To the Editor,

I appreciated reading Jonah Watt’s call for more queer-inclusive spaces, but I don’t recognize the theater he describes as displaying “largely heterosexual relationships” at Bowdoin. Theater has been accused of many things throughout its 2,500-year history, but heteronormativity is not often the foremost complaint. This semester, our department produced “Love and Information,” which presented a wide range of relationships, some of them perhaps heterosexual, some of them not and others left largely undefined. Recently, Masque & Gown has produced “The Laramie Project” and “Blown Youth,” both of which centered on queer characters. And we’re not done yet this year. The department’s Spring Dance Concert will feature Katy Pyle, a lesbian choreographer whose work explores gender through ballet (May 3-5 at 7:30 p.m.—get your tickets now!). I do agree that the Department of Theater and Dance caters to straight audiences because we create work for all audiences (seriously: Pickard Theater is huge, so please come and bring lots of friends!). In a digitally saturated society, live performance offers the opportunity to experience collectively the world from new perspectives. Bowdoin’s Department of Theater and Dance aims to offer the widest possible variety of those perspectives. Theater makes space for everyone. I hope to see you there.

Sarah Bay-Cheng is a professor of Theater and Dance and Chair of the department.