09/04/2026
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Theatre Department Orientation last night!
Our Department Chairperson, Prof. Julie Kiernan, provided everyone in the house with a unique decks of playing cards, and led delightfully boisterous activities where students and faculty found partners with a similar suit or number to make a pair ("Finding the familiar") and then reached out to other pairs to form a larger hand ("Expanding the circle").
As she stated last evening, "A play cannot happen with only actors. Or only designers. Or only directors. Or only playwrights. Or only stage managers. Only technicians. Or only faculty. Or only students.
We need all of it.
We need performance and production. We need creativity and organization. We need leadership and collaboration. We need experienced artists and first-year students. We need people who think differently from one another.
The strongest theatre isn't built from identical cards. It's built from unique cards arranged in meaningful ways.
So as we begin this year together, my hope is that you will do three things:
First, value your own card. Bring your full self into this community.
Second, learn the game. Develop your skills. Challenge yourself academically. Pursue excellence in your craft.
And third, look beyond your own hand. Build relationships with people different from you. Listen deeply. Support one another. Take creative risks together.
Because Salem State Theatre is more than a collection of individuals. It is a community. A community committed to belonging, learning, creative expression, collaboration, and human connection.
And when we bring our unique cards together, we can create something none of us could have imagined alone.
Welcome to Salem State Theatre. Let's make something extraordinary together."
It's going to be a fabulous year of Salem State Theatre! ๐
