Rich Brown, PhD
About
Professor RICH BROWN landed at Western Washington University in 2006 where he currently teaches psychophysical acting, Suzuki, Viewpoints, commedia, and devising. He has published in Theatre Topics, Theatre Journal, College Teaching, The Western States Theatre Review, and the book Aesthetics & Business Ethics, and presented at numerous ATHE & NET conferences on devising. He has led Viewpoint & Devising Intensives for Teatrul Fara Frontiere at the National Theatre of Romania in Bucharest and led Devising Intensives for Bucknell University, Seattle University, Rio Hondo College, Lewis & Clark College, Graceland University, Walla Walla University, and served as the Artistic Director for Texas Tech University’s Marfa Devising Intensives for five years. Rich is an associate artist with the professional devising company Blessed Unrest (NYC). Favorite performances include: The Pillowman at the iDiom Theatre, Poison the Well at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, Into the Woods and Art at the Mt. Baker Theatre, The American Family at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (which he also co-directed), Circle Mirror Transformation at Idaho Repertory Theatre, Lying, The Snow Queen and Misconceptions with Blessed Unrest in NYC, and Art at the Oregon Contemporary Theatre. Some directing credits include the devised works cheat, Us, The American Family, Soapbox, /faust, HereToo-WWU, Commedia in the Parks and the scripted plays Some Girl(s), Corktown (WWU premiere by Jeff Augustine), How I Learned to Drive, HIR, The Aliens, Orlando, and Men on Boats. Rich received a Bellingham Mayor’s Arts award in 2008, WWU’s prestigious Excellence in Teaching award in 2010, the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival’s National Outstanding Lead Deviser/Director of a Devised Work in 2012 for Us, the Carnegie Foundation’s Professor of the Year for the state of Washington in 2015, the Washington State Thespians’ Hall of Fame Award in 2016, a Kennedy Center National Commendation for Devising Leadership in Region 7 in 2019, and the Kennedy Center's National Outstanding Lead Deviser/Director of a Devised Work again in 2020 for HereToo-WWU (a collaboration with Barbara Pitts-McAdams, a founding member of Tectonic Theatre Project in NYC) . PhD, University of Oregon; MA, Central Missouri State University; BA, Graceland College.