Acting and teaching are two professions that seem to sink their massive teeth into those who try them even once. That was the case with Ohio University Assistant Professor of Theater Shelley Delaney - a professional actor by trade - who came to the University in fall 2002 to begin a career as a full-time college professor for the first time.

Delaney portrays Jane Wilson, wife of former Ohio University President Robert Wilson, in the theatrical production of "Free Man of Color," which ran Jan. 16 through Feb. 29 at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago before traveling to Athens. Once in Athens, it will run from March 10-13 at the University's Elizabeth Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall.

The play is an original production written by renowned Ohio University Professor of Theater Charles Smith as part of Ohio University's bicentennial celebration. A mix of fact and fiction, the play takes place in the 1820s and revolves around the life of John Newton Templeton, the University's first African-American graduate and the fourth African-American to graduate from college in the United States.

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