Emily Dickinson Hall, Amherst | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

EDH (in addition to Johnson Library, ASH, Longsworth Arts & The Liebling Center) was where I “lived academically” while I was attending Hampshire. However, the theater facilities weren’t quite adequate enough for all the Theater students that needed and wanted to use them.

Other than that, EDH was a really nice building (with a VERY spacious and airy feeling to it’s interior) and I spent a LOT of time there: in classes, in Division I, II & III Committee meetings, in Theater Board meetings, in rehearsals and in production. Being from NYC, a STRONG Theater Program was what I was looking for in a college, and Hampshire has a DAMN GOOD one for such a small LAC. One of the BEST small LAC Theater Programs I’d encountered when looking at small New England colleges.

The thing I ??’d MOST about Hampshire’s Theater Program was it’s COMPLETE accessibility (I got involved RIGHT away in productions during my first semester on campus; as well as also getting elected to Theater Board), and also that 99.9% of the productions were student-driven and were original work. Written, directed, designed and produced by Hampshire students, with a heavy emphasis on SOC & LGBTQ+ themed pieces.

What I encountered on the other four campuses in their Theater programs was the EXACT antithesis of what drew me into Hampshire’s program: faculty-driven productions. In four years, I only acted in one faculty-directed Hampshire production (during my first year) and in one faculty-directed workshop (during my third year) at Hampshire — otherwise, ALL the production work I did was either helmed by me or my peers.

I mounted two productions of my own while I was at Hampshire: for my Division II I did a Studio Theater presentation of a two-character piece with LGBTQ+ themes, and for my Division III I did a Mainstage Theater presentation of a larger ensemble-driven piece which mixed LGBTQ+ themes with issues of self-expression, alienation and identity. I felt that had I not attended Hampshire, I wouldn’t have EVER had those particular experiences, so Hampshire was VERY pivotal to who I was becoming as a Theater artist.

I also felt like this made Hampshire VERY unique in it’s approach to teaching Theater because it was a MUCH MORE “hands-on” creative approach than ANY of the other consortium Theater Programs, with the only exception being UMass.

The University’s Theater offerings are VERY extensive (specifically the UMass Theater Guild & New World Theater), which I did a student-led production with in my third year, and a semester long Div-III internship with during my fourth year, respectively. So, that does make Hampshire (& the Five Colleges overall) a REALLY STRONG choice for a Theater student, ESPECIALLY at the undergraduate level.

This led to me being offered a full three-year MFA Fellowship through UMass/Amherst’s Grad Program in Theater before I’d even graduated from Hampshire, which was great! Attending their Graduate School Open Houses goes a LONG way! And UMass/Amherst does have a VERY strong graduate Theater Department.

Hampshire’s academic flexibility also allowed me to study abroad in London for a semester of Field Study during my third semester in Division II, and to also do Winter & Summer Intensive Theater Programs (during January Term my fourth year as part of my Div III & the Summer following my graduation from Hampshire) down in New Haven, CT at the Yale School of Drama, which was my top grad school choice.

The Hampshire Theater Program’s “black box” theater facilities in EDH aren’t as extensive as UMass Amherst’s Fine Arts Center, or as luxurious as some of the other consortium colleges fancy Alumni-bequeathed and funded Theaters, BUT, I found them versatile and quite functional and adequate for the production work I was engaged in doing while I was at Hampshire.