Open Forum

One of the main goals for our Theatre Education Community is to help theatre students and professionals from all over connect and identify with each other in order to build resources and support the theatre education field. We shine a spotlight on a different member every other week by conducting a simple interview.

Our latest Spotlight Member is Ken Buswell, drama teacher and troupe director at McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, Georgia, home to Thespian Troupe 3666. If you’ve been involved in the Community for any length of time, chances are that Ken has helped you find an answer or solve a problem. Ken has been participating in the Community since it launched in early 2014 and has provided so much incredible advice that he’s earned Platinum MVM status.

Ginny: Why do you believe theatre is important?

Ken: It changes lives. I’ve seen how students in the program become more confident in themselves and their abilities. I’ve seen it after a play that dealt with how alcoholism affects three generations of a family when tearful audience members thanked the students and me for doing justice to their situations. I’ve seen it when, after a play that dealt with domestic violence and sexual abuse, students have opened up about their experiences of dating violence and abuse. Theater is like teaching – you don’t know who you will affect, but if you do it well, you know that at least some people will be changed – often in ways that you will never know.

Ginny: Tell us about the best day of your career.

Ken: I don’t have a single best day, but the favorite part of my career is seeing the cast and crew going out into the house after a performance and being treated like the rock stars they are. They are doing something I never could have done at their age, and I am so glad when they get the recognition they deserve. 

Ginny: Do you have any tips for new theatre teachers?

Ken: Leave your ego at the door and do what’s best for the students. Sit down with your Advanced Drama Class – or upperclassmen who have been involved in the program – and ask them to talk about what they like and dislike about the program, and where they want the program to go.  Listen more than you talk.

Ginny: What is your favorite musical (or play)? What makes it so special?

Ken: Auschwitz by Peter Barnes. Think of it as the Office set in Nazi Germany. It goes to some silly, goofy places. Then, after so many laughs – to the point where you forget the title of the play – it kicks you in the teeth with a brutal reminder of why the play is titled Auschwitz.

Ginny: What was the first role you ever played?

Ken: Walter Cunningham, the turnip farmer in To Kill a Mockingbird. It was at the Footlight Club in Boston (the oldest community theater in the country!). I basically auditioned to show up an ex-girlfriend. She was into theater, and I thought being in a play might make her reconsider. Sure, not the best reason to audition and I didn’t get her back (which was for the best), but it did help me along the road to becoming a theater teacher.

Ginny: Name something on your bucket list.

Ken: Skydiving with my mother. We’ve gone zip-lining and she says that skydiving is next logical step.

Ginny: If you could have a different career, what would you choose?

Ken: A physicist specializing in quantum mechanics. The behavior of matter at the quantum level is so bizarre and utterly unlike what we see in the macro world.

Ginny: What is something we would be surprised to learn about you?

Ken: I spent four years teaching middle school math. I actually liked it – and the kids – but after starting an after school theater program, I soon realized that as much as I liked teaching math, I didn’t love it the way I loved working with the drama students.

If you enjoyed Ken’s interview as much as I did, add him as a contact in the Community.

Do you know someone who deserves a moment in the Spotlight? Tell me their name and why at gbutsch@schooltheatre.org. Want to read more Community Spotlights? You can find them here.