To a student, the classroom is like any other – bricked walls, uncomfortable chairs and poor lighting – but for Edward Powers, professor of theatre, it is a timeline of the past 17 years he’s been with the university.

Poster after poster for countless performances form zig zag lines across the walls, and discarded props from productions-past aggregate in the corners and crevasses of the room.

“I can sit alone on stage in an empty room and see those memories, and I can see them here,” he said. “I could point at every poster and tell you something.”

In 2007, in ‘Guys and Dolls’, he remembers the ad-libbed line.

In 2009, with ‘Li’l Abner’, he remembers the reconstructed dance scene.

In 2011, for ‘State Fair’, he remembers the execution of the singing and dancing.

In 2016, during ‘The Little Mermaid’, he remembers the choreography of the ‘Under the Sea’ scene.

The fall play at Waynesburg University this year, Hamlet, will mark his 51st production at the university. While Powers serves as the director of the productions, he said he views himself more of a storyteller – reenacting the narratives that the audience needs to hear.

“We need stories to understand ourselves – to understand other people – to understand humanity…,” Powers said. “Everything is about the human condition and stories, whether they are told from parent to child…or whether they are stories that we see on stage, stories that we see on the big screen. They all bring something about humanity to us and they help us cope.”

Through the stories that are told on stage, Powers said each possesses the authority to edify the audience.

“The character on stage can remind us of someone we know, something about part of us or they can introduce us to something totally different, but something we need,” Powers said. “Sometimes we cannot find the words, we cannot find the emotions that we need to face a situation…a story can personify what we need to know, it enlightens us.”

For Powers, the passion of telling stories has been a part of his life since middle school.

“When I was in the third grade we did a little play in the classroom,” Powers said. “I remember the teacher coming by. She was handing out parts to different students, and she walked by my desk. She gave me the leading role, and she had a look of, ‘I’m so happy to give you this part – and I’ve never forgotten that look.’”

The gratifying feeling of landing a role in a play eventually led Powers to pursue theatre at Austin Peay State University, located in his home state of Tennessee, for his undergraduate degree. Pulling from the impression his high school drama teacher, had upon him, Powers said he realized he wanted to pursue the educational route of theatre and he went on to receive his MFA from the University of Memphis.

With opportunities of becoming a professional actor springing up throughout his early years of acting, Powers said he instead invested his time behind the scenes. Through the wide variety of productions he was able to work with, Powers said he feels he has ultimately accomplished more than the career of an actor.

“I’ve had 50 major shows, that doesn’t even count the short plays…,” Powers said. “But 50 major shows of comedy, of drama, musicals, Shakespeare, Greek tragedy – I don’t think I would have been able to do that as a professional actor in New York or Hollywood.”

Despite living three states away, Powers said he found Waynesburg University after the school he was at previously encountered financial difficulty. Although Waynesburg University does not offer a major in theatre, Powers said the casual environment was what he was looking for.

“Theatre is a business, and it can be a harsh business,” Powers said. “I couldn’t do it if I couldn’t put a little bit of heart into it. If it was strictly business for me, it would lose part of the magic – I’m able to have my heart here.”

His heart lies with the productions and the actors on the stage. After nearly two decades of directing at the university, Powers said the students have had their own impact upon his life.

“I have been enriched by a lot of the personalities that I’ve had on stage,” Powers said. “Then some students have created a struggle, and I think to myself ‘gosh are they ever going to get this, is it ever going to click?’…but then something does click.”

Through the years at Waynesburg University, Powers said he has encountered considerable amounts of expertise among his students.

“It’s been very rewarding,” said Powers. “I have had so much talent. Even though we don’t have a theatre major, we have a lot of talent on this campus, and I really get a kick out of working with them. I believe some of the students I have worked with have the talent to be professional actors. I saw that in them.”

Every year, with seniors graduating and leaving the stage, Powers said it’s the ones who continue acting past Waynesburg University that give him the most gratification.

“Some of these alumni have gone on to do theatre other places…I think maybe it’s because they had positive experiences here,” Powers said. “They want to keep doing it, and I think that’s a tribute.”

This spring, after the final production of the year, the seniors will walk off the stage one last time and leave behind four years of memories with Powers. The curtain will fall a final time, and the audience will applaud – but those memories are never truly over.

“I talk about how this is so special,” Powers said. “When the play is over it doesn’t end – the curtain call happens, the lights turn out, everybody walks out of the theater – and is that play over? No, because it stays with us.”