Before coming to Wake Forest, Abby Parr knew two things. First, she wanted to pursue theater as a career; second, she wanted to attend a college that would expose her to many ideas. As she sees it, one cannot be done without the other.
“If you’re in a bubble as a theater person, it really limits you, because theater is about life,” Parr said.
Parr was born and raised outside of Boston, Mass. Her family introduced her to various artistic pursuits starting at a young age.
“We’ve always been a kind of artistic family,” Parr recalled. “My mom’s father was a high school teacher who ran the drama department at their high school. She grew up in that world, seeing him do what he loves to do, and she just wants that for me, too.”
Parr’s brother was enthralled with sound design, and he encouraged her to get involved with her middle school theater department. There, her relationship with the art was born.
“I was more of a sports kid growing up and then it was my older brother getting involved in technical theater,” Parr said. “I saw how much he enjoyed it and all the cool things he got to do…so I thought I’d try it out, and it was the friendships I made that made me stay.”
Parr’s interest in theater has only continued to grow and evolve with the support of the Wake Forest community and the university’s flexible academic structure. Beyond theater, Parr also discovered a passion for female empowerment during her four years on campus; she will graduate with a minor in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies in addition to her theater major.
“At first I wanted to do psychology because I’m really interested in people, and observing them,” Parr said. “But then I found I really enjoyed learning more about systems of power in society and how those work and how we can combat inequality.”
Parr intends to pursue a career as a professional stage manager. While she had originally set her eyes on performance, she found something in stage management she hadn’t even known she was looking for.
“I really enjoy how you have the agency to set the tone in the rehearsal room and make it a welcoming and collaborative space to do all the work that I really love doing, as well as give people the support that I sometimes felt like I didn’t get as an actor,” Parr explained. “That’s really fulfilling for me.”
She points to her classes with Professor Kevin Frazier as the most influential on her academic and future professional careers.
“He really believed in me a lot more than I believed in myself, and showed me that I have the skills to go professional if I want to,” Parr said.
Frazier supported Parr in obtaining an internship at Peterborough Players in New Hampshire during her sophomore year at Wake Forest. At the theater, she worked with union stage managers. She described the experience as revealing, as it inspired her to think beyond her classes and cemented her love for theatre.
“I’ve learned that I really enjoy being around people,” Parr said. “It’s the collaboration that gets me excited about theater — how so many people have to come together to create this one thing that unites us all…it brings you close in a way that not a lot of things do.”
Parr has accepted a contract with The Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham, Mass., just outside Boston, as a production assistant for the summer after she graduates. She hopes that the experience will open more doors for her as an aspiring production stage manager.
