Although she had been sewing for the past 10 years, coming to Lawrence offered Wallin-Swanson her first opportunity to receive formal training in sewing and costuming.����

One of her first classes at Lawrence, Costume Crafts and Technology, allowed Wallin-Swanson to explore new sewing techniques. The course was taught by Kärin Kopischke, instructor of theatre arts and costume shop supervisor, who also helped Wallin-Swanson on her path to working in the Lawrence costume shop.����

“I came in knowing how to sew, but she (Kopischke) will meet you where you’re at,” Wallin-Swanson said. “We have plenty of people that come into the costume shop and don’t know how to sew but want to learn. By the time they leave, they’re fluent and efficient in the costume shop, and it’s really fun to watch them learn.”��

Most recently, Wallin-Swanson worked in the shop as costume designer and shop supervisor for the fall 2024 musical, Working. She designed the costumes for three of the characters; in addition, she assisted everyone else in constructing costume pieces.����

Working presented a challenge as it “defied time and place.” The musical, based on the 1974 book by Studs Terkel of the same name, follows 26 professionals in their daily lives. A revised version of the musical was put out in 2012, offering a look at how professions may change but hopes and fears around careers do not.����

“Each of these stories are intertwined and map together, and it’s really pretty to see that happen,” Wallin-Swanson said. “We have people that are dressed to period in the ‘70s, and we have people who are modern day. We need to make sure that the person in the ‘70s doesn’t feel too distant that we can’t hold onto their story anymore.”����

Wallin-Swanson’s involvement in the theater department also showed her what life after college could be like. When she first arrived at Lawrence, she planned on becoming a high school librarian.��

“I really enjoyed sewing, I really enjoyed theater, but I didn’t feel like there were job opportunities out there for it,” Wallin-Swanson said. “I got here, and I met Kärin and some of the other folks here in the theater department, and I was like, this is something I could make work.”��

Now in her senior year at Lawrence, Wallin-Swanson is gearing up for her senior project, which will be a “bible of bibles” for costume shops. Every costume shop has a “bible” for each show, which includes the script, the cast’s measurements, the designs, and anything else the costume department might need for the show. She will also be looking at how those “bibles” may look in different parts of the world.��

Wallin-Swanson also credits Kopischke with helping her get her first job in the wardrobe world, working over the summer as the wardrobe supervisor at Northern Sky Theater in Door County.����

“It starts out as a professional relationship, and it turns into one that you really want to foster,” Wallin-Swanson said of her relationship with Kopischke.����

At Northern Sky, Wallin-Swanson gained experience running her own department.����

“I felt very underprepared going in, and when I got there, I realized I actually have all of the skills needed to do this,” Wallin-Swanson said. “I’ve been prepared for this.”��

The first staged reading of Run with the Hare took place in the Barnstorm Studio at the Home Rule Club in Kilkenny, Ireland, giving Troy a chance to test his Irish dialogue with Irish actors.

“The action of the play takes place in Kilkenny, so having a Kilkenny-based cast and audience, I was able to test the accuracy of all the place names, locales, and historical references, and more importantly, the associations locals make with those places and events,” Troy said. “I made a few adjustments to the play based on that feedback.”

The March 28 reading at Lawrence, set for 7 p.m., will be the first reading in the U.S. Four professional actors—Stephen Spencer (from TV series Fargo and Empire and the film Public Enemies), Olivia Gregorich ’17, Alan Kopischke, and Jacque Troy—will be joined in the cast by three Lawrence seniors, Ella Rose Schaefer, Alec Welhouse, and Jon Winkler.

Troy will direct the production and then partake in a talk-back session with the audience.

The staged reading, Troy said, is a significant step in the development of the play. It’s an opportunity for him as the playwright to hear the dialogue with fresh ears because the audience is hearing the play for the first time.

The story, Troy said, is focused on Stapleton, a three-time All-Ireland hurling champion, pharmacist, and happily married father of two. He awakens his commitment to Irish Nationalism as the First Dáil and the Irish Volunteers struggle to establish the new Irish State in 1918. From that moment until the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921, Stapleton manufactures and distributes war materials and gathers important intelligence, all while winning golf tournaments, nurturing a growing family, attending to the ailments of his community, decoding messages disguised as folklore, and gathering allies among those who appear to support British occupation, Troy said.

