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The Men's Tennis team with their trophy in front of the final scoreboard.

A dream fulfilled: Denison wins its first NCAA men’s tennis title

May 23, 2025
Photo of Matt Tanney, new associate vice president and director of athletics

Denison names Matt Tanney new associate vice president and director of athletics

May 20, 2025
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‘Life is jazz, baby:’ Denison celebrates 184th Commencement

May 20, 2025
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  4. Playwright-in-Residence Program

Playwright-in-Residence Program

An every-other-year residency for a noted playwright to spend a semester at Denison

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Theatre



  • About
    About

    An overview and description of the Theatre department at Denison University.

    • Playwright-in-Residence Program
  • Degree Requirements
  • Courses
  • Music Theatre
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  • Honors, Awards & Scholarships
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Jonathan R. Reynolds Playwright-in-Residence Program

In 1994, Denison Theatre alumnus, playwright Jonathan R. Reynolds ’65, established a foundation that funds an every-other-year residency for a noted playwright to spend a semester at Denison, teaching a course in playwriting and preparing a new play for production.

In the fall of 1995, our first guest was British author Arnold Wesker. He taught a seminar in playwriting, directed our production of his play The Wedding Feast, starring Department Chair Jon Farris, and gave readings of some of his works. He returned the following spring to receive an honorary doctorate from Denison. Knighted in 2006, Sir Arnold Wesker passed away in 2016 at the age of 84.

In 1997 came Jeffrey Hatcher, a 1980 Theatre graduate of Denison. He is the author of The Art and Craft of Playwriting and numerous original plays and adaptations for the stage, as well as TV and film scripts. He served as consultant on our world premiere of Pierre, his adaptation of a novel by Herman Melville, taught a seminar in playwriting, and appeared with the Denison Singers in John Brown’s Body. His play, A Picasso, has been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club and he co-wrote the screen play for Casanova. More recently, his play Murderers was presented in Columbus. Ten Chimneys, about Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, is one of his latest works.

The spring of 2001 brought Lee Blessing, author of numerous plays. We produced his new play Rewrites in repertory with his classic Eleemosynary. He taught a course in playwriting, participated weekly in a seminar on the body of his dramatic works, and gave a staged reading of his one-man play Chesapeake. His award-winning play A Walk in the Woods was student-produced as a Senior Project in Performance.

In 2002, our playwright was Caridad Svich, and we staged the world premiere of her play Perdita Gracia. In addition to finalizing the script for this play, she taught a seminar in playwriting and performed her one-woman play Torch. She also collaborated with director Nick Philippou and actor/writer Todd Cerveris on The Booth Variations, a solo multimedia piece that was presented during Commencement weekend. It played Off-Broadway in 2004 and went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005.

In the spring of 2004, we hosted Donald Freed and presented the world premiere of his adaptation of Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilych. In addition to completing his adaptation of this work, Freed taught a seminar in playwriting and collaborated with the director on the production.

In the spring of 2006, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas created a play he titled The Buckeye You Save Could Be Your Own, with a cast of seven students. Instead of bringing a new script to Denison, he developed the entire play after auditions—using cast members’ improvisations and ideas and working with director Rob Gander. He also taught a seminar in playwriting. His play Blind Mouth Singing opened in Chicago in March, and he took many of the cast members to that production.

In the spring of 2008, Arthur Kopit led us through the creative process of his play Discovery of America, based on the memoir of Cabeza de Vaca, a 16th century Spanish explorer. We gave a staged reading which included some faculty and staff in the cast as well as an inventive score of live sound effects, created and performed by students, using percussive instruments. In addition to directing this work, Kopit taught a playwriting seminar. He is continuing to develop this work from his home in New York City. Critic John Lahr named it one of the ten best new plays of 2010, following a staged reading there.

In the fall of 2011, we hosted Gretchen Cryer, author and original performer of the 1978 Off-Broadway musical hit I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road, which she wrote with composer Nancy Ford. We presented their musical Einstein and the Roosevelts. In addition to teaching a seminar on playwriting, Cryer mentored a student who was working on a musical, which was student-produced the following spring. At her home in New York City, she is a sought-after mentor of aspiring playwrights.

In the spring of 2014, award-winning playwright Betty Shamieh was our ninth Reynolds Playwright-in-Residence. Betty taught playwriting and collaborated with composer Matt Gould and director Cheryl McFarren on a student production of The Malvolio Project, a sequel to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

In the spring of 2016, we hosted award-winning playwright, novelist, screenwriter and director Len Jenkin. Len taught a course in playwrighting, and we presented his play MARGO VEIL, an entertainment.

Jeffrey Hatcher returned to his alma mater for a residency that spanned the Spring and Fall of 2018, during which he participated in our production of his adaptation of The Inspector General, developed his adaptation of Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist, and co-taught two courses (in theatre-making and solo performance).

