A world that is identiÞable yet different from daily life as it previously had been known. Such was the world created when a dramatic event unfolded in the theater department at UC Davis in the early 1990s. Yet no costumed actors nor scenery transformed the stage, no rehearsals took place. Instead, the drama occurred within the department itself as the worst UC budget cuts since the Great Depression caused the number of dramatic arts professors to drop, virtually overnight, from 13 to two--an 84 percent decline. Budget problems related to California's severe recession of the early 1990s prompted massive incentive-driven early retirements campuswide. But dramatic arts lost the largest percentage of faculty, decimating the once-thriving department known for its pioneering British directors-in-residence program, ambitious performance season and well-regarded theater scholars. Its demise seemed imminent. Academic theater observers say the UC drama department was not alone in its woes. Budgetary shortfalls in university theater programs across the country became more frequent during the 1990s. "A number of schools have cut all M.F.A. programs except those in acting, have cut Ph.D. programs to put the money toward acting students. Production budgets have been cut and schools told to operate off their box-office receipts," says Marvin Carlson, a prominent theater scholar and the Sidney E. Cohn Distinguished Professor of Theater and Comparative Literature at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Still, while theater departments nationwide have suffered, the money troubles have been worse for those in California, Carlson says. The pain of those troubles at UC Davis is still vivid. "It was hard," Professor Barbara Sellars-Young says. "At one point, I was head of the M.F.A. program, head of the Ph.D. program and teaching something like eight courses. I was emotionally overloaded." A specialist in movement and in Asian theater, she was one of the two surviving faculty members. "Had it gone on forever, it would have been awful, but we had just one year like that, and the next year things were already changing." Even with only two faculty members, the show went on. British directors, who came to campus through the Granada visiting artists' program, still led campus productions. Music professor Kern Holoman stepped in temporarily to chair the department. Contrary to some early fears, the department did not close. Today, Þve years later, the curtain is rising for the department now known as theatre and dance. It has 10 faculty members, though three have partial departmental appointments. Sixty undergraduate majors, 12 Ph.D. and 16 M.F.A. students are enrolled in the department. Unlike some universities across the country, Davis doesn't rely solely on box-ofÞce receipts to maintain a vibrant and intellectually challenging production season. Although, increasingly, attention is being paid to those revenues. Behind the scenes, as the department reinvents itself into a world that is identiÞable, but far different from its former self, is chair Janelle Reinelt. Recruited by Holoman in 1995 after she taught for 21 years at California State University, Sacramento, Reinelt has wrought, well, dramatic change. "We made a decision to pick out the most important elements and to build really excellent programs in those areas," Reinelt says. "We want to be the best at what we do, not necessarily the biggest." Until the budget troubles, UC Davis offered a full-service, traditional theater department. The Ph.D. program focused on historical theater studies. On the acting side, M.F.A.s in design, acting, directing and playwriting were offered. Reinelt has directed changes that include a re-oriented Ph.D. program with a faculty of nationally respected theater scholars, the integration of dance into the department and a re-focused M.F.A. program in acting. Previous M.F.A. programs in design, directing and playwriting are inactive. Perhaps the most fundamental change is the Ph.D. program's shift from historical theater studies to a more theoretical emphasis on performance and culture. The resulting changes trickle down to the undergraduate curriculum. In the department's new world, faculty members emphasize studies of 20th-century and, soon, 21st-century, American theater, with an appreciation for British theater, as well. Students, both graduates and undergraduates, in all areas of emphasis including dance, learn about making and critiquing art, and art's relationship to society. Talking on a foggy morning in her second-story Wright Hall office, Reinelt explains what the changes mean. "We're teaching students how to use the arts in their life, as a tool for understanding, for imagining the future of society. "The performance and culture emphasis is part of, I believe, the social mission of the university and a powerful tool for understanding civilization, political issues, social justice. In this culture, we have an underdeveloped critique of the arts. We tend to think of the arts as entertainment, but art is another form of social discourse." In coming to campus, Reinelt says she "wanted to make a place where this is the fundamental thing-to make a place to teach critical skills in how to live our lives through artistic means." To achieve her vision, Reinelt assembled a cast, hiring mostly senior faculty members. New are dance professor Susan Foster, who holds a joint appointment with UC Riverside and UC Davis; Bill Worthen, who leads the theater studies Ph.D. program and also teaches in the English department; and Sue Ellen Case, theater studies professor. Karen Shimakawa, also in theater studies, joined the department more recently and has a joint appointment in Asian American studies. And Bobbie Bolden, who also teaches in African and African American studies, became part of theatre and dance last year when dance shifted from physical education to the department. Of primary consideration was hiring faculty who could collaborate with other kinds of artists, Reinelt says. "A director who likes to work with a composer, a choreographer who likes to work with visual artists." "I thought the Þrst priority was to rebuild the Ph.D. program, and I Þgured we needed four or Þve important, recognized scholars," Reinelt says. "We now have a critical mass of excellent faculty in place." In particular, the scholars add strength in the areas of gender, racial and global studies. Meanwhile, the M.F.A. program in acting took longer to get back on its feet, Reinelt says. British director Sarah Pia Anderson joined the faculty in 1995, and Sheldon Deckelbaum joined the department last fall to head the program. Both inside the department, where Reinelt is commended for her ability to forge a cohesive, healthy program despite continuing funding constraints, and outside the university, colleagues have watched the changes closely. "Davis has gone through a major transition," says Thomas Postlewait, publisher of a directory of graduate studies programs and a professor of theater history at Ohio State University. "There was a period early on when it wasn't clear how it would go. The key was hiring Janelle Reinelt--that gave a real sense to people around the country that Davis was committed to graduate studies." Within theater scholarly circles, Reinelt is known for her studies of contemporary British drama, as well as for her work as a former editor of Theatre Journal. What Reinelt describes as a utopian streak sustained her as she re-assembled the department. "I have this vision of scholars coming together. This notion we're building together. I want to Þnd a place where I can be at home in my workplace and have harmony between the parts of my life." Sellers-Young says she appreciates Reinelt's new direction and the cohesiveness she has forged. "It's a fascinating department to be in. The department clearly sees itself working in contemporary theory but also really working to do something that theater departments across the country Þnd problematic: balance theory and its practice." As the department gets set for the future, the transitions continue. The department has added an educational component for the study of dance performance and choreography classes, and brought to the dance major a stronger focus on artistry and creativity, says dance lecturer Bolden. As Reinelt looks ahead to the department's future growth, she says she hopes the M.F.A. in directing and in choreography, as well as the M.F.A. in design, will be reinstated. "They would be small programs to strengthen the overall program. I've been very careful to say all along that it's not a matter of size but more important for the department to be very good and well-known." While Reinelt no doubt will inþuence the next decisions about the departmental direction , this summer she'll step aside to let someone else--Sue-Ellen Case--have the responsibility of leading the next phase of change. With the department already gaining national recognition for its Ph.D. studies, on its way with a reinvigorated acting program and reÞning its new dance element, it's time for Reinelt to take a bow and sit in the audience awhile.