Kim Barber Knoll, Professor of Theatre and Program Coordinator of Theatre, joined the department in 1995. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from UCLAwhere she received both the Jack Nicholson Award and the Hugh O'Brien Award, and a Bachelor of Science in Communications from the University of Tennessee . Professor Knoll is a recent recipient of the Flora Glenn Candler Professorship, awarded to a faculty member in recognition of teaching effectiveness, contribution to the life and work of the college community, and service to the community at large. She is also the recipient of the John R. Hines Jr. Undergraduate Research Award and a two-time recipient of the United Methodist Teaching Award given to a faculty member who "inspires the souls of students."
Professor Barber Knoll was the Artistic Director of The North Country Center for the Arts Papermill Theatre, a professional summer theater with both Mainstage and Children's Theater companies for 10 years. She was a resident director/Equity guest actor at the Papermill for 20 years. She was a member of the original mainstage acting company at the Papermill alongside Rachel Dratch star of SNL and appeared with Rachel in Carnival, Cabaret, Wait Until Dark and Harvey. She was nominated for the New Hampshire Governor's Award for Distinguished Arts Leadership.
An Equity actor and director for over 40 years, she has appeared in over 60 productions and directed over 70. She lived and worked professionally in New York City for six years. She was a resident company member at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park for two seasons (Candide with Lynette Perry directed by Worth Gardner, Much Ado About Nothing (with Kristin Davis) and was also a member of the Pennsylvania Stage Company (Lizzie in The Rainmaker directed by Scott Edmiston) She directed Taye Diggs as Judas in Godspell and Chad Kimball as Charlie in Brigadoon and Young Joe in Damn Yankees.
She is a member of Omicron Delta Kappa and a Zeta Tau Alpha alumnus.
At LaGrange College, Professor Barber Knoll's courses include Acting, Directing, Voice and Diction, Movement and Conditioning, Period/Styles, Creative Dramatics and Ethos 1101 & 1102.
Representative roles include: Violet in AUGUST: Osage County, Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street, The Witch in Into the Woods, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Lily Pepper in Noel Coward's Red Peppers, Gertrude in Hamlet, Kate in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth.
Directing credits include: Dancing at Lughnasa, The Marvelous Wonderettes (Choreographer), Silent Sky, Little Women, The Musical (Choreographer), Bedroom Farce, On The Verge, Same Time, Next Year, The Rimers of Eldritch, The 39 Steps, Metamorphoses, Lovers, Dames at Sea, Brigadoon, The Laramie Project, She Loves Me (Director/Choreographer), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Six Characters in Search of An Author, Absurd Person Singular, Mrs. California, The World Goes 'Round (Director/Choreographer), Hay Fever, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Secret Garden (Director/Choreographer), Brigadoon, Big River, Damn Yankees, Crazy for You, Into the Woods, Noises Off, Twelfth Night and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Director/Choreographer).
She recently directed and staged 53 actors in two productions for the LaGrange Lafayette Alliance, The Spirit of Lafayette, Parts 1 & 2. She also traveled to Bundoran Ireland in January of 2024 with the cast and crew of Dancing at Lughnasa where they partnered with the Institute of Study Abroad Ireland and Maura Rogue of Dark Daughter Productions to research and immerse themselves in the world of playwright Brian Friel. The trip culminated in a production of Dancing at Lughnasa at LC spring of '24.
She created and trademarked the Movement methodology, In the Movement Ω, and is in the process of writing a book of the same name.
