Faculty – Theatre & Dance

Dr. Nathan Bowman teaches courses in acting, movement, theatre history, stagecraft, and study abroad. He holds a BA in Theatre and Philosophy from Northwest Missouri State University, a MA in Religious Studies, and a PhD in Theatre from the University of Kansas.

Dr. Bowman is the co-founder and Producing Artistic Director of Kansas City Public Theatre, which was honored by the State of Missouri “2022 Arts Organization of the Year.” Additionally, his theatre and directing work has been awarded recognition from Charlotte Street Foundation, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Pitch Magazine, and the New Theatre Guild. His recent directing credits include Dr. Faustus, Oedipus the King, the new work Mirrors, featured in The Pitch “Best of KC 2020 (KCPublic), “Tartuffenthrope,” featured in The Pitch “Best of KC 2021” (KCMoliere), Tartuffe, Hippolytus, The Trojan Women (Benedictine College). He trained with the New York based SITI Company in the Suzuki-Viewpoints method of acting and teaches workshops in Suzuki-Viewpoints at various conferences, festivals, and colleges.

Dr. Bowman is the Co-Chair of Playwriting at Mid-America Theatre Conference and Chair of the International Symposium on Ancient Drama at the Athens Institute of Education and Research. He serves as Book Review Editor for the publication Theatre Topics and he has presented work nationally and abroad at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Mid-America Humanities Conference, Conference on Contemporary Religion in Quebec, the Athens Institute of Education and Research in Greece. His work has appeared in such journals as Etudes, The New England Theatre Journal, Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, and Mantragoras. Dr. Bowman has acted and directed in Greece on several occasions at the Ancient Theaters of Oiniades and Messene including productions of Antigone, The Trojan Women and Hippolytus. Dr. Bowman leads the department’s Summer Theatre in Greece study aboard program.

Education:

MFA – Playwriting, Catholic University of America

PHD – English (Early Modern Drama), Saint Louis University

Interests:

Playwriting, Script Analysis, Acting, Shakespeare, Theatre History, Puppetry, Directing

Anita Buhman-Wiggs is the Costume Studio Supervisor and a member of the teaching staff in the Department of Theatre and Dance. She is the Costume Designer for the faculty designed productions in the department, guides the student design process for the mainstage productions, and supervises students who are assigned production design positions in costumes and makeup. She oversees the construction of costumes for all of the department’s productions. Anita teaches Costume Design, Stage Makeup, Speech Communication, and Special Topics courses in the areas of costume and makeup design and construction.

Anita earned an MFA in Design from The Ohio State University, and a BA in Theatre and English from Benedictine. During her years as a student, she worked in every backstage and technical capacity possible, and acted in several BC productions. In the past, Anita has worked as an Associate Professor of Theatre at Central Missouri State University, the Costume Shop Supervisor at Purdue University, and has been employed at a variety of theatres, including the Missouri Repertory and Purdue Professional Summer Theatre.

Elizabeth has taught at Benedictine College since 2017 where she instructs courses in theatre management, introductory theatre, and public speaking. Elizabeth is a Kansas City based theatre artist focused on arts accessibility. She earned her BA in Theatre and Psychology from Northwest Missouri State University and her MA in Theatre with a focus in Directing and Theatre History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory. She is the Executive Artistic Director of Kansas City Public Theatre which was recently honored by the State of Missouri “Arts Organization of the Year.” Elizabeth’s work with KCPublic has received several other honors, including features in the “Best of KC” issue of the Pitch KC, Broadway World, and as the resident theatre for the Charlotte Street Foundation.

Elizabeth has worked on the artistic team for several nationally recognized and Tony-award winning directors at theatres including Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, Coterie Theatre, and UMKC Conservatory. Directing and artistic credits include: Eurydice (Benedictine College), Miss Julie, Her Own Devices, The Madness of Lady Bright, and various new works (KCPublic), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (KCRep), And Justice for Some (Coterie), Photograph 51, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Playboy (METKC), Street Scene, Love’s Labours Lost, and Private Eyes (UMKC Conservatory). Elizabeth trained with SITI Company where she has studied Suzuki-Viewpoints movement training. As an educator, Elizabeth seeks to serve the community, most notably as a resident artist for the United Inner City Services and as a college instructor in the Fort Leavenworth Prison System through Kansas City Kansas Community College.  For more than a decade she has taught classes at the Heart of American Shakespeare Festival. At the Coterie Theatre, Elizabeth has taught classes in improvisation, auditioning, creative drama, and a Master Class on performance methodology.