No Exit, the first student production, 1970

The first all-student theatre production at UAB was Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit in the fall of 1970.  The show was mounted as a theater-in-the-round production on the stage of the university's Clark Memorial Theatre off Highland Avenue.  It was directed by faculty member Ward Haarbauer and featured UAB students Jim Hethcox, Rosa Melton, Pat Purcell, and Julie Templin.  No Exit predates the establishment of a formal academic department, which was first created in 1973 as the Department of Performing Arts.  It became the Department of Theatre and Dance in 1980 and was renamed as the Department of Theatre in 1995.  Dr. Haarbauer was the inaugural departmental chair, serving from 1973 until 1981.

UAB Archives announces the opening of a major archival collection from the UAB Department of Theatre.  Record Group 50 contains over 1,600 photographs, hundreds of playbills and event programs, and administrative files from the department dated 1970 until the present.  Contact the UAB Archives for additional information.

Image ID: P50.2, #0967