J.K. Curry

Professor, Theatre History

Jane Kathleen “J.K.” Curry is the author of John Guare: A Research and Production Sourcebook and Nineteenth-Century American Women Theatre Managers. She is the editor of Theatre Symposium, v. 18 “The Prop’s the Thing: Stage Properties Reconsidered” (2010) and v. 19 “Theatre and Film” (2011).  She has served as conference planner and focus group rep for the Theatre History Focus Group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and as a board member of the American Theatre and Drama Society.  She chairs the Publications Committee at the Southeastern Theatre Conference.

A native of Moline, Illinois, J.K. taught previously at Hunter College in New York City and at Montana State University-Northern in Havre, Montana, where she was the director of theatre.  At Wake Forest, J.K. has directed the following plays: Goodbye, My Fancy by Fay Kanin, The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann-Marie MacDonald, Nathan the Wise by G. E. Lessing, The Imaginary Cuckold by Moliere, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and the musical Hairspray.  Though she wears her “I live in Scales Fine Arts Center” t-shirt with pride, J.K.’s service to Wake Forest extends beyond the department of Theatre and Dance.  She has served as Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, a faculty marshal, co-director of the Women’s Forum, co-chair of the Women’s Forum Work-Life Balance Task Force, and on the following committees: Student Life (chair 2007-08), First-Year Seminars, Scholarships and Student Aid (chair 2010-11), Admissions and Academic Affairs.

Courses taught most regularly
History of Western Theatre I (THE 310)
History of Western Theatre II (THE 311)
Introduction to Theatre (THE 110)
Women Playwrights (THE 373 / WGS 319)
American Drama (THE 375 / ENG 375)
Contemporary Drama (THE 372 / ENG 394)
First Year Seminars (FYS 100)

Degrees
BFA, University of Illinois
MA, Brown University
PhD, City University of New York, Graduate Center

J. K. Curry