Amanda Finn Haggerty ’14 profiled in theatre critics publication

Amanda Finn Haggerty ’14 of Chicago, Illinois, was profiled in the November issue of the American Theatre Critics Association publication.

Finn Haggerty has written primarily for the publication Newcity in Chicago for three years. She says in the interview that she has been writing theater criticism/journalism since 2014 when she graduated from Ripon with a degree in theatre, English and film/media studies.

“I did the National Critics Institute (NCI) at the O’Neill in 2015 and was a regional criticism winner through the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) in undergrad,” she says. “I’ve led students through the KCACTF Region III program twice when it was hosted in Wisconsin.”

She says she became a theatre critic because “I went to college with an acting scholarship and declared my theater major on my first day as a freshman. I’ve always loved acting, but when I was in college I discovered that I love to discuss the importance of theater more than performing it.

“When my theater advisor told me about the KCACTF critics program, I jumped at the chance to learn about theater journalism from professionals. Thanks to Damien Jacques, my first professional mentor, and Jane Purse-Wiedenhoeft who led the program, I fell in love with writing about theater.”

She says she also has discovered niches in writing about sexuality representation and travel. Her website, Dream Suitcase, will launch soon and cover LGBTQIA+, size inclusivity and lesser-talked-about parts of travel.