Everything Nac

“A fresh look at everyday life here and now” is what theatre patrons will experience when attending the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s production of Thornton Wilder’s award-winning play “Our Town.”

Presented at 7:30 nightly Tuesday through Saturday, Feb. 22 through 26, in Kennedy Auditorium on the SFA campus, “Our Town” is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival and Tony Award for Best Revival. The play is universally acknowledged as a classic of American drama. It tells the story of the fictional American community of Grover’s Corners in the early 1900s through the everyday lives of its townspeople.

Although “Our Town” is one of the most-produced plays in the world, Theatre Professor Scott Shattuck has never before worked on it. However, he has seen it twice, and although he liked both productions, it was one conceived by acclaimed theatre director and stage, film and TV actor David Cromer that “had an enormous influence on my understanding of the play,” according to Shattuck.

“Cromer eschewed period costumes and regional accents and made the play more immediate, intimate and authentic than I had ever imagined it could be,” he said. “Sitting in that Off Broadway audience, it was suddenly unmistakable to me that the play is as much about Nacogdoches – or El Paso or Savannah or Seattle – as it is about Peterborough, New Hampshire, which is the village some believe is the model for the play’s fictional small-town setting.”

Cromer won the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of “Our Town.” He also had the role of the Stage Manager, who narrates the play.

Shattuck’s first experience seeing “Our Town” live on stage was in 1990 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., featuring the character actor Robert Prosky in the central role of the Stage Manager. Prosky, who most may remember as the desk sergeant in the TV show “Hill Street Blues,” was one of those actors who bring “intangible but undeniable depths of humanity to every part, a quality in evidence in that performance,” Shattuck said. Famous Stage Managers in Broadway revivals have included Henry Fonda and a late-career Paul Newman.

“It was hard to picture a typical college student in this role,” Shattuck said. “Fortunately, Bill Small, a part-time graduate student who has played the Stage Manager before, turned up at our auditions and we could instantly see that he brings a similar depth of soulful experience.”

Influenced by Cromer’s vision, the “Town” that SFA theatre-goers will see will look and sound like “Our” “diverse, unpretentious city and campus,” Shattuck explained.

“I asked each actor to speak in their own way, rather than affecting a New England dialect,” he said. “Our costume designer, Angela Bacarisse, immediately understood and embraced this approach and developed a look for the cast that is both subtle and timeless. We’re not looking to transport the audience a century and half a continent away, but rather to invite them into a fresh look at everyday life here and now.”

Shattuck said Cromer’s production climaxed with “the most moving ‘coup de theatre’ I have experienced in 50 years of playgoing.”

“Our resources do not allow us to match that precisely, but we have a surprise in store for the audience which is very much inspired by Cromer,” he said. “We hope it will help to give Wilder’s masterpiece its due in our modest venue.”

General ticket prices are: $15, adult; $10, senior (62+); $7.50, SFA faculty/staff; $7.50, youth; $5, student. Purchase tickets at boxoffice.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407. For questions about the play, contact the School of Theatre at (936) 468-4003.

Each year, more than 8 million people visit the 90 state parks, historic sites and natural areas managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In order to continue to meet the needs of visitors and offer relevant programming that reaches all Texans, the agency seeks to better understand exactly who these guests are and what motivates them to visit. Three Stephen F. Austin State University graduate students are crisscrossing the state to find out.

“We are collecting information regarding visitor use in roughly two-thirds of the parks throughout the state,” said Mark Risinger, Master of Science in resource communications student. “This includes demographics, frequency of use and activities the visitors pursued during their stay.”

In December, Rachel Bjerkaas, also a resource communications graduate student, led a group of undergraduate research assistants to West Texas where they conducted surveys at Franklin Mountains, Davis Mountains, Balmorhea and Monahans Sandhills state parks. While some of the survey data, such as visitor count and documented recreational activities, is collected without directly interacting with park patrons, further information regarding park use and visitor perceptions is gleaned through direct conversations.

“Speaking with visitors is one of my favorite parts of this project,” Bjerkaas said. “I love listening to them and understanding what some of their most memorable experiences are.”

Bjerkaas, who earned a Bachelor of Science in environmental science from SFA, said this is one of the very reasons she chose to pursue a graduate degree.

“I wanted the opportunity to help others understand the importance of nature and environmental issues,” Bjerkaas said. “Pursuing a graduate degree in resource communications allows me to spend my time working with people in the beautiful outdoor places around us.”

As most Texans can attest, seasonality greatly affects which parks are visited and the activities guests enjoy. For example, during the summer, Texas state park patrons are often advised to avoid hiking during certain hours due to the threat of heat exhaustion. Conversely, many visitors flock to Texas to escape harsh winters.

“South Texas parks will see a number of snowbirds that visit during the winter,” said Cam Rojas, resource communications graduate student. “In order to quantify the seasonality change of parks, we’ll survey 30 select parks over summer, fall and spring.”

Following these in-park surveys, a second, more comprehensive online survey will be distributed to individuals present on the Texas State Parks’ email list.

While the subsequent results of these surveys are invaluable for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Dr. Pat Stephens Williams, SFA professor of human dimensions of natural resources and project advisor, feels that the student growth taking place is the true asset.

“As we have progressed, we have recognized the individual strengths of each graduate student as they coordinate and lead the teams in data collection,” Stephens Williams said. “Some of the undergraduate students have absolutely blossomed in the field, and it has shown us how we can help improve and guide students in the future.”

In addition to supporting student growth, Stephens Williams notes that the project illustrates the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. Dr. Ray Darville, chair of SFA’s Department of Anthropology, Geography and Sociology, serves as co-principal investigator for this and other research projects within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.

This undertaking precedes the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and it reflects the agencies dedication to serving all Texans.

“We’re always trying to create a more inclusive and welcoming environment, so having a strong understanding of our visitors, their backgrounds and their needs helps turn us into a stronger organization with better programming,” said David Kurtenbach, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department program director for business management. “We say it all the time — Texas State Parks are for everyone, and we want to create the type of environment where everyone feels that parks are a part of their life.”

Story by Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture. Contact information: (936) 468-1185 or fullersa@sfasu.edu.