This article was originally published in the Fall 2009 issue of the UVI Voice, the official student

newspaper of the University of the Virgin Islands.

A Dying Major
Wherefore art the UVI theater program?
BY APRIL ROSE FALE The voices of fifty cast members electrified the hall. It was April 2009, and Truth on Trial, the first major University of the Virgin Islands play in several years, was being performed to a standing-room-only crowd. However, unlike the generations of plays before it, Truth on Trial did not bring to life UVIs Little Theater. That place has been dying for a while, like the declining tradition of academic theater in UVI. The decline was summed up by Theater major Jae Knight: In six years, we went from selling out live, widely-followed plays, involving both campus and community each semester, to a single Readers Theater course. Douglas Larche, UVI Playwright-in-Residence, is in the process of leading a revival of theater as a tradition of the university community. In the spring of 2009, he successfully produced Truth on Trial: The Ballad of Sojourner Truth using the facilities of Pistarckle Theatre. Two years into his UVI career, Larche is now calling for a clarification of the status of Theater among the universitys major offerings. One of the questions regarding Theater is whether or not it even exists officially as a major degree program. Theater was separated from Communication five years ago under the direction of a coordinator, explained Larche. That is academically defensible; Theater is often in Fine Arts rather than in Communication. But they structured it as a Speech and Theater major so half the courses that are required are in the Communication side. The ambiguity surrounding Theaters status is seen in the lack of a constant offering of courses that theater majors need for graduation. When you come in and you look at the paradigm for graduation, many required required courses have not been offered for a while, Larche said. The handful of students still listed as Theater majors are left with few options to take if they want to graduate. They can wait for the university to offer the major theater classes shown in

their paradigm. They can also appeal to the university for permission to replace Theater requirements with other courses, such as upper-level literature classes offered by the English Department. Kathleen Pascal, one of the last remaining theater majors, has been tackling her coursework using a third optionseeking opportunities for independent study. Within two semesters, Pascal has done four major independent studies with Larche and former UVI Theater Director Rosary Harper. She is currently working on two more independent study courses. It is very tasking and very discouraging, Pascal said. It takes a lot of diligence, emails, and follow-ups. Relying solely on independent study courses in order to finish a major degree program is not the way to go, according to Pascal. It slows down my progress and the goals I have set for myself, she shared. This semester, I didnt get to start [my independent studies] until almost the middle of the semester, what with the changes in protocols and all this shifting and reshifting in the positions of different people. Larche agreed: Its very tough and its unreasonable to [Pascal], and its unreasonable to the faculty people who are trying to do it. Qualified faculty is a big Theater issue. Larche has a long, celebrated history of theater involvement, but he was primarily hired as a Communication professor. He believes the university is legally and ethically obliged to hire people with the proper credentials to teach a course that is listed as a major in the catalogue. How can you offer a major with not a single dedicated faculty person? he asked. Not one. Its a major, not just an emphasis. We have to go hire the people to teach it or we have to make some significant changes. Like an analogy to the plight of Theater, the status of the Little Theater is also unclear. This small production hall in the Saint Thomas campus now sits vacant, save for occasional classes and random students seeking respite from the bustle of classes. In its glory days, however, Little Theater sheltered two full-fledged productions on a regular year. It was already actively when I joined in 1970, recalled Harper. It has a long, rich history that goes back to 1964. In partnership with Dennis Parker, Harper had directed at least 35 productions in a span of 35 years. Within that time, the UVI theater company has taken its plays to several Caribbean islands and performed to the larger public outside of the Little Theater. Then, in May 2005, the shows stopped.

They said it was condemned; Im not really privy to the details, Harper said. Without a physical space, it would very difficult to do theater. Use of the Little Theater for major productions was forbidden ostensibly for safety and security concerns. Among these are jerry-rigged and overloaded electrics in the production space, a small unventilated lighting and sound booth, and a construction shop filled with old and, in some cases, unsafe power tools. The Little Theaters inactivity did not go by the community unnoticed. Harper recounted: Daily, when I go out, people would come up to me, not realizing I had already left UVI theater, and ask, What happened to the theater? When are you going to another play? Getting the Little Theater back into operational shape-following basic safety standards, of course--would be a daunting, costly task. Although Larche has put forward a plan to do that, he recommends instead a purposely built, black-box theater that would piggy-back on existing Reichhold Center facilities. However, the black box would also stand as its own entitywith multiple classrooms, performance and studio spaces, and a public space for community workshops. Larche sees hope in his campaign to continue the academic theater tradition in UVI. Teaming up with Humanities Dean George Lord and Music professor Dr. Lorna Wright-Young, he is looking at the possibility of creating a Fine Arts program that would include Theater. In the meantime, academic theater in UVI is hanging on a thread of uncertainty. Knight is already considering other opportunities overseas. Right now it seems my best option to get this degree is to move off island, either through transfer or student exchange, he said. At present, however, I just place one foot in front of the other. In a sad, ironic way, one of the steps proposed by the Communication Department for major theater courses would mean the disappearance of Theater itself as a degree program. Larche said in order to keep any theater of any kind, it may be necessary to subsume the courses intoa revised Communication paradigm. As steps are taken forward, Larche urges the university to look back at a primary question: Does UVI want a theater? There are so many wonderful reasons to do so, but it cannot happen without commitment, said Larche. Its time for us to step up.