Welcome to Theater at Oxford

Clark Lemons

We would love for you to join us, whether to act, work backstage, write your own play and produce it, or take one of the courses in the Theater Studies Department. The Director of Theater, Dr. Clark Lemons, directs two Major Plays each year.

Plays are chosen for their theatrical and cultural significance--comedies, tragedies, social commentaries, or almost anything. You will have an opportunity to audition for some challenging and thought-provoking plays from ancient Greece to the most contemporary, plays (known and unknown) that are also great fun to do. Plays are chosen with our student body and the college community in mind; any student may audition or work backstage. In recent years we've produced Antigone, Once Upon a Mattress, Sylvia, and The Exonerated. 

Oxford offers several Theater Studies courses each year, all of which correspond with offerings in Theater Studies at Emory College and count toward requirements at Oxford and Emory College.  Dr. Lemons teaches theater history, Mary Lynn Owen teaches acting, and Wm. Moore introduction to theater and technical theater.

In the spring a One-Act Play Festival attracts big crowds. These plays are written and directed by Oxford College students and chosen in a competition. This Festival is an opportunity for you to try it on your own. Some students apply for independent study credit in Theater Studies for advanced acting or directing.

If your interest runs to Shakespeare, then you have another great opportunity. Each fall the Oxford Ensemble of Shakespearean Artists presents a play by the bard to sold-out houses. Recently we've seen Two Gentlemen of Verona set in the Old West, Julius Caesar set in the politically murky ambience of the Mafia, and Twelfth Night.  Also, for the past four years, each spring women in the College have produced the celebratory play The Vagina Monologues.

Most theater participants at Oxford are not potential theater majors; they may be pre-med, pre-law, or any major, including "undecided." They are active in theater because they love it and because they realize it's excellent training for any kind of collaborative endeavor or public presentation. Some do major in theater and do very well.

Dr. Clark Lemons
Director of Theater
Oxford College