Chair's COVID-19 Statement

To Our Students and Theatre Patrons: 

This season brings a number of changes within the Department of Theatre and Cinema and our production program. In the spring of 2021, the university broke ground on the Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity (now named the Artis Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity), which is slated to become our new home in Fall of 2024. The state-of-the-art facility will house the entire College of Visual and Performing Arts as well as several of Radford University’s health sciences programs. In the meantime, Porterfield Hall and neighboring McGuffey Hall have been taken down and our new home is well-along in its construction and our department has been temporarily relocated to several different locations across campus which results in several significant changes for our friends and patrons:

·      The majority of our productions this academic year will once again be produced and performed in the Bondurant Auditorium of Preston Hall.

·     The Theatre Box Office will remain in Walker 240 (tickets can continue to be purchased online prior to the shows as well as 30 minutes before showtime in the lobby of the theatre).

·      The Department of Theatre and Cinema’s Department Office is now located in Room 245 of Walker Hall

Despite the pandemic, we have continued to produce live theatre over the last two years and this will continue as we enter the 2022-23 season.  In the 20-21 season we produced all of our productions virtually through various streaming technologies while last season we once again brought audiences back into the theatre for each of our productions …culminating last spring with our production of THE DROWSY CHAPERONE where even masks were no longer required.  We expect this practice to continue throughout this coming season but understand that the pandemic is still upon us and that conditions may change as the year progresses.  Having said that, we will continue to keep the safety of our students and patrons foremost in our thoughts and will alter our production practices to align with whatever COVID protocols are required at any given time.  Once again, the faculty and I are fully committed to producing a full season of challenging plays along with a musical for young audiences. We are also hoping to return to bringing elementary students back to campus for this musical production as well as will once again be offering performances by our touring company (The Porterfield Ensemble) to schools this year.  This season promises to offer fantastic educational experiences for our students, as well as fun and unique entertainment for the campus and surrounding communities.

We appreciate your continued support and thank you for bearing with us was we continue to navigate these uncharted waters.

Richard Dunham
Chair/Artistic Director