Jonathan Chambers, MFA in Performance ’93
Sara Lipinski Chambers, MFA in Directing ’93
Sara and Jonathan met at one of Dr. James Parker’s (former head of graduate program and theatre history professor) famous bridge games. One of the invited students was Frankie Foster (MFA ’93), who was Jonathan’s roommate. The men met during his two years at Virginia’s noted Barter Theatre. Meanwhile, Deborah Morgan (MFA ’88) was looking for a roommate and found Sara, who she invited to the party. Sara recalls, “By end of September, Jonathan and I were officially dating.”
Although Sara’s thesis was The Road to Mecca, a more unusual show was of Fefu And Her Friend, which moved the audience thru various spaces. She produced it two times, in a church and a large apartment. Jonathan performed in several Theatre VCU shows, including All My Sons directed by Brant Pope, “which was really important in my development of thinking about craft.”
One month after graduating, they were married in Michigan near Sara’s home. Jonathan went on to get his PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, while Sara worked retail. When their first son was born, she began teaching part-time in that department. In 1996, they moved to St Lawrence University in upstate New York before settling in Bowling Green State University near Toledo five years later.
Jonathan is a Professor in the Graduate Program, while also teaching undergrad acting and directing. Sara teaches script analysis, directing, playwriting, and acting/directing for film. They’re getting ready to escort 26 students on a 10-day trip with London Theatre Experience.
Their sons have both entered artistic fields. Baxter, 28, is an Associate Lighting Tech at the University of Michigan. Truman, 25, has a BFA in painting and lives in Chicago. Sara muses, “I kept thinking how nice it would be to have kids who studied in STEM and could support us in our old age, but I took them to lots of art museums and theatre.”
Jonathan still uses Dr. Parker’s quote from theatre history class, “If this isn’t true, it should be.” Sara loved Janet Rodgers’ “fearless creativity and providing a space where students could figure things out.” She remembers that when she entered the studio Janet would say, “Hello, artistes!”
This artistic couple is passing on their love of theatre to another generation.
Header Image: (top right) “Abundance,” BSGU, directed by Sara; (bottom right) “Twelfth Night,” BSGU, directed by Jonathan
Compiled by Liz Hopper (professor emeritus) and Jerry Williams (BFA ’71) for the February 2023 Theatre Alumni newsletter