Elizabethtown College English Department

When walking by one of Dr. Rohrkemper’s classes, you might hear the sound of student’s voices acting out their assigned readings. Students of Dr. Rohrkemper often recall being prodded to speak a line with more vigor or to capture the emotion of a speech more clearly. This is unfamiliar territory for most English students. To Rohrkemper, however, the act of reading aloud is a vital part of understanding literature.  His acting background greatly informs his English instruction.

“In an acting course, you learn how to deeply analyze characters and their motivations,” he said. Learning how to analyze deeply can make a big difference in the richness of an English student’s writing.

In his literature courses, Rohrkemper often teaches the work of playwrights alongside that of poets and novelists. “Plays are part of our literature,” he said. “If you’re disregarding plays, you’re disregarding Shakespeare.”

Dr. Rohrkemper is well known on campus as one Elizabethtown College’s longest-tenured faculty members. Since 1981, Rohrkemper has taught several courses at the College, focusing both on writing and on literature. His students read work from late 19^th century American authors like Mark Twain and Edith Wharton as well as more contemporary writers like Toni Morrison and August Wilson. He also teaches two creative writing courses: Writing and Analyzing the Short Story and Playwriting.

An Active Playwright Off Campus

In the Lancaster theatre community, Rohrkemper is a well-known playwright, actor, and director. A member of the Lancaster Dramatists’ Platform and the Dramatist’s Guild, Rohrkemper has spent much of his non-teaching time writing and producing plays.

“The Dramatists’ Platform is a very active group,” said Rohrkemper. They meet every two weeks to read each other’s work aloud and offer critiques.

“I often find myself thinking that a play is done, but once I meet with the group, I realize that there’s a lot of new ideas to develop.”

Rohrkemper has modeled parts of his Playwriting course after the practices of the Dramatists Platform. Students in the class gather in small groups to read each other’s work and offer suggestions.

According to Rohrkemper, “when you write a play, it’s the start of the creative process.” A playwright’s readers are not simply reading a piece and putting it down. Instead, they’re often actors, directors, and designers who are reading the work with the goal of producing it. The play becomes something new each time it is staged. This factor makes playwriting exciting to Rohrkemper, who is also a director and actor.

A Mentor for Future Playwrights

Over the past two years, Rohrkemper has served as a mentor to aspiring playwright and Elizabethtown College student Tyler Rossi. What started as conversations about playwriting evolved into two independent studies, during which Rossi has developed two full-length plays and other projects.

The first independent study yielded the full-length play “End of the Line: A Bonnie & Clyde Play.” The Elizabethtown College Summer Scholarship Creative Arts Research Project (SCARP) Program funded the effort.  The project culminated in professional actors participating in a staged reading of the play. Rohrkemper directed the production and guided Rossi as he made edits to the script. A generous grant from the college supported the production. Later, in the fall of 2018, a theatre in Lancaster produced the play with Rohrkemper again directing.

For Rohrkemper, working with Rossi has been rewarding. “Tyler has the potential to be a very prolific playwright in his career,” said Rohrkemper. “I’m excited to see what he does.”

Author Bio:Anna Sorrentino graduated from Elizabethtown College where she studied theatre and English. She has appeared in 8 productions at the College.  In the future, she would like to combine her passions for theatre and writing to become a professional director and dramaturg.