Theatre Arts Faculty
Department of Theatre Arts
Gordon College
Wenham, MA 01984
USA
Jeffrey S. Miller
Department Chair
Professor
Theatre Arts Director
p: 978.927.2300 x4279
e: jeff.miller
gordon.edu
B.A. Bethel College
M.A. University of Minnesota
Before joining the Gordon faculty in 2002, Jeff was the founder and Artistic Director of The Refreshment Committee Theatre Company of St. Paul, Minn. He also chaired the Theatre Arts Department at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN, where he received the 1995 Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship, and served as Director of Education, director and performer at Lamb's Players Theatre in San Diego, CA.
He is currently chair of the Theatre Arts Department. His many directing credits include The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Macbeth, Shadowlands, Edith Stein and Forgiving Typhoid Mary. At Gordon, Jeff has directed a new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, Tartuffe, The Secret Garden, An Evening of Pinter, Tarantara! Tarantara!, Sueño and Quilters. The student ensemble-created devising called Growing Up Christian, directed by Miller, was recently selected to be performed at the Region 1 gathering of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Norman Jones
Associate Professor
Theatre Arts
p: 978.927.2300 x.4274
e: norman.jonesgordon.edu
B.A. Houghton College
M.A. State University of New York at Buffalo
Norm has been teaching theatre at Gordon College since 1985. In that time, he has directed 36 plays and has supervised 28 student-directed productions. His interest in encouraging the creation of new theatrical works has resulted in 15 premieres or commissioned plays. Norm is also an actor and playwright. He has performed his original one-person script as Nathaniel Hawthorne in dozens of different settings.
Dawn Jenks Sarrouf
Technical Director
Production Manager
Theatre Arts
p: 978.927.2300 x4061
e: dawn.sarroufgordon.edu
B.A. Gordon College
Dawn Jenks Sarrouf is a graduate of Gordon College. Before working at Gordon, Dawn worked as part-time faculty at Emerson University, and conducted residencies all over the eastern U.S. for Shakespeare & Company (winner of the Presidential award, "Champions for Change" for their residency and education programs). Dawn trained at the New Theatre Conservatory (directing, voice, movement); she studied for one year at the Linklater Studio (vocal technique, text), including work with Kristen Linklater. She also attended Shakespeare & Company's intensive training for actors and directors in association with Bard College, where she worked for several years as an actor, director and education artist. Her directing credits include Richard III, Betrayal, Oleanna , Antony and Cleopatra, The Trojan Women, Falsettos, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, A Play of Light, The Glass Menagerie, Comedy of Errors.
FACULTY REVIEWS FROM PAST AND CURRENT THEATRE ARTS STUDENTS
"I appreciate that we're given the tools and opportunities to grow and succeed, because the faculty inspire us to be brilliant."
"The small size is beneficial by providing more opportunities than a larger department would. I think this also allows for students to work closely with professionals and get a glimpse of what theatre is like outside of Gordon."
"I particularly value the care I feel for me as an actor as well as a person - exemplified by the chance to meet and talk with faculty in the end-of-year review. I feel like I am not just needed, but important and cared for in this department….the lack of presumption that 'I am a faculty member and have to keep it obvious that I am more capable than you'."
"While they try and help facilitate the cultivating of students' passions as they relate to theatre, the department faculty get into peoples' lives in a caring, loving and mentoring way. We are given responsibility with every show. The tasks that we are given are tasks that many theatre professionals do for their lives and get paid for. The amount of trust and faith that our professors put in us is both daunting and welcome. The proverbial ball is in our court and it is up to us to hit it back with all of our effort and being."