Francesca “Frani” Rollins helps students develop a passion, curiosity and appreciation for theater and the arts. As theater director, associate professor and co-chair in Mercer University’s Department of Communication Studies and Theatre, she equips young people with professional skills and experiences that they can apply to their careers or life.
Rollins, who grew up in Connecticut, started her college career as a Division I basketball recruit but found it wasn’t a good fit for her. After moving to Wesleyan University, she selected studio art as her major to tap into her interest in building and creating. During her sophomore year, a friend in theater asked her to build a large sculpture for a show, marking a turning point in Rollins’ career direction.
“I built this really cool thing, and I think that’s where I fell in love with the collaborative art form,” she said. “I loved sculpting, and I loved being in the studio but also working in different fields, all collaborating on a project. Then junior year, I switched my major to theater and never looked back.”
After graduation, Rollins served as a graduate assistant for Wesleyan’s theater department, gaining field experience as she helped with stage electrics, set construction and costuming and did professional work for Hartford Stage.
She spent some time doing lighting design and electrics in Washington, D.C., before pursuing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Oregon. There, she fell in love with teaching as a graduate fellow and a summer technical director for a children’s theater company.
In 2012, she became an assistant theater professor at Georgia College & State University, where she focused on scenic design and technology, and she joined the faculty at Mercer in 2016.
Rollins got involved in strategic planning early into her Mercer tenure and served on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ House of Delegates, Curriculum Committee and, most recently, Executive Committee. In 2023, she became department co-chair, a position she had lobbied to create.
“Theater is a small department that has a pretty large impact publicly,” she said. “I like that I’ve been given these opportunities and that space to build the department. I hope I can continue learning more about how things work and how decisions are made to help not only my department but also the University as a whole and the college.”
Over the past decade, Rollins has led shifts within the theater department to fit the needs of students, whether they want to be theater majors or just take a few classes. That includes a revised curriculum, the addition of a career prep course called senior audition portfolio, and updated equipment to train students on. In addition, Mercer Theatre seasons are now built around senior proposals for their capstone projects.
“I think one of the things that makes me the happiest is that we get to see students from every (discipline),” she said. “Some of the most rewarding stuff is when we find students who really find a home here (in theater).
“We get to grow this passion, this curiosity and an appreciation … whether theater is their final destination or these are skills they might be able to pull out of their toolbox in six to 10 years.”
Rollins is particularly proud of the Mercer Theatre’s tradition of free outdoor community performances. In 2021, The Phoenix Project: Renewal featured giant puppets, fire-twirling and stilt-walking on Cruz Plaza. A steampunk version of Alice in Wonderland was presented in Tattnall Square Park in 2023, and another circus-style outdoor show is planned for the end of March.
“It’s outside of the sphere that we normally do, and I love being able to share the work with my family and the community that we don’t normally reach,” she said. “We do great theater in the (physical) theater, but this kind of stuff is just unique and magical.”
Outside of Mercer, Rollins is a longtime board member and technical design consultant for Macon Little Theatre. She is a regional representative for Alpha Psi Omega national theater honor society; was involved in the United States Institute for Technical Theater for a decade; and recently concluded her time on the board of the Georgia Theatre Conference.
Beyond her theater work, Rollins co-authored the children’s book Toby’s Campus Tour with Tennille Shuster, Mercer art chair and professor, in 2024.
Rollins encouraged women going into theater or leadership to notice the women around them. She soaked up invaluable knowledge by spending time with respected theater veterans at each of the colleges she attended.
“I learned the most from those two women — just being present, watching them, working with them and asking questions,” she said. “Then, the thing I’m learning later in life is if you think you’re supposed to be there, put yourself there. If you feel like there’s a space where your body is meant to be, step into it.”
