David Hammond
Encyclopedia
David Hammond is a director and acting teacher in the American
theatre
. He trained for the theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
and received his M.F.A.
from the Carnegie Mellon University
Drama Department. He did his undergraduate studies at Harvard University
and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a concentration in Elizabethan literature
. He has taught at the Juilliard School
, the American Conservatory Theater
, and the Yale School of Drama
and later became the artistic director of the PlayMakers Repertory Company
for 14 years.
Hammond's theatrical works were a staple of the North Carolina
theatre scene for over two decades. He has continued to teach, at New York University
's Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts, the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, and recently at Guilford College
.
in New York and received an M.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University's Drama Department. He also attended Harvard College
and graduated magna cum laude with a concentration in Elizabethan literature
.
, 14 of which as artistic director
. He also served as a professor and Head of UNC's Professional Actor Training Program.
While at PlayMakers, he staged the United States
premieres of Simon Bent's A Prayer for Owen Meany
and Nick Stafford
's Luminosity. He has both written and adapted plays, and his theatre version of The Nutcracker
has been staged at numerous theatres in the United States and Canada
.
He has also taught at the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and the New York University Graduate Actor Training Program at Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently Professor of Theatre Studies and Arts Division Chair at Guilford College
.
The Philanderer
at the Yale Repertory Theatre
in 1982 "not Shavian", but notable for an exuberance that was called "engaging". His production of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra
at Playmakers in 2005 was called "superbly cast" with "sublime" staging.
In the classroom, his work with actors is known for its incisiveness and persistence with their growth.
He has received various theatre awards, including one for Luminosity, which was listed as one of the top ten shows of 2004 in North Carolina by Classical Voice of Carolina. He received the Playmaker Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 18th annual PlayMakers Ball on October 29, 2005. He is the recipient of two Los Angeles
Drama-Logue Awards and the Florencio Award of the Association of Uruguayan Theatre Critics and was the 2005 Triangle Theatre Person of the Year. Hammond directed an unpublished version of A Doll's House
by Henrik Ibsen
adapted by Thornton Wilder
in February 2007.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
. He trained for the theatre at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
and received his M.F.A.
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from the Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
Drama Department. He did his undergraduate studies at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a concentration in Elizabethan literature
Elizabethan literature
The term Elizabethan literature refers to the English literature produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I .The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama...
. He has taught at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, the American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
, and the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
and later became the artistic director of the PlayMakers Repertory Company
Dramatic and performing arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
-Carolina Performing Arts:Carolina Performing Arts is the name adopted by the UNC Office of the Executive Director for the Arts, the department responsible for the planning and promotion of the performing arts program, and for venues such as Memorial Hall, Historic Playmakers Theatre, and Gerrard...
for 14 years.
Hammond's theatrical works were a staple of the North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
theatre scene for over two decades. He has continued to teach, at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts, the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, and recently at Guilford College
Guilford College
Guilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...
.
Education
Hammond trained at the Jules Faber Studio and the American Academy of Dramatic ArtsAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
in New York and received an M.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University's Drama Department. He also attended Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
and graduated magna cum laude with a concentration in Elizabethan literature
Elizabethan literature
The term Elizabethan literature refers to the English literature produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I .The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama...
.
Teaching and directing
David Hammond was a teacher at the Juilliard School, the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, and the Yale School of Drama, and directed numerous productions for A.C.T. and the Yale Repertory Theatre. He subsequently spent 22 years at the PlayMakers Repertory Company at the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, 14 of which as artistic director
Artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
. He also served as a professor and Head of UNC's Professional Actor Training Program.
While at PlayMakers, he staged the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
premieres of Simon Bent's A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Prayer for Owen Meany
A Prayer for Owen Meany was the seventh published novel by American writer John Irving when it appeared in 1989. It tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New England town during the 1950-60s...
and Nick Stafford
Nick Stafford
Nick Stafford is a British playwright and writer. He is best known for writing the stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse, which garnered him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best New Play in 2008, and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2011.-Career:Stafford trained at Rose...
's Luminosity. He has both written and adapted plays, and his theatre version of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
has been staged at numerous theatres in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
He has also taught at the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University and the New York University Graduate Actor Training Program at Tisch School of the Arts. He is currently Professor of Theatre Studies and Arts Division Chair at Guilford College
Guilford College
Guilford College, founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of Friends , is an independent college whose stated mission is to: provide a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment, guided by Quaker...
.
Reception
The New York Times called his production of Shaw'sGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
The Philanderer
The Philanderer
The Philanderer is a play by George Bernard Shaw.It was written in 1893 but the strict British Censorship laws at the time meant that it was not produced on stage until 1902....
at the Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre
The Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of the Yale School of Drama in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented students. In the process it has become one of the...
in 1982 "not Shavian", but notable for an exuberance that was called "engaging". His production of Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra (play)
Caesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899...
at Playmakers in 2005 was called "superbly cast" with "sublime" staging.
In the classroom, his work with actors is known for its incisiveness and persistence with their growth.
He has received various theatre awards, including one for Luminosity, which was listed as one of the top ten shows of 2004 in North Carolina by Classical Voice of Carolina. He received the Playmaker Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 18th annual PlayMakers Ball on October 29, 2005. He is the recipient of two Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Drama-Logue Awards and the Florencio Award of the Association of Uruguayan Theatre Critics and was the 2005 Triangle Theatre Person of the Year. Hammond directed an unpublished version of A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
adapted by Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
in February 2007.