Dear Editor,
I read with great interest The Bolt’s review of the recent performance of “Anonymous: A Tale of Mary Shelley,” written by Kevin O’Leary. More than a dozen individuals from at least six units of the university had a hand in the effort. As we came to the final week before the show, Michael Sheldon, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, and Sean Ramey, Associate Teaching Professor, kept things moving forward. The “ball of red tape” mentioned in the review requires context. After the College of Osteopathic Medicine moves to the Portland Campus in Summer 2025, UNE is poised to begin planning for a black box theater in the location where “Anonymous” was staged on September 13 and 14. The performances were imagined as a “proof of concept”: Can we do it? Can the space work? What may have felt like red tape was, in my view, more the result of numerous units working to collaborate on an event for which the institution had limited experience. What we learned is that we can do it, and the space, with appropriate modifications, will work as a small theater.
Thank you,
Professor Michael J. Cripps
Director of the School of Arts and Humanities
Disclosure: Michael Cripps is The Bolt’s advisor. He has no hand in the story generation, interviewing, writing, or editing processes.
