After teaching in the Boston College theatre department for the past seven years, professor Patricia Riggin continues to love her job. Her passion for the theater began early, studying dance from the age of 6, then performing in plays in grammar school and at St. Agnes High School in Queens, N.Y. (where she caused an entire row of Dominican Sisters to depart the theater when she appeared as a bikini-clad muscle builder in Edward Albee's The Sandbox). However, it was not until her college years at Cornell University that she truly realized theater was her calling.
She changed her major three times, beginning as an English major, moving on to a psychology major, and finally succumbing to her true passion, graduating as a major in theater with a minor in psychology. Riggin saw the powerful plays being performed at her college during the turbulent early 1970s and felt that they "helped people understand the world we were living in," and made them think more deeply about important issues. This became her mission: to create theater that both entertains and illuminates. This goal is always in her mind when she directs.
After receiving her master's from Brandeis University, Patricia Riggin moved to New York to pursue her career. She continued to study acting there and "had a great time absorbing the brilliance" of notable acting professionals, including William Esper, Michael Howard, and Kristin Linklater. While acting, directing, and studying in New York and in regional theaters, she also began teaching in a number of programs, including Hunter College, Circle in the Square and NYU. After moving to Boston and teaching in Emerson's bachelor's of fine arts program, Riggin found her home at BC. After a year of working here part-time, a full-time position opened up. She was happy to move on to a great liberal arts college, and she "liked the intimacy of the department and the sense of community." She also loves her "hardworking, bright, and talented students."
At BC she teaches Acting I, Acting Techniques, which is based on Sanford Meisner's approach to acting, Acting Techniques II, and Voice for the Stage. Here she has directed Hope by Terrence McNally, Credible Witness by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Necessary Targets by Eve Ensler, and Experiment With an Air Pump by Shelagh Stephenson.
For each of the plays Professor Riggin has directed at BC, she has tied in social, political, or international issues. For example, the play Experiment With an Air Pump is about medical ethics and two families who live in the same house but in different time periods. One plot follows a family in the 1799 and the father's medical students steal cadavers to study them; a second interwoven plot explores a couple in 1999 and the wife's work in the controversial field of stem cell research. The production was co-produced by the theatre department and the Winston Center for Leadership and Ethics, which sponsored University-wide panels on the stem cell issue - the political, religious, and scientific ramifications of it - and also on the illegal sale of body parts. She encouraged her actors to do research as well, having them read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, a book about the many uses of human remains.
Generally, Riggin prefers to direct plays written by women, because they are far less likely to be produced; she feels it is her mission to have their voices heard. This year, however, she is breaking that mold by directing Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov, one of her favorite playwrights. Although written in 1896, Riggin feels it remains timely and will resonate with the BC community. "[The play is] filled with humanity. Who can't relate to people being in love with the wrong person? It is a very funny and moving piece," she says. It is also very current in its views on environmental issues, a topic she plans to highlight.
Students often ask her, "Why teach theater?" and she ruefully acknowledges that she is teaching people who will have a difficult time finding jobs. But she feels she is "teaching life skills." She teaches people "how to use and take care of their bodies and voices, work as an ensemble, become more empathetic, be highly aware of others, and to fully live in the moment." These are important skills that can be used throughout life and in any profession.
Aside from teaching and directing in the theatre department, Riggin also directs each year for the Boston Theater Marathon, an area event sponsored by Boston Playwrights' Theatre, where 50 original 10-minute plays are performed in one day with all proceeds donated to charity.
She produces Bloomsday Boston, which celebrates James Joyce's Ulysses. It is held on June 16, the day in which the novel takes place in Dublin in 1904, and also the day on which Joyce met his future wife, Nora. It is co-produced by the New Center for Arts and Culture and Boston College. The event has included films, panel discussions, Irish music, and dramatic readings from the novel by Boston-area celebrities.
Riggin is currently working on a new project for Intersections called "BC Stories." Boston College employees' stories are being collected from people working in the non-academic areas of campus life, such as housekeeping, groundskeeping, Dining Services, and so on. Their stories will be posted on a Web site, and an evening of theater will be held to share these stories. Riggin hopes it will be an annual event to "celebrate the lives of the workers at BC."
When she is not quite so busy, Riggin enjoys spending time with her husband David Lewis, who works at Boston College doing Web development, and her teenage daughter Alexandra, who is also interested in acting and playwriting. Riggin is an "NPR junkie," and although she rarely has time for television, she and her family are riveted these days to The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Patricia Riggin is an interesting, knowledgeable, and talented resource who adds to the diverse and caring faculty at BC.
Be the first to comment on this article!