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 next spotlight is Christina Iman, a theatre teacher and troupe director at Ripley High School in Ripley, West Virginia, home to Thespian Troupe 1791. Christina attended Ripley as a student and is a Thespian Alum, so she has the unique perspective of watching the theatre department evolve over the years. She is a Bronze level contributor and has a wide range of knowledge on a variety of subjects.
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theater is important for so many reasons. I think the reasons I see most often involve those students who don't play sports and are looking for some sort of activity that allows them to use their talents and grow their interests. I've had so many students who tell me how thankful they are that they found theater. It's what keeps me going on those days when I'm tired and wonder why I spend so much time away from family.
What is your favorite play or musical? What makes it so special?
My favorite play is Harvey. I find it humorous and touching. It was also the first play I had a lead role (Veta Louise) in when I was in high school. Additionally, it was the moment of my most embarrassing experience on stage. In front of the entire student body of Ripley High School my sophomore year, I swung my purse around to hit Wilson on top of the head, when the purse got caught under my dress. My dress went up in the back (barely), but of course I had no idea how far it had gone up. My instinct was to push my dress down and that was enough to convince my classmates that they had seen way more than they actually did. But the play came to a stand-still for about five minutes as people applauded and whistled and I couldn’t do anything but stand frozen on stage.
What was the first play you ever saw?
I can't remember the very first play I ever saw, but I do remember, as a middle school student, walking to the high school to watch the amazing musicals being done there. I remember seeing Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, and Annie Get Your Gun. I just knew then that I wanted to be part of the program when I got to the high school. I grew up watching Annie and, as a red-head, dreamed of the day I would get to be her. Now that I'm older, I want to be Miss Hannigan.
What is your greatest challenge?
I have the honor of teaching at my alma mater, so I can say the theater department has certainly changed from when I was a student. This is where my challenges lie. Theater was extracurricular then, as it is now, but the students who participated in theater by and large took the theater class. It wasn't a place where students who just needed a fine arts credit were placed. For that reason, our director had one, maybe two, theater classes a day. I have found myself with five Theater 1 classes a day some years, each with 30 plus kids. Very few of those kids, maybe 2 or 3 a year, actually have any interest in doing theater. The kids who do theater, don't take the class; the kids who take the class, don't do theater. It limits the time I have to spend with my actors and tech people to after school hours, and I find myself in competition with so many other school functions and community activities that use the auditorium. I really have to make the most of what time I get to rehearse my plays.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Since taking over the theater department at Ripley High, I've had several moments that stand out to me. One of them was bringing musicals back to our stage after nearly 20 years of not having one. We kicked off with The Wizard of Oz, and with the help of our choir director, who not only taught the kids the music, but also had some imaginative set ideas, it was an amazing show. It helped put our program back on the radar of the community. The next year we followed it up with The Music Man. The whole process was stressful and trying for all of us. I remember sitting backstage toward the end of the last performance and crying because we managed to pull off a really good show, and because I was graduating so many of those actors a month later. Those two shows really encapsulate the triumph, the stress, and the full emotional spectrum that comes with theater.
If you could have a different career, what would you choose?
I think if I could have another career, I would want to be a writer (fiction, plays, or reporting) or an event planner. I think in theater, I do both of those jobs anyway. I love to write and have done it professionally as a newspaper reporter, and I've started writing a full-length play that I haven't found time to finish since I started teaching. I also have an eye for detail and a mind for logistics, so event planning seems to be a natural fit.
If you enjoyed Christina’s interview as much as we did, add her 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.