Author: Dr. Tara Brooke Watkins

Tara Brooke Watkins is the head of Theatre Arts at Salve Regina University. She is a story circle facilitator and community engagement specialist with an emphasis on creating dialogue, action, and communal healing around charged topics. These topics have included race, gender, gender identity, body image, sexual victimization, and homelessness. Her community engagements often lead to theatrical productions using communal stories. Such plays include The Bible Women’s Project, Tulsa ’21: Black Wall Street, The Father Bill’s Play, Shatter the Silence, and an upcoming campus production about the impact of social media on college communities. At Salve, she is the Chair of the Mercy Culture Commission which seeks to create a welcoming environment for all students, staff, and faculty. She was a 2025 for NetVUE’s “Enhancing Vocation” seminar and conversation.

The Uncommon Good of Theatre

The post discusses theatre’s vital role in fostering community, exploring vocation, and supporting marginalized groups, particularly queer students. It emphasizes how theatrical experiences can challenge stereotypes, enhance empathy, and allow individuals to engage with diverse identities. Ultimately, theatre promotes personal and communal growth by recognizing and embracing the “uncommon good.”

A series on the role of theatre in vocation, with a focus on how it supports community-building, the uncommon good, and vocational exploration and discernment for all our students.

STUDENT

Will you run lines with me for my acting scene?

ROOMMATE

Sure. What’s the part?

STUDENT

My character tells his best friend he’s in love with him.

(Roommate freezes, suddenly guarded.)

ROOMMATE

Wait—are you gay?

STUDENT

I don’t think so. I just want to get the scene right.

ROOMMATE

Never mind, I’m not running those lines.

(Lights fade.)

close up photography of a man
Photo by graham wizardo on Pexels.com

This scene is, unfortunately, not fiction. It is rooted in real student encounters. I’ve heard these stories whispered in the wings, muttered backstage, or offered between rehearsals when a student feels safe enough to speak. Often students don’t name these moments as trauma—because they’ve been trained to believe it is normal to be shamed. But they are traumatic. They are moments in which students begin to doubt not just their talent, but their belonging. And that doubt, left unspoken, corrodes the heart of their calling.

Continue reading “The Uncommon Good of Theatre”

Fostering Belonging through Community-Driven Theatre

The article explores the importance of theatre in fostering community, belonging, and vocational exploration. It advocates for theatre programs to focus on community needs through productions and projects that engage local issues. This approach not only enhances belonging among students but underscores theatre’s role as a vital community resource.

A series on the role of theatre in vocation, with a focus on how it supports community-building, the uncommon good, and vocational exploration and discernment for all our students.

Lights up on STUDENT after campus workshop using theatre to address a community need.

audience member attentively watching a presentation
Photo by Caleb Oquendo on Pexels.com

STUDENT

I didn’t know I could do this with theatre.

Enter AUDIENCE MEMBER who just saw a production created from the workshop.

AUDIENCE MEMBER

I don’t see a lot of theatre, but the topic brought me here. . . I learned stuff I had no idea about and I’m now asking what can I do.

Lights fade.

Continue reading “Fostering Belonging through Community-Driven Theatre”

Creating a New Narrative for Theatre: Theatre as Vocation

This post discusses the importance of theatre as a vocation that fosters community, self-discovery, and resilience among students. It challenges common myths about theatre being a frivolous or unviable career by highlighting its diverse career possibilities and the life skills gained through theatrical training. The author advocates for recognizing theatre’s true value.

A series on the role of theatre in vocation, with a focus on how it supports community-building, the uncommon good, and vocational exploration and discernment for all our students.

Lights up on theatre professor’s office. STUDENT sits across from PROFESSOR, tears running down their cheeks. PROFESSOR is used to this, has multiple tissue boxes around.

STUDENT

All I’ve ever wanted to do is theatre. But my parents said they’ll disown me if I major in it.

PROFESSOR

Why are they against it?

STUDENT

They say I won’t get a job, I’ll be poor. They think it’s not a real career, it’s just a hobby. They don’t take it seriously.

PROFESSOR offers tissue box as scene fades to black.

woman in white long sleeve shirt holding papers
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com
Continue reading “Creating a New Narrative for Theatre: Theatre as Vocation”