The Dunham Era

Richard Dunham became chair of the Theatre and Cinema Department in the fall of 2019 after serving for nineteen years as the Head of Design and Director of Production for the University of Georgia. The transition in leadership has been smooth despite the unprecedented challenges that occurred within the second half of the 2019-2020 academic year and beyond. In the spring of 2020, the global COVID pandemic struck …just as the department was set to go into techs for Urinetown –The Musical. We went into spring break set for tech rehearsals on our return from break, only to have the rest of the semester shift to being online with remote teaching and no activities occurring on campus. The next year was marked by creating a variety of COVID protocols, (both from the university and more importantly for the special needs of our rehearsals/performances and studios/shops), mask and distancing requirements and a continued emphasis on classroom safety precautions. Most significantly, the department invested in a lot of new equipment that allowed for the production of a full season of streamed performances for our patrons. A new general undergraduate education system (REAL) was also created during this time for the entire campus (the program was launched during the Fall 2021 semester). By Fall of 2021 the department returned to live performances (though still using masks and COVID protocols) with the exception of our children’s show which continued to be streamed due to COVID restrictions that were still in place for the public schools. By the time we produced the final production of the spring (the musical, The Drowsy Chaperone), the department was finally able to do performances without masks (masks were optional for students who wanted them). In 2022 Camilla Morrison joined the department as our faculty costume designer.

The second most significant event in this era to this time has been the demolition of both Porterfield Hall and McGuffy Hall to make room for our new home, the Artis Center for Adaptability and Innovation and Creativity (ACAIC).

This ultra-modern facility will house the entire CVPA College along with elements of the nursing/physical therapy programs. During this time theatre was housed in a number of buildings across campus in what is known as SWING space but continued producing the majority of productions in Preston Hall’s Bondurant Auditorium. This even included producing studio shows in a variety of seating configurations on the actual Bondurant stage. As of this writing the new building is well along in its construction, and it appears that if things remain on schedule, we will be in our new home for the Fall 2024 semester. Other than being in temporary facilities, the department is now back to running pretty much normally …even with bringing all of the elementary schools back to campus to see our Fall 2022 young audience’s production of The Rainbow Fish and sending the Porterfield Ensemble back out to perform at a variety of locations throughout the western part of the state. The next significant event for the department will be the move into the new building and learning all of the aspects of using the new studios and producing shows in the new spaces.

For over one hundred years theatre has been alive at Radford University in one form or another. From the earnest student efforts of 1913 to the students of 2020 working to bring production to life in a very different “virtual” manner during the COVID-19 Pandemic and the variations in production and classes in the years since students and professors have strived to bring artistic expression to the Radford stages and community. Who knows what the next 100 years will bring?