#i2amru (I, Too, Am Reinhardt) Volume 1 Number 1 | Page 62

Reinhardt’s
Resident
Beatlemaniac
Professor David Nisbet
If one were to ask who the most interesting character was on campus,
odds are that David Nisbet, a theatre professor here at Reinhardt and
perhaps its leading Beatlemaniac,
might be at the top of the list. Despite the fact that his name is fairly
well-recognized both within and
outside of the theatre community,
it might come as a shock to find
out that he has been here for less
than half of a decade. Somehow,
within three years, Nisbet’s skillful
leadership has turned the Reinhardt
Theatre Program into a thriving,
family-like group of actors, directors and crew members whose
recognition is steadily increasing as
time goes on.
Fortunately, this impressive success
hasn’t gone to Nisbet’s head but has
instead been channeled into helping the program thrive. On top of
all this, he has been able to maintain his characteristic friendly and
joking demeanor, and his students
are all on a first name basis with
him. This extends even into the
classroom, where he’ll always have
some witty remark, and his classes
feel very ‘open’ in that the students
don’t feel afraid to express their
opinions. Nisbet gives all their se-

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By Jacob Howard
rious thoughts and questions quite
a bit of thought before responding.
And if he doesn’t know the answer?
He’s willing to do some extra research for his students.
Born in Decatur, Illinois, Nisbet
always had a desire to get into
theatre. In fact, that is precisely
what he did when he moved to the
Windy City, Chicago. According to
Nisbet himself, theatre has always
been his career. Yes, he did work a
few odd jobs here and there to help
support himself, but with the exception of teaching it, he has always
worked in some sort of theatrical
environment.
Nisbet was fairly successful in Chicago, so why exactly did he and his
wife decide to move all the way to
Georgia for him to start teaching?
The answer is actually fairly simple:
He was asked to teach a theatre
class or two at another school and
soon realized that teaching drama seemed like a good idea. After
applying to maybe ten different
colleges and universities, he finally
heard back from Shorter University in Rome, Georgia. (Reinhardt
wouldn’t come into play until a
little while later, and he spent a few

years teaching and directing at
Shorter before he eventually decided to become part of the Reinhardt
faculty.) Interestingly, about the
time he left Shorter, several of his
former students would also jump
ship and give Reinhardt some of its
most gifted student actors.
When he arrived here at Reinhardt, the theatre program was
very small. As Matt Luce, one of
Nisbet’s original students at Reinhardt, told me, “It was little more
than the major back then.” The late
Dr. Kevin Crawford, who passed
away unexpectedly in 2013, had
started the theatre program within
the English Department, and Prof.
Michelle Harlow had also taught
theatre classes and directed plays
for many years prior to Nisbet’s
arrival. Together with Crawford,
Nisbet worked to form a solid theatre major program. After Crawford’s death, Nisbet took the helm
and incorporated new classes into
the program to get the show on the
road, so to speak. The theatre major
was also incorporated into the
newly-formed School of Performing Arts.
Nisbet reflected back to the very
first drama convention Reinhardt

he was including himself) and,
Number 2, more parking for students, which was a cause I very
quickly agreed with.

The late Dr. Kevin Crawford
students ever attended with him
by saying that every other school
would take one look at Reinhardt
and say, “Who the heck are you?”
or other similar phrases. However,
barely two and a half years later,
those same schools instead now say,
“Reinhardt? I think I’ve heard of
you guys!” That kind of growth is
incredible to think about, and when
I asked Nisbet whether the theatre
department could become something that Reinhardt University is
recognized for, his response was basically: “I don’t see why not.”
Speaking of the University, I asked
Nisbet about his thoughts on Reinhardt and its community. He loves
how close-knit and family-like the
people on campus are, and not just
the students. He feels that the Reinhardt campus culture encourages
the formation of relationships between students and faculty, which is
a great thing, in his mind.
He did, however, have some suggestions for ways that the campus
community might be improved.
Anyway, the only things he feel
Reinhardt needs to add are, Number 1, a coffee shop (he claims this
would be for the students, but since
I know he’s a fairly big coffee drinker, it wouldn’t surprise me if

They don’t have light crews, a reserved performance space, or even
a shop where everything can fit,
and yet they have still managed to
reach astounding levels of success
Despite these humorous responses,
without them. I would like to point
Nisbet did eventually tell me that
out that this was the only point in
there actually was something that
the entire interview where his enerthe school--more specifically the
gy seemed to lower.
theatre program—needed for it to
fully reach its maximum potential:
Kayla Spenard, who has worked
A theatre.
with Nisbet during the 2014 fall
production of The Drowsy ChapNow some people may be thinking,
erone as Ensemble/Curtain Girl,
“What about FPAC?” While FPAC
shared her thoughts on him as a
is currently being used for producdirector. She characterized him as
tions, it is by no means built specifivery approachable, and while h e is
cally for a theatre performance.
typically very comical, she noted,
he can be serious when he needs
Plans have been underway for quite
to be. Spenard also said that somesome time, and fortunately only
times it’s hard to get a good read on
the comparatively small $700,000
whether he likes you or not.
is needed before construction can
begin.
Matt Luce, who may be recognized
as the Star Keeper in the 2014
The main reason I bring this up is
spring production of Carousel, reitto state that the University’s theatre
erated all of what Spenard said, but
program is by no means close to
also added that Nisbet has brought
having a fully professional theatre.
a great wealth of knowledge to the

(L to R) Unita Harris, Sophie Decker, Clark Cumbee, Levi
Penley, Kate Johnson, Nick Cothran, and Abi Sneathen in

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

“Reinhardt? I think I’ve
heard of you guys!”
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