Troy first heard about Stapleton in 2016 while visiting with friend and occasional collaborator Lucy Stapleton, Dan Stapleton’s great-granddaughter. The two attended a museum exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising. Troy learned that his friend’s aunt, Helen (Stapleton) Ledwidge, had written a thesis on Dan Stapleton while studying at UCD.

“Her research, additional Stapleton family letters, an unpublished memoir of Dan Stapleton’s youngest son, photos and documents, and Dan’s 1953 oral history of his experiences during the Anglo-Irish War served as my primary sources for the play,” Troy said.

He also consulted with modern Irish historians from UCD, Trinity College, and Maynooth University and explored archival material from the National Library of Ireland, the Irish Military Archives, UCD archives, and the National Folklore Collection.

Ledwidge and other Stapleton family members attended the reading of Troy’s play in Kilkenny.

“He sent me a copy of his first draft, and when I read it,��I was blown away by his take on Dan’s��story, his grasp of Irish dialogue, humor, and events,” Ledwidge said. “He organized a first reading in Dan’s old hometown of Kilkenny. The family went to see it, and it was so wonderful to see it live; we were blown away at how good the story looked and sounded on stage.”

As someone who has dedicated significant time to researching and documenting her family history, Ledwidge said she is thrilled to see her grandfather’s story come to life on stage.

“I hope when Run with the Hare is eventually performed live it will be received with great applause as it is in my opinion a great piece of writing by Tim,” she said. “We all wish him every accolade due to him and the recognition that he is indeed a great playwright.”

Troy’s year in Ireland was a return engagement. He taught there during a residency 15 years earlier.

A 1985 graduate of Lawrence, Troy has been teaching in Lawrence’s theatre arts program since 1997 (he also taught from 1989 to 1992), with a focus on acting, directing, script analysis, and playwriting.

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On stage

What: Staged reading of Run with the Hare (…and hunt with the hound), written by Timothy X. Troy

When: 7 p.m. March 28

Where: Cloak Theater in the Music-Drama Center

Cost: Free

As You Like It is not an Irish play, Troy explained, and actors will not be using accents, but the props, costumes, and scenery will help evoke the beauty and ruggedness of the Irish countryside.��

How space and environment inform the decisions and emotions of the characters was at the forefront of Troy’s decision. In most productions of As You Like It, he said, the Forest of Arden is so distant that the court essentially disappears. By using the setting of County Wicklow, Troy imagined the characters could literally look back on their old lives.��

Seniors Nihan Baysal, a theatre arts major from Watervliet, New York, and Maddie Guest, a theatre arts and music education double major from Appleton, used pictures from a specific vantage point from a gentry estate, Powerscourt, to design the set.��

“It taught me a new way of thinking of the environment of the play,” Troy said. “You didn’t remove the memory of where you left.”����

Although Troy admits that he is usually drawn to Shakespeare’s histories, the comedies provide other complexities to dig into. While the histories have more external conflicts—battles and wars—the comedies tend to have more internal conflicts, something which As You Like It is steeped in.��

“They’re not ancient stories; they’re next to modern,” Troy said. “The fact that it’s 400 years old actually enhances its value. It helps us understand that people are people.”����

For junior Nina Broberg and senior Jon Winkler, the timing of the play could not have been better. Both theatre arts majors had just returned from their study abroad experience at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.��

According to both Broberg and Winkler, seeing the beauty and variety of the Irish countryside in person helped them inform their characterization and acting choices.��

“I think that in this process, it’s been really helpful to think about who you would be if you grew up somewhere that was like that,” said Broberg, a theatre arts major from Circle Pines, Minnesota.��

In the play, Broberg plays the shepherdess Phoebe, who has always resided in the Forest of Arden. She is strong-willed and speaks her mind, emblematic of the freedom she has in the woods.����

Meanwhile, Winkler, a theatre arts major from Evanston, Illinois, plays Orlando, a nobleman who is kept in poverty by his brother. Orlando, said Winkler, lives outside the “norm” and between society (the court) and freedom (the forest).����

Understanding how their characters are influenced by place, Winkler said, helped paint a clear image of how it influenced their lives.��

“There are remnants of structures in society throughout Ireland,” Winkler said. “You’ll find an old castle that’s crumbling and decrepit in the middle of nowhere.” ��

