Creating, directing and producing are just some of the skills Christian Kahl learned while pursuing a Theatre degree at Texas A&M University. His appreciation of the art form began in his youth.
“In middle school, I took my first theatre class, and I remember falling in love with it,” he said. “When I got to high school, I started to think about this ‘extracurricular’ as more than that — what if I actually did this as a job? I remember talking with my directors about what that career path could look like, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to pursue it.”
Kahl began in the Performance and Visual Studies program, before switching to Theatre during his junior year. The Houston native is set to graduate Friday with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, and will be honored as a distinguished student in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts’ Graduation Recognition Ceremony on Thursday.
“Being recognized in this way feels surreal and it feels validating,” he said. “I’m grateful to be considered as I’m surrounded by so many incredibly talented and hardworking people.”
One of Kahl’s most memorable experiences was collaborating on an original piece titled “Cosmopolitan Cocktail Recipe” with his classmates Kate Bertagnoli and Olivia Mo for the American College Theatre Festival. The students won the Excellence in Devising award in February.
“The piece has continued to live on, as it’s been performed a few more times over the past couple of months, which has been really special,” he said.
Kahl said his biggest accomplishment was creating and directing the program’s first student-led devised production. Set in the 1900s, “Echoes of Justice” follows a fictional theatre troupe as they perform a new work that leads to arrests and a public backlash. As a devised production, students built it from the ground up without a prewritten script.
“It’s surreal to think back on having this loose idea for a show, and then a year later, there’s a full-scale production with dozens of people involved,” he said. “And on top of that, it was a sold-out run. I also wrote my undergraduate thesis on it through the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, in partnership with the Aggie Creative Collective.”
George McConnell, Ph.D., associate professor, gave Kahl advice that he found to especially be true in devised theatre: “You are the best you.” Kahl said he learned how to take full control of who he was on stage through his creations.
He began to view theatre from a research perspective in the Dramaturgy course led by Mike Poblete, Ph.D., instructional assistant professor. And he began to develop “Echoes of Justice” In the Devised Studio course led by McConnell.
“In that class, I worked with four incredible collaborators: Kate, Olivia, Lauren Ortega and Tyler Martinka,” he said. “There will always be a special place in my heart for the work we did to lay the foundation for what eventually became a full production.”
Following graduation, Kahl plans to travel and continue developing “Echoes of Justice.” His long-term goal is to become a multidisciplinary theatre-maker.
“I want to create my own company that develops new work rooted in history and real events,” he said. “When thinking about my future, I think a lot about a line Stephen Sondheim wrote, “Tend your dream, dreams take time.”
Kahl attributed his growth and skillset to the opportunities the college provided.
“I am who I am today because of the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts,” he said. “One of the most valuable things I’ve learned here is how to advocate for myself. If you ask questions and speak up, people will help you get where you need to go. I think that’s something really special about this place.”
