Patrick A. Farmer, Ph.D.
Walton Professor of Theatre
Ph.D., Kent State University
M.A., Kent State University
B.A., University of Central Arkansas
Office: 171 Walton Fine Arts Center
Phone: (479) 979-1341
E-Mail: pafarmer@ozarks.edu
Hello! I’m Dr. Pat Farmer, Walton Professor of Theatre. The Walton Fine Arts Center first welcomed students in 1987 - my first year at the University of the Ozarks. Since that time, I’ve seen the theatre program grow and change in many ways. I’m proud to be the Performance Faculty of a theatre program which challenges students to explore their creativity, to increase their theatre knowledge and skills, to develop professional work attitudes and ethics, and to experience the joy of producing live theatre.
I have been teaching in Higher Education since 1980 when I earned my doctorate in Theatre from Kent State University. I grew up in Arkansas, and was thrilled to return to the beautiful Ozarks Mountains. The University of the Ozarks has allowed me to live in a beautiful natural area and to pursue my theatrical interests. It’s an ideal combination.
My first love is directing. Although I have performed many roles, I much prefer directing. I enjoy analyzing a script, solving the production problems it presents, and working with students and my technical theatre colleague, Professor Bruce Brown, to present vibrant and exciting productions. We achieve a high level of theatre excellence and present productions that stimulate and entertain our campus and community audiences. I am currently directing my 57th production.
I spent Academic Year 2005 – 2006 on sabbatical in New York City. My yellow lab mix, Phinny, and I lived in a studio apartment on West 71st Street, just a block away from Central Park. During the 12 months I lived in New York, I attended 83 plays (Broadway and Off-Broadway), 22 ballets, 29 classical music concerts, and 17 lectures. I had a membership in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and would walk across Central Park several times a month to enjoy the collections there. I also attended two Yankee games and two Mets games!
In my spare time I like to garden, raising tomatoes and growing many different varieties of flowers. I teach the Senior Citizens Sunday School class at Clarksville’s First Presbyterian Church. Those seniors have so much wisdom, and I have benefited from my association with them. I also volunteer in the church’s Thrift Shop every summer and during Christmas break.
When I’m not teaching, directing, gardening, or volunteering, I enjoy traveling. I’ve been to London many times and have immersed myself in that city’s theatre world. Over the past 30 years, I have seen over 400 plays in London and New York, attended professional classes and workshops, interviewed theatre professionals, and established contacts for my students. I’ve also traveled extensively in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and Russia.
I am proud to have established, along with my sister, the Cecil and Ruth Boddie Farmer Theatre Production Endowment. Now deceased, our parents met as students at Ozarks in 1937. We have honored them by establishing an endowment which will provide additional annual funds to be used for theatre production.
A deep love for Ozarks runs through my family. Many of my aunts, great aunts and great uncles attended this amazing institution. Although I was never an Ozarks student, I am proud that I am able to continue my family’s association with this university we all love so dearly.
