News & Notices
In Memoriam
Dr. Bernhard R. Works
Dr. Bernhard R. Works (Bernie) died on Saturday, October 28, at Attic Angel Retirement Community in Middleton, Wisconsin. He was the last surviving founding member of the USITT Midwest Regional Section. He was also a Fellow of the Institute and an active supporter of students through his Golden Hammer and Master Craftsmanship awards.
A complete remembrance of Bernie will be forthcoming in a future Sightlines.
The family has asked that memorial gifts be directed to USITT.
Dr. Robin Schraft
Rob was the consummate theatre professional. He died Tuesday evening, October 3, before opening night. His funeral service was held Saturday, October 7, at 2 p.m. so as not to interfere with Saturday night's performance or the strike on Sunday afternoon.
Rob lived in many worlds: his theatre world, his scouting world, and, for the past decade, his bicycle world. He loved them all. Most of all, he loved his family. He leaves behind his wife, Liz, his son, John, daughter-in-law, Evie (the daughter he never had), and granddaughter, Ruby. He was so proud of them.
A native New Yorker, Rob came to Springfield, Missouri, in 1991 to teach at Drury University, then Drury College, where there was a small theatre program with a big heart. The shows they produced were outstanding. Slowly, the theatre department began to grow. In 1999, Rob designed the Studio Theatre in Springfield Hall. The department continued to expand. Not only were there more students but also more faculty.
In 2016, the department moved to the Drury Univ. Mabee Performing Arts Center and was in need of a new black box theater. Once again, Rob designed a theatre. With the help of Judy Thompson in development, Rob helped fundraise for a new black box theatre. The theatre will be dedicated this spring with a production of The Fantasticks that Rob planned to direct and design. Fortunately, the design is complete and the plan is to use it for the production.
Rob wrote a book on directing based on his more than 40 years as a director. His book, The Director's Toolkit, will be released in January. It is filled with stories and pictures from his work at Drury.
Life is short, but as everyone in theatre knows, the show must go on. He would want his family, friends, current and former students, all of whom he considered family, to go on and know how much he loved them.
