Dr. Melissa Friesen, associate professor and chair of theatre and communication at Bluffton University, will discuss "Where Community Happens: Practicing Community-Based Theatre" at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in Stutzman Lecture Hall in Bluffton's Centennial Hall.
The first colloquium of the academic year on campus, the presentation is free and open to the public.

Friesen, who holds the Mary Nord Ignat and Joseph Ignat Endowed Chair in Theatre at Bluffton, will report on her recent sabbatical project. For the project, she studied models of community-based theatre projects in several professional and university settings nationwide.
Community-based theatre is created through partnerships between professional theatre artists and local communities. Community-specific stories, histories and concerns inspire the creation of a new play, which then is performed by and for that community.
Friesen will highlight her experiences as a participant in the 2011 Cornerstone Theatre Summer Residency Institute, which included the performance of "A Man Comes to Fowler," a new play inspired by the community of Fowler, Calif.