Both Broberg and Winkler came back from Ireland inspired to create. For the first three weeks of their international experience, they explored the Irish Fringe Festival, where “new and emerging artists in Ireland” showcased their work. They then traveled to Gaiety and were immersed in theatre with rigorous, 10-hour days of theory and acting.��

Their experience concluded with a showcase, which they performed the day before they returned to the United States.����

For Broberg, the experience gave her the drive to create her own work and use her free time toward her development.����

“It really helped me make a lot of discoveries with the way that I work best as an actor,” Broberg said.����

Photo gallery:

As You Like It will be performed in the Cloak Theater in the Music-Drama Center:��

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15��
• 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16��
• 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.��Saturday, Feb. 17

“We’re capable of shooting anything,” Dalton said. “However, we mostly work on projects at or below a $30K budget. Our specialty is shooting these projects at a high quality regardless of the budget.”

They also continue to pursue their own films. Their latest, Dangerous, hasn’t been officially released yet but got a sneak preview at Lawrence in the fall when Dalton and Moses came to campus to talk about the film industry with Lawrence students.

A creative journey

Dalton said he arrived at Lawrence as a student not knowing anything about filmmaking.

“It was always about acting, it was always about theater,” he said. “It was like I was bouncing back and forth between wanting to be on Broadway or film and TV.”

It was in the creative environment of Lawrence that Dalton said he found his path.

Dalton first learned of Lawrence from his dad, who attended a yearly jazz camp at Björklunden in Door County. Dalton liked how many clubs and extracurriculars Lawrence offered compared to other schools.

“I really liked the campus culture,” he said. “…I loved how when everyone went to lunch they just left their bags outside the doors at Warch. I was like, ‘If everyone trusts enough to leave their stuff outside the cafeteria, I feel like that’s the place I want to go to school.’”

Once on campus, Dalton involved himself heavily in theater productions along with classics, writing, and history classes.

“That taught me more about acting than just classwork would have,” he said. “…You learn a lot about other people and working with directors when you’re actually doing productions, and in a lot of bigger schools, you don’t get that chance.”

Dalton was considering a Broadway route but found himself increasingly leaning toward filmmaking.

“I decided that I wanted to make movies instead of waiting for someone who decided to make movies to give me a job,” Dalton said.

After Lawrence, Dalton got an internship in film development, which means taking intellectual properties like scripts and helping to develop them into movies.

“Creative producing gives you a very cool and unique opportunity to be creatively involved with all aspects of a project without being technically proficient in every aspect of filmmaking,” Dalton said.

A return to Lawrence

With six narrative projects under his belt, Dalton said he wanted to give back to the school that inspired his career path.

Working in the fall with Lawrence’s Career Center, including Assistant Director Laura Hoekstra, Dalton organized From Lawrence to Hollywood, an event for Lawrence’s aspiring filmmakers.

Dalton and Hoekstra presented two seminars about the industry and what Dalton does at his company. They also held a pizza social and spoke about getting started as an artist. They screened Dangerous and held a Q&A afterwards.

“It was really just an honest conversation where I was like, ‘Frankly, this stuff is hard…you’re going to have to sacrifice a ton and it’s totally worth it. You should get that into your mindset now,’” Dalton said.

Being honest and realistic is important to Dalton. He said an essential part of the industry is how you present and sell your skills, abilities, and assets.

“Once you start to view the industry as an industry it stops being so terrifying,” he said. “…It’s not that you have the secret ‘it’ factor, it’s that you can provide a better benefit to a set.”

Dalton remembers a moment where he said his career path began. A fan of Renaissance fairs as a child, he told his mother he’d like to own his own stand at the fair someday.

“She was like, ‘That’s really nice, Jacob, but have you ever considered owning the Ren Fest?’” Dalton said.

That inspired him to be ambitious.

“I’ve realized that as much as I wanted to act, I wanted to create movies more,” Dalton said.

The creative work during this fellowship will be in sync with the learning happening at Lawrence, said Kraker, who teaches movement practices in the Theatre Arts department.

“This is the dance and artmaking we believe in and facilitate in each dance class at Lawrence: deep conversation around artistic process, interdisciplinary collaboration, student/faculty multi-media collaborations,” she said. “This cross-pollination of idea, interest, training is what makes Lawrence unique and is what sets up our artists for post-Lawrence success. I look forward to returning to Lawrence in four weeks and sharing my research methodologies with my classes at Lawrence.”

