The Grum Project Visiting Artist series continued the week of April 2, 2026, as playwright and educator Annalise Cain came to campus to work with theater students and host a workshop open to all students.

Cain, who is from Western Massachusetts and currently lives in Indiana, got connected to the school through Theater Director Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, who taught Cain when she was a student in high school. Since then, Cain has gone on to write multiple plays and also teach theater to high school students.

“At first, I pitched Jorge the musical that I’d been working on,” said Cain. While Rodriguez liked her play, he wasn’t sure of the fit in producing it at Williston. Instead, he invited her to campus to teach. “Jorge has always been such a great champion of new work, and I don’t think I would be engaging in artistic community in the way I am without how he taught.

“We had some conversations about what would be useful. I’ve been missing teaching, so we cooked up this idea.”

The lecture Cain gave served as the centerpiece of her mini residency. For it, Cain turned to another artistic medium—painting— to teach students about giving and receiving critical feedback. Using watercolors, which have to dry in between changes to the color palette, Cain challenged students to look at pieces critically, and worked with them on how they can deliver their thoughts in a way that’s beneficial to all.

“I’d found it helpful in some playwriting classes, just visualizing different stages of the artistic process,” Cain said. “So we’re using water colors to help them talk, help them get more specific about how they can give feedback. To me, that really connects back to artistic community and how you’re not going to make art unless you keep finding community throughout your journey.”

Rodriguez, for his part, thought that Cain fit the bill for what he wanted in a Grum Project artist: someone doing inspiring work that can show, rather than tell, students what it takes to produce good theater.

“I’ve known Annalise as an eloquent, dedicated, passionate artist for years,” he said. “I think that for our students to be able to see someone who’s thriving as a theater maker is always really important.”

For classes, Cain sat with Williston Scholars Performing Artists, our TheaterLab afternoon program, and eighth graders as they work on their eighth-grade theater project. During the TheaterLab session, Cain had students go through a warm-up routine she uses in theater, including having students create then teach a series of movements to their peers. One theme throughout all of her talks was that it is OK to make mistakes, and it is OK to look awkward as you figure something out—the process is just as important as the result.

“Making art in school can be very structured,” Cain said. “It can be structured like we’re starting something, working on it, finishing it, then we’re done with it. But hopefully, students are creating art because they enjoy working with other people and enjoy collaboration.”

Learn more about the Grum Project on our website. You can read more about Cain on her website.