The Department of Theatre is thrilled to announce the hiring of three new faculty members this year, following the retirements of three key longtime faculty members in the department. Each new faculty member contributes knowledge, skills, and varied viewpoints that will enhance our academic community.
Mary Beth Easley, professor and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, said, “I want to express my deep gratitude to Professor Eric Stone and Associate Professors Dare Clubb and Loyce Arthur, who have recently retired after many years of dedicated service. Their contributions profoundly influenced our program and inspired numerous students.”
Stone, who was head of the department’s design program, director of graduate studies, and chair of the CLAS faculty assembly, retired in 2023. Clubb (Dramaturgy and Playwriting) retired in late 2023, and Arthur (Costume Design) retired in 2024.
Cristina Goyeneche has joined the faculty as a visiting assistant professor of acting. She is an actress, director, fight choreographer, and educator who comes from Bakersfield, CA, where she taught at California State University. She is currently the Co-Vice Chair of the National Playwriting Program for Region 8 of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and shares our Iowa passion for fostering new work and young playwrights. Goyeneche’s work in the arts focuses primarily on bringing forth the voices of marginalized groups, especially those of the Latinx community. Through her incorporation of Meisner, breath, and movement, she seeks to find the essence and truth of every story.
Some past favorite credits include Electricidad by Luis Alfaro (Directed, Bakersfield College), Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (Directed, Stars Playhouse), Crumbs/Migas (Marielena, ACT Contemporary Theatre), and Shakespeare in Love (Viola, Ovation Theatre). Goyeneche received a BA in Theatre Arts and Psychology from California State University, Bakersfield, and her MFA in Acting from the University of Iowa.
Cathy Parrott joins the faculty as an assistant professor of costume design. A New York City-based costume designer, she has created costumes for feature films, television, Broadway, off-Broadway, regional theatre and other live events, including: The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman, Lin Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights, Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer; Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen; Berry Gordy’s Motown: The Musical; Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, and Porgy and Bess starring Audra McDonald. She has assisted such designers as: two-time Academy Award winner Ruth Carter, Academy Award-nominated designers Ellen Mirojnick and Michael Wilkinson, six-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, Tony Award winner Dede Ayite, Tony Award-nominated Emilio Sosa, Argentinean artist Juan Gatti and fashion designer Isabel Toledo.
In addition to the University of Iowa, Parrott has guest lectured at Stanford University, Carnegie Melon, Fordham University, University of Georgia, Illinois State University, Cornell College and Simpson College. A Manchester, Iowa native, she received her BA from the University of Iowa and her MFA from the University of Georgia. She is a current costume design member of United Scenic Artists Union Local 829.
Jason Simms joins our faculty as an assistant professor of scenic design. He has designed for New York stages and companies including The Public Theater, Second Stage, Partial Comfort Productions,13P, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Soho Playhouse, The Ohio and New Ohio, The Metropolitan Playhouse, Third Rail Projects, Waterwell, The Sheen Center, The Cherry Lane, The Bushwick Starr, The Juilliard School, and more. Other projects include designs for the Bronx Zoo as well as 1991, a virtual reality documentary exploring the Turkmen artists’ experience through the collapse of the Soviet Union, which is premiering at the Venice International Film Festival.
Simms has taught at Montclair State University, Fordham University, Williams College and Cornell University’s Department of Performing & Media Arts. He received his training at Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle (BFA) and NYU, Tisch School of the Arts (MFA).
“As we’ve said goodbye to some of our longtime, respected mentors on the faculty,” Easley said, “we also welcome the fresh perspectives and dynamic energy new faculty members bring. Their innovative ideas and diverse experiences bring freshness to our department and drive us towards an exciting new era of creativity and exploration. We are excited to have them here!”
In the coming year, the Department of Theatre Arts plans to add one more faculty member, launching a national search this fall for a new instructor in the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.