But many at the ART and HRDC think that this would result in increased difficulties because of the complexity of mounting a Mainstage theater production. Thus, if an extra Mainstage slot were added, it would likely be used to stage a dance show.

Producing on the Mainstage, former HRDC president Cary P. McClelland ’02 says, requires a level of technical and artistic expertise that few students have, in part owing to the reduced number of student shows performed in that space.

“The community would have to get better at staging Mainstages to be able to use them,” McClelland says.

Brustein says he believes the Mainstage would be better served if shows had to first perform in other spaces to ensure that their work was of high quality.

“I personally think that the Mainstage should be reserved for works that have already been proven,” he says. “I don’t think anyone will listen to me on this, but I think it would make great sense if the HRDC board would pluck those particular productions each year that have exceptional quality.”

Professional Guidance

Many in the theater community say of the problems with Mainstage productions—and all HRDC shows—revolve around a lack of professional mentorship, which the HRDC has tried to increase in the past two years.

Because Woodruff will bring in more visiting directors, some believe that exposure to theater professionals will increase and help student theater improve.

Next year will also see the addition of four courses taught by ART professionals to course offerings of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Committee on Dramatics—including a course on directing taught by Woodruff.

McClelland says he thinks Woodruff might push student theater into a more adventurous direction.

“I think Brustein was a wonderful father figure for the building, a parent,” McClelland says. “Watching Woodruff talk, I think he’s going to push us a lot more to question the way we do things here.”

McClelland says he believes Woodruff’s support of student experimentation with unfamiliar genres of theater will require added professional guidance—guidance he hopes Woodruff encourages and students welcome.

“If we’re going to go off into a weird region, we’re going to need a legitimate and critical eye on us at all times, which hopefully Woodruff will also be interested in supporting,” he says. “The community needs to be way more open to letting these people in.”

Cozzens says he hopes visiting artists will “get a little more involved and somehow reach out to the undergraduates here.”

But he expressed concern that an increased number of visiting artists might squeeze out opportunities for the full-time artists in the ART.

“Brustein and Orchard have crafted this company which has really talented people in it, and the strength of the ART is that it can provide support for a group like that to do their work here and not scrabble for work,” Cozzens says.

—Staff writer J. Hale Russell can be reached at jrussell@fas.harvard.edu.