A Dying Major by April Rose Fale

8/3/2019 A Dying Major by April Rose Fale

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This article was originally published in the Fall 2009 issue of the UVIVoice, the official student newspaper of the University of the VirginIslands.

A Dying MajorWherefore art the UVI theater program?

BY APRIL ROSE FALE

The voices of fifty cast members electrified the hall. It wasApril 2009, and “Truth on Trial,” the first major University of theVirgin Islands play in several years, was being performed to astanding-room-only crowd. However, unlike the generations of plays before it, “Truth on Trial” did not bring to life UVI’s Little

Theater. That place has been dying for a while, like the decliningtradition 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 singleReaders’ Theater course.”

Douglas Larche, UVI Playwright-in-Residence, is in theprocess of leading a revival of theater as a tradition of theuniversity community. In the spring of 2009, he successfullyproduced “Truth on Trial: The Ballad of Sojourner Truth” using thefacilities of Pistarckle Theatre. Two years into his UVI career,

Larche is now calling for a clarification of the status of Theateramong the university’s major offerings.

One of the questions regarding Theater is whether or not iteven exists officially as a major degree program.

“Theater was separated from Communication five yearsago under the direction of a coordinator,” explained Larche. “Thatis academically defensible; Theater is often in Fine Arts ratherthan in Communication. But they structured it as a Speech and

Theater major so half the courses that are required are in theCommunication side.”

The ambiguity surrounding Theater’s status is seen in thelack of a constant offering of courses that theater majors need forgraduation.

“When you come in and you look at the paradigm forgraduation, many required required courses have not beenoffered for a while,” Larche said.

The handful of students still listed as Theater majors areleft with few options to take if they want to graduate. They canwait for the university to offer the major theater classes shown in



their paradigm. They can also appeal to the university forpermission to replace Theater requirements with other courses,such as upper-level literature classes offered by the EnglishDepartment.

Kathleen Pascal, one of the last remaining theater majors,has been tackling her coursework using a third option—seeking

opportunities for independent study. Within two semesters, Pascalhas done four major independent studies with Larche and formerUVI Theater Director Rosary Harper. She is currently working ontwo more independent study courses.

“It is very tasking and very discouraging,” Pascal said. “Ittakes a lot of diligence, emails, and follow-ups.”

Relying solely on independent study courses in order tofinish a major degree program is not the way to go, according toPascal.

“It slows down my progress and the goals I have set formyself,” she shared. “This semester, I didn’t get to start [myindependent studies] until almost the middle of the semester,what with the changes in protocols and all this shifting and re-shifting in the positions of different people.”

Larche agreed: “It’s very tough and it’s unreasonable to[Pascal], and it’s unreasonable to the faculty people who aretrying to do it.”

Qualified faculty is a big Theater issue. Larche has a long,celebrated history of theater involvement, but he was primarilyhired as a Communication professor. He believes the university islegally and ethically obliged to hire people with the propercredentials to teach a course that is listed as a major in thecatalogue.

“How can you offer a major with not a single dedicatedfaculty person?” he asked. “Not one. It’s a major, not just anemphasis. We have to go hire the people to teach it or we have tomake some significant changes.”

Like an analogy to the plight of Theater, the status of theLittle Theater is also unclear. This small production hall in theSaint Thomas campus now sits vacant, save for occasional classesand random students seeking respite from the bustle of classes. Inits glory days, however, Little Theater sheltered two full-fledgedproductions on a regular year.

“It was already actively when I joined in 1970,” recalledHarper. “It has a long, rich history that goes back to 1964.”

In partnership with Dennis Parker, Harper had directed atleast 35 productions in a span of 35 years. Within that time, theUVI theater company has taken its plays to several Caribbeanislands and performed to the larger public outside of the Little

Theater. Then, in May 2005, the shows stopped.



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A Dying Major by April Rose Fale