THEATRE CHAIR FINALLY
TAKES THE STAGE posted
2/12/04
Professor to act with students for first time in ‘Proof’
Feb. 19-21
It’s fair to say that Michael
Allen’s life is theatre. He acts in community
productions every year, and has been absorbed in the
Adrian College theatre department since he became chair
in 1986. But there is one place where he has yet to
take the stage: in his own theatre at Adrian College.
Never once has Allen ever acted in
a college production. When the theatre department presents
“Proof” later this month, that will finally
change.
Allen has been producing and directing
AC theatre for years. However, his philosophy is to
let his students do as much as possible.
“I want it to be about students
having opportunities to take control, to have ownership
of their work,” Allen said. “I’d rather
supervise the students at every step of the way, from
acting to designing to writing to directing—and
I think that’s the uniqueness of a theatre program
like Adrian’s.”
However, due to nature of the roles
in Proof, he’s making an exception. The character
he will play is a middle-aged college professor named
Robert. The other main characters are all people in
their 20s, which works out perfectly.
Proof is the recent Tony and Pulitzer
Prize-winning play by David Auburn. Robert is brilliant
but unstable, and has been under the care of his daughter
Catherine for years. Now Catherine must deal with his
death, the arrival of her estranged sister, and the
attentions of her father’s former student. Above
all this, she is forced to confront the most perplexing
of all problems, what has she inherited from her father
– genius or madness?
The play is scheduled Feb. 19-21 in
the historic Downs Hall Theatre (campus
map). Thursday and Friday performances are
at 8 p.m., and Saturday performances are at 2 p.m. and
8 p.m. Ticket prices are $5 for the general public and
$3 for seniors.
In addition to his work at the College,
Allen is highly involved in community theatre –
most notably through the Croswell
Opera House in Adrian. He’s been acting in
at least
one summer musical (and sometimes two or three) since
“A Little Night Music” in 1988. Last summer’s
“Jekyll & Hyde” was his 25th. He directed
one Croswell show, and has performed with Opera!Lenawee.
He was elected to the board of directors more than seven
years ago, and has served on various committees, as
vice president, and two terms as president. After a
hiatus due to term limits, he is now back on the board.
For Allen, this play will be one more
chapter in his love affair with theatre.
“I suppose in one sense, all
art asks the question, ‘Why are we here?’”
he said. “And I think theatre, certainly for me,
is more involved in that than any other art.”
Downs Hall is located on Madison Street.
Call 517-264-3922 for more information.
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