Allison B. Kline ’09

During her time at Harvard, Allison B. Kline ’09 has been involved in over 20 dramatic productions, having the opportunity to produce, direct, act, sing, and build a 20-foot pool on stage. Between her theatrical obligations, she somehow managed to write her thesis for History of Science—on the history of dramatic acting techniques. This Kirkland senior seriously loves theater.

Kline seems to have been surrounded by arts in some way throughout most of her life. She studied voice at the La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts but transferred after a year to a public high school. During this time, she got involved with theater, performing at both her school and her neighborhood YMCA.

Once she began thinking about college, it was clear that Kline still wanted to be involved in theater, even if not through a conservatory. “I sort of considered other schools with more of a focus [on theater]. After deciding not to stay at La Guardia, I figured it would be better to go to a school where I could do anything that I wanted to but also be as involved in theater as I wanted to be. I wanted to leave my options open,” Kline says.

She immediately became involved with the dramatic arts at Harvard. Her freshman year she performed with, and was a board member of, the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players, performed in the Dunster House Opera, and worked on light design in the Loeb Experimental Theater. From her start with musical theater, Kline moved to nearly every facet of dramatic arts possible. Her junior year she served as president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, and tried to be involved with nearly all of their productions in some form or another.

Allison has produced two works during her time at Harvard. In 2007, she produced “Metamorphoses” and, in 2008, she produced “The Hyacinth Macaw.” Both productions were part of the Visiting Director’s Project, which provides Harvard undergraduates an opportunity to work with a professional director on a full-scale theatrical production. Considering whether she prefers directing and producing to acting, she says, “I think it depends a lot on the exact project and the situation. I really enjoy producing and directing when it is a project that I really feel strongly about. The different jobs can be rewarding in their own ways. I like doing each one much more having seen what the other side looks like.”

Reflecting back on all of her experiences with theater at Harvard over the past four years, Kline says, “I think one of the most important things that the Harvard theater community has is it forces you to take a lot of initiative in whatever you do. It’s a challenge, but I think it’s that much more meaningful because everything is done so independently. You are always aware of how much work you put into it and you have to make everything your own. It helped me prove to my self how strongly I felt about theater and pursuing it regardless of the structure.”

What does the future hold for Kline? Neither history nor science. “I will be doing something in theater. I think ideally I would love to be working someplace where it would be possible to do more than just one job, but I am pretty open to a lot of different roles as long as the community is exciting and doing interesting work.”

—Staff writer Matt E. Sachs can be reached at msachs@fas.harvard.edu.