Christe Lunsford, assistant professor of theater, has been in the entertainment business for much of her life and teaches students about stage craft at IU Southeast.

This year is Lunsford’s second year at IU Southeast. She teaches stage craft, theater application and sound design. Her main classes are stage craft.

“In stage craft students learn to build sets for stage productions,” Lunsford said. “They learn to draft as well as the tools and hardware for stage building.”

A co-worker at IU Southeast, Jim Hesselman, who is an assistant professor of theater, has known Lunsford for 15 years. Both of them had worked at the Derby Dinner Playhouse together.

“She wants the best for students,” Hesselman said. “She wants them to learn and know what a saw, hammer and screw is.”

Most of Lunsford’s classes are small in number because of the classroom size but the classes include various majors.

Lunsford said she likes the fact that IU Southeast is a small school. She said that as an undergraduate at Louisville, a student could get lost and that they are a big  university with 400 theater majors. Lunsford also said she felt with so many theater students that some never had a chance to be involved in theater.

“Students don’t get lost and the faculty has a community feel [at IU Southeast],” Lunsford said. “At IUS, there are lots of hands on work with kids, flexibility and it’s more of a mentor program then other universities.”

Next semester Lunsford is teaching advanced stage craft. This class will put the students more in control of the design and teach them the concepts and physics of the craft.

Lunsford also manages the building for the productions the theater department has each semester and whatever her students build in her classes, will be used in the productions.

“I stress safety,” Lunsford said. “I make sure it’s constructed well.”

Lunsford has been involved in theater for much of her life and she said it runs in her family.

“All my life my parents were in entertainment,” Lunsford said. “My dad was in a band and my mother was a pianist.”

She also went to the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville.

Lunsford attended the University of Louisville and earned a  bachelor’s degree in theater. Then she went to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. There she received a terminal degree in theater.

In Lunsford’s free time she likes to dance, ride motorcycles and write music. Lunsford said she likes country western dance and ballroom. When it comes to writing music, she likes to write anything and is currently arranging music for friends in a band.

By MARY LYONS
Staff Writer
marlyons@ius.edu