in Fine Arts Management in the BAIPS or BAS programs.
• Establish a Summer Theatre Training Institute
• Construct a Fine Arts building with a rehearsal/black box theatre space, dance studio, costume shop, scene shop, and storage areas.