"Yesterday I learned that you can see evolution actually happening every day on the Gallopagos Islands. I never knew that." The student who imparted that bit of knowledge to theater history Professor Barry Witham is not the first to feel that Witham is as much student as teacher. His friendly demeanor invites students to explore ideas with him and, in the end, they learn almost without realizing it.
"He works as if the Socratic method were a thing of nature," says former student Derek Davidson. "We wander into class a little unsure about this fellow Artaud or Stanislavsky we have been reading (or trying to read). Barry effects a similar stance of bewilderment: 'Help me with this, I don't think I quite understand when Artaud says ...' And we are off."
By Beth Luce. Read the rest of the story in the June 2002 issue of Columns.