Sioux Falls Theatres

Longtime theater professor leaving Augustana

Ivan Fuller says moving to Philadelphia this fall gives him quick access to his new job in New Jersey, but also to the New York theater scene.

The Augustana College theater professor since 1989 and head of its Performing and Visual Arts Department announced Thursday that he accepted a new job. He starts Aug. 15 as associate dean for Rider University's School of Fine and Performing Arts in Lawrenceville, N.J.

In his new role, Fuller, 48, also will serve as chairman of Rider's Department of Theater, Music Theater and Dance.

"I'm sad to leave, but it's bittersweet," Fuller said. "In 22 years you really establish close relations with students, friends, faculty and co-workers. But over 20 years at one place is a long time. I felt like it was time to see where else life might take me."

A poet, actor and award-winning playwright, Fuller and his wife, Vickie, founded the Bare Bodkins Theater Company in Sioux Falls.

Together they have been producing summer Shakespeare plays at Falls Park for 15 seasons. As a change he wrote this summer's show, their final production, a humorous take on Shakespeare-related themes.

The free shows run 7 p.m. June 28-July 3 at the Queen Bee Mill ruins.

Sara Crosby, co-founder of the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts, says she hopes the event doesn't disappear.

"He's brought a lot to this community, and him leaving will be a loss," Crosby said. "It also will be a loss if we don't have Shakespeare in the park each summer - that's been a wonderful addition to the community."

Fuller says he's talking to cast members to see whether someone will carry on the tradition in future years.

Eric Hagen, chairman of the University of South Dakota's Department of Theater, helped Fuller work out staged fight scenes for several Bare Bodkins productions.

"It's a big surprise to hear he's leaving," Hagen said. "He's been here at USD to do some rehearsed readings of a play he's working on. I'll miss him on a personal level, too, as we have developed a friendship."

Another friend and colleague at Augustana says she'll miss Fuller, too.

"Ivan Fuller, and his wife Vickie, have been highly important members of the arts community, not only in Sioux Falls, but also across the state of South Dakota," Lindsay Twa, professor of art at Augustana, said. "I will miss his leadership and friendship greatly."

Twa said Fuller's theater productions, teaching and arts activities have contributed to improving the arts community.

Fuller Named Associate Dean for Rider University's School of Fine ...

Augustana today announced that Dr. Ivan Fuller , professor of theatre and chair of the Performing and Visual Arts Department, has been named Associate Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J. In his new role, Fuller will also serve as Chair of Rider’s Department of Theater, Music Theater and Dance.

“Augustana has long been considered to be ‘at the heart of the arts’ in Sioux Falls, a distinction that continued under the advocacy of Dr. Fuller,” said Rob Oliver , president of the College. “Because of his work, both on paper and from the stage, our students and members of the broader community have had a chance to go back in time, visit other countries and learn about other cultures. He is, indeed, one of our region’s most powerful champions for the Arts. On behalf of the College, we thank him for all of his efforts and we wish him all the best in his new position.”

Fuller joined Augustana in 1989. Throughout his tenure, he worked as an award-winning playwright, poet, actor, and director, in addition to teaching. An expert in Russian culture, he directed numerous study abroad courses to the former Soviet Union for students and most recently, he served as playwright-in-residence for Summer Literary Seminars in Vilnius, Lithuania. While in Russia, he conducted research to complete his “ Siege Cycle ,” a collection of plays inspired by the nearly 900-day-long Nazi siege of Leningrad during WWII.

Fuller earned his bachelor’s degree from Butler University and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in theatre from Bowling Green State University. He is the founder and owner of the Bare Bodkins Theater Company, an organization that produces Shakespeare in Sioux Falls during the summer.

“I feel richly blessed to have grown as an educator, artist and person during my years at Augustana. In many ways I feel that I have grown up here, so moving on is something of a graduation into the world Augie has prepared me to enter,” said Fuller. “I leave with the belief that this wonderful place will continue to nurture the arts in our community so that life-sustaining enrichment will flourish here like never before.”

A search for Fuller’s successor will begin in the fall.

Directory of historic American theatres

Be Moved, be Bold, be Theatre - Starting A Professional Theatre Company in Rural America

The Moving picture world

Motion picture almanac

Sioux Falls