Whenever she felt stuck, Chamberlin would rely on the guidance and help of Hoft-March. Her knowledge, patience, and humor throughout the experience was invaluable, Chamberlin said.

And Hoft-March sang the praises of Chamberlin’s diligence.

“She was attentive to accuracy, register, aesthetic, and cultural connotations,” Hoft-March said. “For lovers of language, translation can be a banquet and a brain teaser at the same time. Claire knows all about both aspects of the art.”

At the end of summer, Chamberlin met with Privatt and passed along her work. Seeing that work then performed on stage was magical.

“The things that actors did with the words that I had written were incredible,” Chamberlin said. “I am so grateful that so many people put so much effort into it and made it so beautiful.”

“Ever since I learned about it, I’ve been day-dreaming about what I would do if given the chance.”
– Maggie McGlenn

McGlenn has been a constant in the theatre costume shop since her first year at Lawrence. She’s known across campus for her skills in creating and altering clothing, and she used her talents during the COVID-19 pandemic . She’s also been heavily involved in , the , and other sustainability efforts across campus.

Her Watson journey, she said, will build on those experiences.

“I was drawn to the opportunity because it allows me to take something I love so much—fashion, clothing, sewing—and give it such a greater perspective,” McGlenn said of the Watson. “I hope that through this opportunity I can find a way to do what I love the most in a way that is also good for the world and everyone in it.”

Brian Pertl, dean of the Conservatory of Music and a Watson recipient following his own graduation from Lawrence in 1986, serves as the university’s lead advisor for Watson applications. He called McGlenn’s talents with a sewing machine a beautiful blend of inspiration and art.

“Maggie is a creative artist with an incredibly imaginative eye,” Pertl said.��“Instead of paints, her medium is cloth. Maggie repurposes used clothing from Goodwill, leftover cloth from the costume shop, even old theater curtains, and creates magnificent wearable art. Her creativity, adaptability, and her love of community and collaboration will serve her well on her year of exploration.”

McGlenn will begin her 12 months of travel and study on the Isle of Iona, Scotland, where she’ll be immersed in a community of sheep farmers who cultivate precious natural wool.

“I will assist the shepherds at Maol Farm, exploring how treating animals with dignity, respect, and love produces the best results for both parties,” she said in her Watson proposal.

She’ll then select, spin, and dye the fiber from the same sheep she tended.

From there she’ll go to Jaipur, India, to explore a textiles community that has never departed from natural dyeing.

She’ll head to Kulob, Tajikistan, where she’ll connect with UNICEF’s Protecting Children Affected by Migration in Southeast, South, and Central Asia.

“In collaboration with Terre des Hommes, I will sew alongside families affected by migration, transforming simple cloth into a life-saving livelihood,” she said.

Then it’s on to Dakar, Senegal, where McGlenn will explore what happens to the nearly 18,000 tons of second-hand clothing that enters the country every year and how recycled materials can alter how we think about new clothing.

Her final stop will be in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she’ll rummage through waste sites “to gain a visceral understanding of fashion consumption habits” and assist with a local waste management study that is looking at the creation of carbon sinks and energy from retired landfills.

“Amongst our garbage, I will explore how recognizing waste as a potential for recreation and energy can help to heal our relationship with the environment,” she said.

McGlenn said she has been fascinated by fashion since she was a toddler and expects it to be part of her life going forward. But how that ties in with her other interests, including the ways fashion can be used for good, is something she’ll have a chance to explore through her Watson experience.

“Whenever I would get nervous or overwhelmed during the application process, I would just remind myself that my plan was to go and make clothes, and I would instantly become excited again,” she said.

Watson Fellows are selected from 41 private colleges and universities across the United States that partner with the Watson Foundation. More than 3,000 Watson Fellows have been named since the inaugural class in 1969.

The Watson Foundation dates back to 1961, created as a charitable trust in the name of Thomas J. Watson Sr., best known for building IBM. It works with students to develop personal, professional, and cultural opportunities that build their confidence and perspective to be more humane and effective leaders with a world view.

McGlenn said she grew up hearing tales of the places that she’ll now get to visit.

“I learned about the Watson through friends who described it to me as the chance to travel the world studying something you are uniquely passionate about,” she said. “Ever since I learned about it, I’ve been day-dreaming about what I would do if given the chance.”