Charles Smith, he/him/his, joined the faculty in the School of Theater at Ohio University in 1995. He served as head of the MFA Playwriting Program from 2001 to 2020. He served as the Ohio University Presidential Research Scholar in the Arts and Humanities from 2001 to 2006 and received the Ohio University Distinguished Professor Award in 2010. 

He is currently developing a new play for Cleveland Play House and continues to work in Chicago where he was one of the founding members of the Playwrights Ensemble at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre. He is also an Artistic Affiliate with American Blues Theater in Chicago where his plays, The Reclamation of Madison Hemings and Golden Leaf Ragtime Blues were produced. 

"After the murder of George Floyd, students of color in the School of Theater wanted to add their voices to the national outcry. As theater practitioners, they felt a fundamental need to express their pain and frustration through their art. However, the School of Theater faculty had, and still has a responsibility to adhere to a set curriculum that allowed little room for deviation. As a result, the students felt unseen and unheard, as if their desire to express themselves as theater artists was being ignored. This created a rift between students of color and the faculty that threatened to jeopardize the educational mission of the school. Among their many legitimate grievances, the students demanded the right to share stories that reflected their own lives and experiences on the School of Theater’s stages.

In an attempt to address these concerns in a concrete way, I suggested a proposal to establish and officially recognize a student-run theater company that would operate under aegis of the Ohio University School of Theater. Modeled after the Black Theatre Ensemble at Columbia College of New York and the Darwin Turner Black Action Theatre at the University of Iowa, students who chose to be part of this proposed theater would be responsible for all artistic direction, play selection, administrative decisions, and the development of the organizational structure. While a faculty advisor would have to be assigned due to university affiliation, the student company members would have the authority to choose the advisor who would serve in an advisory capacity only. Students would have the final decision-making power over all matters.

To address the lack of diversity among our faculty at the time, the proposal also included the establishment of a fund that the company could use to hire guest artists. These artists, chosen by the company members of the proposed theater, would collaborate with the company on each project contributing their professional experience and unique cultural perspective to enrich each project. I also pledged to make the initial donation to establish the fund.

The faculty responded to the proposal enthusiastically and many also contributed to the fund. After we presented the proposal to the student body, the students met, a company was quickly formed, and Vibrancy Theater was born.

One of the greatest gifts an artist can possess is the ability to tell their own story in their own way. When someone else attempts to tell your story for you, the best they can do is paint a two-dimensional, distorted interpretation of who you are. I am grateful that the School of Theater recognizes the significance of providing opportunities for the fully realized self-expression for all students, and I hope that students will continue to take advantage of this opportunity to chart their own artistic path and define their own artistic identity."

At OHIO, Roberto received an MFA in Directing and a Masters of Arts Administration. He eventually became the producing director of Tantrum Theater and served on the Native American Heritage planning committee for the university. 

These days, Roberto is a graduate student at Yale University and working for Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, CT. They are an MFA Candidate at the David Geffen School of Drama.

Rhys is a graduate of OU's Inaugural Musical Theater BFA Class of 2023. While at OU, they also got their Minor in Dance and made lifelong connections that they still keep up with to this day.

"During Vibrancy’s beginnings, I acted as a community organizer alongside my colleague and friend, Taylor Roberts. We both saw the need for connection and community during the pandemic, especially among BIPOC students in the School of Theater. As Vibrancy’s origins were sparked in the midst of the brutal violence during the summer of 2020, all of its co-founders found it essential to create spaces by us and for us. This organization should always be open to everyone, however the priority has always been amplifying narratives that often go unheard."