In 1973, when Dorothy Webb, Ph.D. was hired to create a children's theatre program at IU Indianapolis, she joined her husband Edgar as the only other full-time faculty in IU Indianapolis's theatre department. Edgar Webb founded the theatre department in the 1960s. In 1976, Webb began taking IU Indianapolis children's theatre productions on tour throughout Indiana. She is credited with expanding the availability of good-quality programming to children across the state. Webb loved writing plays, set design, and directing, and found her niche in using these skills to benefit the quality of children's programming at IU Indianapolis and throughout Indiana. Webb became a full professor circa 1990 and circa 2000 served as chair of the Department of Communication Studies and Theatre.
In 1983, Webb initiated a national children's theatre playwright competition called the Waldo M and Grace C Bonderman IU Indianapolis National Youth Theatre Playwriting Competition. The goal of the program was to facilitate the creation of new, good-quality theatre for children. The competition has expanded over the years, and is now known as the Bonderman Playwriting Workshop and Symposium. In 1985, the Children's Theatre Association of America awarded Webb a Special Recognition Award for her efforts.
In 1997, Webb was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. In 2004, she received the Campton Bell Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. Webb was also the recipient of a 2009 Torchbearer Award for her contributions to theatre in Indiana. Webb retired from IU Indianapolis in 2000. She has remained active in children's theatre and currently serves as president of the Children's Theatre Foundation of America.
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