HowlRound: Fifteen Lessons on Theatre from Maureen Shea

Alex Ates ’13 writes on HowlRound about the importance of mentorship in theatre and the impact of his mentor, Professor Maureen Shea, on his life and career.

Shea, who died in September 2022, was a profound force, writes Ates in an essay adapted from his remarks at Shea’s memorial gathering, held last month.

“As I reflect on Maureen’s life, impact, and practice as an educator and artist at Emerson College, where she was the longtime department chair (and where I went to undergrad), I am struck—and, frankly, stuck—by the profoundness of Maureen’s force.

How, with words, can someone describe—truly describe—a mountain? Such is the challenge of honoring Maureen.

And so, I will use the tools my mentor taught me, and I’ll make something here to share.

I will simply break it into beats—I’ll score it out—and share some lessons that Maureen, my teacher, shared with me. I have assembled and sorted these lessons after harvesting my notebooks, emails, and scribblings in the margins of scripts.”

Read Ates’ “Fifteen Lessons on Theatre from Maureen Shea” on HowlRound.