Richard L. Hay (scenic designer)

For the geologist, see Richard L. Hay (geologist).

Richard L. Hay (born 1929) is the Principal Theatre and Scenic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Career

Richard L. Hay has since 1950 been Actor, Lighting Assistant, Technical Director, Art Director, Designer and Technical Director, Resident Scenic Designer, and Principal Theatre and Scenic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, interrupted by occasional stints at other theatres.[1] The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has dedicated its 2009 season, the fiftieth anniversary of the Elizabethan Stage which he designed, to Richard Hay.[2]

Over more than half a century, Hay has designed four theaters and 224 productions, 114 of them by Shakespeare, for the Festival. He is one of the few people who have designed sets for every single one of Shakespeare’s plays, and he has designed sets for The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Much Ado about Nothing five times.[3] He designed nine other theaters including the Festival Stage and New Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the Source Theatre and Space Theatre in Denver, the Intiman Playhouse in Seattle, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Outside of the Oregon Shakespearean Festival he has done the scenic design for 85 additional productions at theatres such as the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Gramercy Arts Theatre and Nederlander Theatre (formerly Billy Rose Theatre) in New York. He is known for producing sets that vary from the highly realistic through the whimsical to the stark and abstract, and for his ability to work with directors and technical staff.[3]

Biography

Richard Hay designed his first theatre for puppets as a child, and his first set for his high school class production of Pride and Prejudice in Wichita, Kansas.[4] He earned his BA in civil engineering and architecture in 1952, and his MA in theater arts from Stanford University.[1] He was a Fulbright Fellow in England and is the recipient of the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award.[4] the Hollywood Drama-Logue Critics Award, the Portland, Oregon, Critics Circle Drammy Award, and was selected as the first recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology.[5] He has been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in Entertainment, and Theatrical Designers: An International Biographical Dictionary. He has appeared in small roles in Henry IV, Part One, The Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, and The Knight of the Burning Pestle.[6] His work is summarized with illustrations in A Space for Magic: Stage Settings by Richard Hay.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 Berson, Misha (2007-05-06). "Places, Please". Stanford: 72–73.
  2. ↑ "OSF's 2009 Season Opens; Marks 50th Anniversary of Elizabethan Stage.". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  3. 1 2 Raether, Keith (1993-02-26). "‘Shakespooks’ Transformed from a Timber Town". Medford Mail Tribune.
  4. 1 2 Braman, Tom (1989). "All Over Oregon They’re Hopping on the Hay Wagon.". Grants Pass Daily Courier (Grants Pass, OR).
  5. ↑ "USITT conference California-bound.". United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  6. ↑ Wallace, Eddie (Spring 2007). "Well-Seasoned (51!) and Well-Loved.". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. pp. 72–73.
  7. ↑ Hilary Tate: A Space for Magic: Stage Settings by Richard Hay, Shakespearean Festival Association, 1979.
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