Abstract
This article recounts an attempt to integrate a professional theatre company within a university department at SUNY Stony Brook, describing the experiment as ultimately unsuccessful. Conceived with strong administrative support and ambitious goals, the initiative sought to model professional theatre standards while supporting academic programs, including a new MFA in Dramaturgy. Despite initial enthusiasm and financial backing, the project struggled with governance issues, faculty conflicts, reliance on student labor, and incompatibility between state administrative systems and professional theatre requirements. Tensions arose over artistic priorities, resource allocation, and the exploitation of students, while financial deficits and political fallout damaged departmental stability. The account highlights the dangers of conflating professional production with academic missions and argues that universities should instead pursue partnerships or contractual arrangements with external stage companies to provide professional opportunities without undermining academic integrity,
Recommended Citation
Bruehl, William J.
(1987)
"Professional Production vs. Academic Administration: The History of a Conflict,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 62, Article 16.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol62/iss1/16
