GTCC Welcomes Dr. George McConnell
Published on: October 19, 2018
HIGH POINT, N.C.— Guilford Technical Community College has named George D. McConnell as
McConnell holds a doctorate in theatre historiography from the University of Minnesota. He brings more than 14 years of experience to GTCC having taught theatre and performance art at Florida State University, Northern Illinois University and the University of Minnesota.
The flexibility of GTCC’s theatre and fine arts program attracted McConnell to the role. “Students can work on all aspects of theatre production as they hone their artistic skills,” he says. “So far GTCC students have proven to be brave, smart and willing to challenge themselves.”
His work is focused on collaborative performance art, which is often created through improvisation. He challenges students to invest in the process, not the product, in order to embrace their artistic creativity.
McConnell has presented over 10 of his original devised performances at venues across the United States including the Walker Art Center and The Southern Theatre in Minneapolis, several store-front venues in Chicago and the Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, New York.
He will make his directorial debut at GTCC with the college’s fall production of “The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It: Being the Record of One Company's Attempt to Perform the Play by William Shakespeare,” by Don Nigro.
“It’s a play within a play where a ragtag group of players led by a dotty old curate must present Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.’ The dramatic interest and the comedy derive from their hilarious attempts to impersonate all of Shakespeare’s characters,” says McConnell. "The play has had numerous productions and has become an underground comic classic.”
Performances will be held Oct. 25 – 27 at the Center for Creative and Performing Arts Black Box Theater at GTCC’s High Point Campus, 901 South Main Street.
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