Theatre Professor Enjoys Role
By Genna McLaughlin

Dr. Mark Stevenson relishes that moment when a Chatham biology student walks on stage and auditions for a theatre role.

It has happened numerous times in his 18-year career as theatre professor at Chatham. One student, a math major he gave a stage manager role in the 80s, sends a Christmas card every year. She's been a successful stage manager in New York since graduation.

"We give students opportunities here that they wouldn't have other places," said Stevenson, chair of fine and performing arts at Chatham.

The professional actor takes his role as keeper of the Chatham theatre tradition very seriously. Throughout almost two decades, he has infused new ideas and technology into the theatre program while preserving the basics that make it strong. His choice of all-women's productions of Hamlet and Godspell has struck some as strange, but his belief in the productions has never wavered.

"I've had people approach me and say `Why would you do that?' Why not do them? Where else is a woman going to have the opportunity to play Hamlet," he said. "We are experimental. We take some pretty bold risks."

In the fall, Chatham finished its fifth season of all-women's Shakespeare with "As You Like It." In addition to Shakespeare, the four yearly productions include "New Directions," student directed one-act plays, and works whose themes complement the Global Focus Year. This year's Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by alumna Marushka Steele '97, coincides with the College's celebration of the Year of Ireland: North and South.

All productions are free to the public. According to Stevenson, students often perform to a full house.

"We have a very good following," he said. "People come to see our plays, and they know they're going to see a quality show."

Stevenson is currently working with art, theatre and music faculty to maintain the quality of arts at Chatham. The department is re-evaluating the fine and performing arts curriculum and looking for ways to make it stronger.

"We're all working together, and it's wonderful," he said. "A World Ready Woman needs to be exposed to the arts in a systematic way."

Stevenson, a graduate of Bethany College, West Virginia University and University of Pittsburgh, resides with his wife, Karen in Washington County. A professional actor, Stevenson most recently toured Pittsburgh in a two-man show, "The Letter."