JustArts spoke with Prof. Cameron Anderson (THA) about her career in set design as well as her interest in working with undergraduates on campus.

JustArts: How has your first semester at Brandeis been so far?
Cameron Anderson: My semester has been wonderful so far-I have been so impressed with Brandeis students. My students are making such striking work. I am having a great time working with them.
JA: What types of design projects are you currently working on?
CA: Currently I am designing a production of The Magic Flute for Boston Lyric Opera that will perform at the Shubert [Theater] in Boston. It is going to be a really exciting production-we are modernizing much of the libretto and creating a very evocative visual world for the opera.
I am also designing a production of Britten's The Turn of The Screw for [the] New England Conservatory, which opens in February. In October I opened a new play called, The Company We Keep, at Boston Playwrights' Theatre.
JA: What led you to pursue set design as a career?
CA: I found set design through a liberal arts experience at Wesleyan University. I was an English major, but also studying drawing, painting and architecture. I discovered set design through my interdisciplinary thesis in the English department which was about Renaissance drama. I walked into the Theater department and was given the opportunity to design a show. That was the beginning-when I walked onstage and saw the set I felt like I was walking into my own mind.
I moved to [New York City] and assisted a designer there-and went to grad school a year later. I have been freelancing for the past ten years in NYC, all over the U.S. and abroad. We hope to give that same opportunity to Brandeis undergraduates. Students interested in designing for the department should get in touch with me.
JA: What advice would you give to students interested in pursuing careers in theater?
CA: My advice would be that at an undergraduate level, students should get as well-rounded an education as possible. Theater is about telling stories, and if you don't know anything about the world, you can't be an effective story-teller. Take classes in art, history, science, as many and as broad a swath as possible-while at the same time beginning to hone in on what it is that interests you about theater.
JA: What led you to an academic career after working in theater?
CA: I have always kept my eyes open for undergraduate teaching opportunities not too far from NYC. I knew I wanted to teach design as a part of a liberal arts education- allowing students to think about design as a part of life-after all, everything in the world is designed. I hadn't made the decision that I wanted to enter the academic field this year, but I saw the job posting at Brandeis and thought it could be a great fit for me-and allow me to continue my professional career at the same time.
JA: Set design classes have not been very common in the undergraduate theater curriculum. Do you have plans to reverse that trend?
CA: Yes! This semester and next I am offering "[THA] 40a: The Art of Visual Narrative and Production Design." This is a course where we learn to tell stories with space and three-dimension. It is a gateway course into theater design fields-with the purpose of teaching students to think with visual metaphors and make expressive, not descriptive work. In the future, we will be offering set and other design courses-all for undergrads-so look out for them.
JA: Your courses so far have been targeted primarily to undergraduate students, such as "THA 10b: [Theater as Design]" and "THA 40a: [The Art of the Visual Narrative and Production Design.]" Will you also be teaching graduate students or will you work with them primarily through productions?
CA: There are no longer any graduate students in design in the Theater department. All of our resources are now being dedicated to undergraduate designers. It is a great time for students to get involved, as there are many design opportunities open undergrads.