University Of Kentucky College Of Fine Arts

This year, the University of Kentucky’s Department of Theatre and Dance is proud to present our Season of Sustainability. Each production highlights environmental issues, explores solutions, and advocates for the preservation of our planet.

Our commitment goes beyond storytelling. We are actively reducing waste, pollution, and energy consumption. Many of the materials used in our productions, from costumes to sets, are repurposed from previous shows. Additionally, we’ve upgraded to energy-efficient LED lighting, reducing both emissions and energy use.

For An Enemy of the People, all costumes are preowned or from our existing stock, reducing fast fashion waste. By reusing clothing, we minimize the environmental impact of new garment production. Similarly, our sets and props are reused from past productions, including walls from As You Like It, and all furniture comes from our storage and classrooms. These materials will continue to serve future shows and classroom needs.

We’re also collaborating with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Extension. Water quality specialists will host a post-performance panel on February 22nd and provide Kentucky-specific water quality information before each show. They also led a workshop for the cast on the impact of climate change and the arts' role in environmental sustainability. It was a special part of the experience for the cast.

The performing arts have a unique ability to engage with today’s critical challenges. I’m proud that our department is dedicated to reflecting on and addressing these issues. As chair, I’m excited to lead this important work and inspire action within our community.

Susie Thiel
Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance

Director's Note

In 2024, the faculty of this department created its Season of Sustainability, choosing to produce An Enemy of the People for our February 2025 slot. We often make a decision to revive a classic play because we feel that the play somehow speaks to the current moment. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote an An Enemy of the People in 1882, based, in part, on an event that occurred in a small German town in the 1830s where it was discovered that the water source for the community was polluted. The response of the power interests and the people to the crisis inspired Ibsen to write the play. Seventy years later, in the height of the McCarthy era of mass hysteria and demagoguery, the American playwright, Arthur Miller, adapted Ibsen’s work, with only a few changes to the original story. Miller could see how Ibsen’s play not only addressed the issue of environmental safeguards but also how it tackled the tough issues of minority versus majority rights, free speech, tolerance, and moral and ethical courage. Here we are 75 years later, and the play could not be more relevant.

In keeping with our season objective of being more sustainable and less dependent on materials, I was tasked with the overall objective of creating a minimalist production. As someone who was trained and has practiced my art and craft in times and spaces of scarcity, I have often worked with fellow artists who understand how to achieve the highest level of creativity with the least number of resources. In this regard, my philosophical mentors in the theater world are Jerzy Grotowski and Peter Brook, theater directors who understood that all that is ever truly needed for theater to occur is the presence of performer(s) and audience and that theatricality can thrive in an empty space. So, working with an amazing design team of fellow faculty members, a recent graduate and a student designer, we crafted this “staged reading” that takes the audience on a journey of discovery as a company of student actors read, rehearse, stage, and perform the play An Enemy of the People.

I hope that the words and work of Henrik Ibsen and Arthur Miller and the talent and hard work of the University of Kentucky students, faculty, and staff who made all of this possible, will inspire you to remain strong in the face of adversity.

Herman Daniel Farrell III, Director of An Enemy of the People

Interpreting An Enemy of the People

A Dramaturgical Statement
by Tristen Boyer

Introduction

What it means to be deemed ‘an enemy of the people’

Background on Henrik Ibsen and why he wrote An Enemy of the People

Arthur Miller’s Background: Why He Adapted An Enemy of the People

The beginning of the system of election and democracy in Norway

The Patriarchy in 19th Century Norway

Further Readings

Cast

Najiya Clayborn: Dr. Thomas Stockman
Rebekah New: Catherine Stockman
Emma Fritz: Petra Stockman
Jammy Coleman: Morten Stockman
Sierra Riddle: Eilif Stockman
Drew Franklin: Peter Stockman
Evan Lee: Morten Kiil
Stevie Colllins: Billing
Maxxwel Megibben: Hovstad
Demi Handley: Aslaksen
Sidney Allen: Captain Horster
Kennedy Moore: Citizen 1 & 2
Megan Payton: Citizen 3
Katie Haagenson: Stage Manager/Arthur Miller

Cast Workshop

Department of Forestry & Natural Resource Extension Educator Katherine Bullock hosted an interactive environmental education workshop for the show's cast on February 10. The student cast and crew learned about local water quality, the relationship between climate change and extreme weather in Kentucky, and how the arts play an important role in environmental sustainability.

The Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Extension will co-host a post-performance panel discussion Saturday, February 22, with the director and cast, and will provide Kentucky-specific water quality information before each show in the Guignol lobby.

Images from Enemy of the People Cast Workshop

Creative

Director: Herman DANIEL Farrell III
Stage Manager: Madeline Lowbridge
Dramaturg: Tristen Boyer
Assistant Stage Managers: Lani Bailey, Daryn Russell
Lighting Designer: Jeremiah Kearns
Sound Designer: Jeremiah Kearns
Technical Director: Zak Stribling
Props Director: Autrey Brown
Assistant Props Director: Natalie Hayley
Scenic Designer: Caitlin Herndon
Scenic Painting: Kate Field
Photography: Mark Cornelison, UK Photo
Graphic Designer: Shaan Azeem
Program Designer: Jennifer Sciantarelli
Costume Director: Lisa Wilson
Assistant Wardrobe Director: Ivory Besse
Costume Production Assistants: Caroline Norsworthy
Costume Inventory Specialist: Andrea Richardson
Media Coordinator: Mark Mozingo
Social Media Creator: Sarah Smith
Producer: Susie Thiel

Crew

Light Board Operator: Mattie Johnson
Sound Board Operator: La’Miya Starnes
House Manager: Sarah Smith

Biographies

Sidney Allen

Captain Horster

Ahulani Bailey

Assistant Stage Manager

Stage Manager and the Drunk

Natalie Haley

Assistant Set Coordinator

Faculty and Staff

Dean, College of Fine Arts: MARK SHANDA

Chair, Department of Theatre & Dance: SUSIE THIEL

FULL-TIME FACULTY

Tracy Barber, Senior Lecturer

Herman Farrell III, Professor, Playwriting, Co-Director Certificate in Filmmaking: Production & Dramatic Writing

Kate Field, Assistant Professor, Scenic Design

Jeremy Gillett, Assistant Professor, Acting, Studio Season Director

Nancy Jones, Professor, History, Practice & Performance/Director of Musical Theatre Certificate/Director of Undergraduate Studies

Jeremiah Kearns, Assistant Professor, Lighting & Sound

Laura Neese, Lecturer, Dance

Christina Ritter, Senior Lecturer, Theatre

Peter Allen Stone, Associate Professor, Theatre

Zak Stribling, Senior Lecturer, Theatre/Technical Director/Production Manager

Susie Thiel, Chair/Associate Professor, Dance