Final Bow for TFC’s Theatrical Adviser
As part of his retirement, Dr. Donald T. Williams will be stepping down from his position as the faculty adviser of TFC’s Theatrical Society after this semester.
Williams says he has been the society’s faculty adviser for at least 10 years. The role helps students navigate the differing perspectives on campus as they select, direct and perform a play each semester. “I’m just there to provide a more mature perspective when they need it and keep them out of trouble with the administration,” Williams said. He also offers help when questions about the script or sudden production problems arise. Here Williams’ extensive experience as an English professor is useful. For example, in a production of Much Ado About Nothing, Williams coached the student actors on how to pronounce and deliver their lines. The Theatrical Society will not be without a faculty adviser in Williams’ absence. Dr. David Adkins, an Assistant English Professor at TFC, will take on the position.
If there is one thing that Williams regrets about his time as faculty adviser, it is a missed opportunity to play Professor Kirke in an adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While a conference kept him from performing Kirke, Williams did get to star as Prospero in a production of The Tempest. When the student playing the male lead stepped down a week before opening night, Williams said he was asked to take the part. Memorizing a whole Shakespeare play in a week was impossible, so the cast and crew found an inventive solution. Williams used a script hidden in a book prop. “I got to cross something off my bucket list that I never knew I had on there,” Williams reminisced. Yet, what he will miss most is the opportunity to form friendships with students: “Being in a major play and getting it ready in a semester is an intense bonding experience, so the cast always walks away with relationships that last a lifetime. I get to be a little bit of a part of that.”
The Theatrical Society will be performing The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on March 27-29. It is the final play that Williams will be involved with as a faculty adviser. What advice does he have for Adkins next semester? Just this: “love the kids, love the art and love the campus—and be grateful for the opportunity to bring those three things together.” While Adkins said he does not have a lot of experience with the theater, he is excited for his new position: “I… see this as a way to redeem a missed opportunity: I wish I had been involved in drama as a student; now I get to be a part of the fun and live vicariously through these brilliant and vibrant young people.”