In the spring of 2022, Denison alumnus Hongyi Tian ’13 was our eleventh Reynolds Playwright-in-Residence. Playwright, dramaturg, and translator, Tian earned an MFA at Columbia University and began his career in New York. Since then, he has been directing and writing new plays for the burgeoning Shanghai theatre scene, and writing scripts for Disney shows and attractions. He is also a preeminent literary translator in the contemporary Chinese theatre, recently having completed the first Chinese translation of “Death of a Salesman.” During his semester at Denison, Tian taught a seminar in playwrighting and worked with Denison students to produce his original play “Pearls in the Wave”, which was written especially for Denison Theatre and tailored to our students.

Jonathan Reynolds

Playwright, author, and screenwriter Jonathan Reynolds ‘65 (1942 - 2021) was the author of ten plays, including Girls in Trouble, Stonewall Jackson’s House (short listed for Pulitzer Prize); Dinner With Demons, a solo show in which he prepared a full five-course meal onstage eight times a week; Geniuses, produced by Playwrights Horizons and which ran for a year off-Broadway; the one-acts Yanks 3 Detroit O Top of the 7th and Rubbers at The American Place; Fighting International Fat; and Tunnel Fever or The Sheep is Out. He had five screenplays produced, most notably Micki and Maude and My Stepmother is an Alien. He was the recipient of Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundation grants as well as The Dramatists Guild Flora Roberts Award for Sustained Achievement. For five years, he was Treasurer of The Dramatists Guild, and for six years wrote a bi-weekly food column for The New York Times Sunday Magazine. His memoir, Wrestling with Gravy: A Life, With Food, was published by Random House In 2006.

For more information, visit Jonathan Reynolds’ website.

Spotlights

mannequins with VR glasses

Theatre professor blends virtual reality, AI, and tradition

James Dennen and collaborator Christian Faur will debut 'Like Leaves. Like Carrots.' at the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Yaz Simpson ’23 performing slam poetry

HERE US showcases original performances by students of color

In its third stage production, HERE US continues to thrive, evolve, and carve out space for passionate performers.
The famous white linen suit Hal Holbrook wore in his one-man Mark Twain show is the centerpiece of a collection of memorabilia the Holbrook estate gifted the university in 2022.
Denison Magazine

It suits him

“When (Hal Holbrook was) getting ready to do the Mark Twain show, Hal told my dad, ‘I need a white suit.’”
Blue Grass Boys

The surprising history of Bluegrass music

Visiting professor Heather Grimm ’17 shares an intriguing history of Bluegrass music.
Pearls in the Wave rehearsal

The world premiere of ‘Pearls in the Wave’

‘Pearls in the Wave,’ a new play by Playwright-in-Residence Hongyi Tian ’13, tells the story of a struggling novelist and her nagging mother.
Hal Holbrook meeting a student
Denison Magazine

Farewell to Hal

Our distinguished alumnus died in January 2021. In 2012, he visited the campus where he met his life's mentor and came to know himself as a learner.
Theatre alumni
Denison Magazine

Ubiquitous Players

Theatre alumni find community and support during the pandemic.
Nick Bailey, Evan Hill and Marc Sloboda

Temporary Humans

Three Denisonians team up to create an animated series that’s been picked up by Will Arnett.
Denison students on the stage of 'BoJack Horseman'
How We Learn

Bringing BoJack to life

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to adapt award-winning animated series BoJack Horseman to the stage poses some creative challenges.
Sarah Wilson '20
Where We Go

Summer With Shakespeare

Learning Shakespeare in the land of the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon gave Sarah Wilson ’20 a frame a reference that adds meaning to majors.
Megan Lovely in a production of Sweeny Todd
How We Learn

Building Connections Through Art

Megan Lovely ’19 has built a one-of-a-kind education around her classes, internships, workshops, research and study abroad.
Brooke Stiles ’20
Where We Go

NYC Internship Yields New Connections

Summer internships open doors and possibilities for Denison University students
The Burpees at TEDx Columbus
How We Live

Improv Comedy with a Heart

Denison's Burpee's Seedy Theatrical Company uses a 24-hour marathon to raise funds for hurricane relief.
Students in the dance studio
How We Learn

A New Home for the Performing Arts

As budgets across the country cut corners on the arts, Denison goes all in.
Jeffrey Hatcher
Where We Go

Unplanned success

Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher '80 adapts a modern classic 'Confederacy of Dunces' for the stage.

What's Happening

Student News

A tribute to Denison’s past and present

Nora Cashman’s theatre senior project blends memory, archival discovery, and the enduring spirit of student artists across generations.

Read more
Performances

Breaking the glass ceiling: ‘9 to 5 the Musical’

Mishaps, chaos, and comedy are at the heart of this musical penned by Dolly Parton.

Read more
Faculty

One semester, 30 plays

Eleni Papaleonardos teaches students the beauty of simple theatre.

Read more
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