Cedars, October 2017

October 2017 14 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT by Katie Milligan D r. Diane Merchant, Cedarville Uni- versity Professor and director of the theatre program, has held a deep love for the theatre throughout her educa- tional and professional career. Even when it was difficult and opportunities were scarce, she found a way to pursue this passion and make it available to others who shared it. Merchant intentionally finds ways to grow her passion for theatre and pass it along to her students. Merchant was a student for four years and has been a professor for 31 years. She is part of the group that built the theatre ma- jor to what it is today, and she stays involved by directing mainstage productions each year. She said she sees theatre as an avenue through which the world can be revealed to her campus community. During high school, Merchant’s dedica- tion led her to juggle both music and theater at the same time. When Merchant attended Cedarville College, the theatre major did not exist. It was only available as a concentration with- in the communication arts program. She graduated in 1978 with a degree in speech education instead, and married her college sweetheart, Mahlon Merchant. She then became a high school teacher and taught English, debate, and, her favorite, theatre classes. She then earned her Ph.D. in Dra- maturgy at Ohio State. Merchant said she never intended to return to her alma mater. However, in 1986 when the opportunity arose to teach speech and direct a stage production each year, it was too fortunate to pass up. “It seemed clear that this is where God wanted to put me,” she said. “Everything just kept falling into place.” For 10 years, Merchant acted as the advisor of Cedarville’s chapter of the Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society. Before the theatre major was available, this was how students could get involved with producing and directing plays. The year 2000 was a turning-point for Merchant’s department: a theatre major was finally implemented into Cedarville’s curriculum. The Stevens Student Center and DeVries Theater also opened in the same year. This venue holds everything the young department needed to be successful: state- of-the-art equipment, advanced stage de- sign, and premier seating. DeVries Theater is directly at the entrance of the SSC next to the admissions office; it’s one of the first things visitors to campus see, which imme- diately communicates that Cedarville is a campus that supports the arts. “The Christian has a responsibility to make use of all this new media,” Merchant said. According to her, the Christan’s tenden- cy has been to separate from the world. “But that changed over when people noticed the power to convey messages for good to lots of people,” she said. In addition to her round-the-clock job in the theater, Merchant teaches courses on theatre history, directing, dramaturgy, and arts administration. Additionally, Merchant is part of the four-person team who decide what plays Cedarville will perform, strategically laying them out with the students’ best interests in mind. During the typical student’s four years at Cedarville, they will experience about 16 plays of varying genres. Merchant said she feels that providing this broad exposure to the world of theatre is essential. She finds that students who at- tend the plays as a requirement for another class often discover that they enjoy the ex- perience, and make it a priority to become a frequent play-goer. Her goal is to “open up the world of the play… so that it invites people in.” Merchant enjoys many different as- pects of her job, but none more than her students. “I love my students here,” she said, “they understand that we are reflections of God’s creativity.” Remy Patterson, a senior theatre ma- jor, has had Merchant as a professor for four courses over three years. He appreciates her unique and experienced teaching style. “I like that she’s casual, but knowledge- able,” he said. “She is very good about bring- ing up outside perspectives, but also making sure that we have a strong foundation in our Christian beliefs.” Patterson was the dramaturgy for the fall play “The Diary of Anne Frank,” mean- ing he created a pamphlet of relevant his- torical information for the audience. He said he’s grateful for Merchant’s guidance throughout the intense research he’s had to do. “She’s been super influential in the ways of opening up the world of theatre” he said, “in the sense that it’s not just per- formance... there’s also arts administration and dramaturgy and all these different lev- els as well.” Going forward, Merchant hopes that her and her colleagues’ hard work will leave a legacy in the theatre program for years to come. She aims to impress her love and pur- suit of the arts on Cedarville students. “One of my main hopes,” she said, “is that even if people aren’t involved in doing it, they would come see what we do to better understand the world and the people in it.” Katie Mulligan is a freshman English ma- jor. She enjoys taking Polaroid photos, eat- ing pasta, and watching Disney movies. Opening Up the World of Theatre Dr. Diane Merchant seeks to impress her love for the arts upon the Cedarville community Photo courtesy of Dr. Merchant