Teaching the arts during a pandemic has presented a variety of challenges for the College of Visual and Performing Arts. However, innovative members of our artistic community have developed creative, effective ways to ensure that students are receiving a quality educational experience during these extraordinary times.

The Radford University Department of Theatre and Cinema opens this season with two sets of student-directed, one-act plays that will be presented in alternating performances as part of the program’s Studio Series. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all 2020 theatre productions will be streamed online.

On Friday, December 6, 2019, the Department of Music will present “A Christmas Carol: Songs and Readings of the Dickens Classic.”

The American Shakespeare Center’s 2019/20 National Tour comes to Radford University with a free public performance of Steinbeck’s Great American Novel, “The Grapes of Wrath,” on November 9, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. at Bondurant Auditorium in Preston Hall.

“Darkside” is the story of three American astronauts on a fictitious Apollo 18 mission who become stranded on the moon as their command module pilot suffers a mental breakdown. The play runs on October 23 through 26 at 7:30 p.m., with a final performance on October 27 at 2:00 p.m. in Hawes Studio Theatre in Porterfield Hall. 

On Tuesday, October 1, 2019, at 7:30 p.m. the Department of Theatre and Cinema will debut “Wonder of the World” to audiences at Pridemore Playhouse in Porterfield Hall. The production is a comedy written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.

Walk to Defeat ALS with CVPA Dean Margaret Devaney on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at Hollins University. Proceeds from the event will be used to support research, care servicesand advocacy to enact public policies that improve the lives of those living with ALS.

On May 11, 2019, Radford University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts welcomed nearly 140 graduating students to its family of alumni.

On the twentieth anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, the Radford University Department of Theatre brings “The Laramie Project” to the stage of Pridemore Playhouse in Porterfield Hall.

The Porterfield Ensemble presented “Walk to Freedom – The Mary Draper Ingles Story” at Eastern Montgomery High School (EMHS) on Nov. 9 as part of its Fall 2018 regional tour.

Representatives from various academic disciplines will come together as part of the Screen Studies Roundtable Series to discuss the relationship between science/technology and the screen in an event scheduled from 5:30-7 p.m. Sept. 17 in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences 1006 at Radford University.

From a chance opportunity to winning an ONIROS award for best supporting actress in “Attendance is Required,” Lauren Faulkner ’15 is making the most of her opportunities out west.

“Walk to Freedom – The Mary Draper Ingles Story” depicts a local frontierswoman’s dangerous journey back to the New River Valley after being kidnapped and taken to the Kentucky-Ohio border in 1755.

Students and faculty from the Department of Dance and the School of Dance and Theatre traveled to Dublin, Ireland and London to soak in and learn from the international arts scene.

Students of the Advanced Directing class will present their final projects this week. “Making a Scene,” Radford’s free and annual one-act play festival, will feature works by aspiring directors.

The Radford Theater Department is showcasing its production of the musical “Oklahoma!” in April. Originally premiering in 1943, “Oklahoma!” is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The School of Dance and Theatre wrapped up two performances of the collaborative work “BEFORE and BEYOND WORDS” on Jan. 26-27 at the Albig Studio Theater.