PhD in Drama, Tufts University, Major Fields: Spanish Golden Age Drama, Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama, 19th Century English and American Theatre, Shakespearean Textual Authority, First Folio Acting Technique. Dissertation: “At a Sword’s Length: Theatrical Dueling in Early Modern Spanish Drama.” Advisors: Dr. Laurence Senelick & Dr. Elizabeth Teresa Howe.
MA in Theatre Arts, California State University, Northridge, Major Fields: Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama, Postcolonial Literature, Intercultural Theatre, Greek Tragedy, 18th Century European Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences, the dramatic literature of Federico Garcia Lorca. Thesis: “Choose Your Weapon: A Study of the Evolution and Acculturation of the Rapier in English Renaissance Drama.” Advisor: Dr. Kevin J. Wetmore.
BFA in Acting, New York University, Conservatory acting education with Circle In The Square and the Stonestreet Film & Television Acting Studio. Major Fields: Acting Theory (Strasburg, Adler, Meisner), Script Analysis, Commercial technique, Acting for the Camera, Movement Technique, Stage Combat.
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2019 – Present – Associate Professor of Drama & English, Athens State University – Athens, AL
2012 – 2019 – Assistant Professor of Drama & English, Athens State University – Athens, AL
2010 – 2012 – Adjunct Professor of Theatre, Eastern Connecticut State – Willimantic, CT
2011 – 2012 – Adjunct Professor of Theatre, Dean College – Franklin, MA
2009 – 2012 – Acting Instructor, New York Film Academy – Harvard Summer Institute – Cambridge, MA
2006 – 2011 – Lecturer of Drama, Tufts University – Medford, MA
2010 – 2011 – Adjunct Professor of English, University of Massachusetts Lowell
2010 – 2011 – Instructor of Theatre, Northern Essex Community College – Haverhill, MA
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Program Head of Drama & Theatre Arts 2012 – Present
Athens State University – Athens, AL
Successfully created a BA in Drama & Theatre Arts Major (approved by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) in December 2015 to begin in the Fall of 2016). Revised a Drama Minor in the English Department. Endowed the Athenian Players Scholarship using ticket sale profits from drama productions. Increased the profile of Athens State University with numerous appearances on local television, NPR, and independent papers. Brought four nationally recognized professional playwrights to Athens State University to meet and work with our students.
Artistic Director of the Athenian Players 2012 – Present
Athens State University – Athens, AL
Responsibilities: Successfully directed and produced thirty productions in multiple venues. Responsible for budgeting annual season, hiring and supervising consultant designers, composers, and production staff, and advertising auditions and performances to social and traditional media.
Presiding Officer of the Faculty Senate 2022 – Present
Athens State University – Athens, AL
Responsibilities: Presiding over monthly Faculty Senate meetings, organizing policies for discussion and review by senators, and facilitating a supportive environment for constructive conversation. Serving on the Strategic Planning Committee, Administrative Council, Budget Advisory Committee, Compensation Committee, and the Trustee Nomination Committee.
Co-Director of The Project: The Alabama Center for the Arts Pathway 2018 – 2019
Alabama Center for the Arts – Decatur, AL
Responsibilities: Helped create the collaborative Fine Arts Pathway program between Calhoun Community College and Athens State University to offer regional High School students a free two week intensive artistic program being taught by the faculty. The program culminated with a shadow puppet play presentation of Wiley and the Hairy Man by Suzan Zeder.
CREATIVE ACTIVITY
Director and Producer of Theatre Productions
Alabama Center for the Arts (ACA) – Decatur, AL 2016 – Present
The Rocket Men by Crystal Skillman* Spring 2023 (pre-production) Athenian Players
Twelfth Night Fall 2022 Athenian Players
right before I go by Stan Zimmerman** Summer 2022 Athenian Players
Lady Windermere’s Fan Spring 2022 Athenian Players
Log Cabin by Jordan Harrison Fall 2021 Athenian Players
Something Rotten! Summer 2021 ACA
Love’s Fire Spring 2021 Athenian Players
Clue: Stay-at-Home Version (Online) Fall 2020 Athenian Players
Inkblot by Kelly Younger (Online) *** Summer 2020 Athenian Players
Comedy of Errors Fall 2019 Athenian Players
Let’s Murder Marsha Summer 2019 Athenian Players
Wiley and the Hairy Man Summer 2019 The Project
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead Spring 2019 Athenian Players
Hamlet Fall 2018 Athenian Players
The Odd Couple (Female Edition) Summer 2018 Athenian Players
Picnic Spring 2018 Athenian Players
The Phantom Lady (La dama duende) Fall 2018 Athenian Players
The Fantasticks Summer 2017 Athenian Players
Geek! by Crystal Skillman** Spring 2017 Athenian Players
Verdigris by Jim Beaver** Fall 2016 Athenian Players
*World premiere of a new play commissioned by the ACA with Playwright being involved in production.
**Playwright was brought to campus to assist with production and work with students.
***Playwright worked virtually with students.
Director and Producer of Theatre Productions
Athens State University – Athens, AL 2012 – 2016
Afternoon of the Elves Summer 2016 Athenian Players
Sherlock Holmes Spring 2016 Athenian Players
The Tragedy of Romeo & Juliet Fall 2015 Athenian Players
The Frogs* Summer 2015 Athenian Players
Modern American One Acts Spring 2015 Athenian Players
The Tragedy of Macbeth Fall 2014 Athenian Players
The Bacchae* Sumer 2014 Athenian Players
The Importance of Being Earnest Spring 2014 Athenian Players
As You Like It Fall 2013 Athenian Players
Trojan Women* Summer 2013 Athenian Players
The Glass Menagerie Spring 2013 Athenian Players
* translated by Dr. Francis Blessington, who was brought to campus to assist with production and work with students
PUBLICATIONS
“Book Review: Athenian Tragedy in Performance: A Guide to Contemporary Studies and Historical Debates by Melinda Powers” New England Theatre Journal, Volume 26, New England Theatre Conference, 2016.
“Book Review: Dreaming America: Popular Front Ideals and Aesthetics in Children’s Plays of the Federal Theatre Project by Leslie Elaine Frost” New England Theatre Journal, Volume 25, New England Theatre Conference, 2014.
“Book Review: Theatre, Community, and Civic Engagement in Jacobean London by Mark Bayer” New England Theatre Journal, Volume 24, New England Theatre Conference, 2014.
“Book Review: Staging Spectatorship in the Plays of Philip Massinger by Joanne Rochester” New England Theatre Journal, Volume 23, New England Theatre Conference, 2013.
“Book Review: How to do Shakespeare by Adrian Noble” New England Theatre Journal,Volume 22, New England Theatre Conference, 2012.
“Double Book Review: Locating the Queen’s Men by Helen Ostovich and Radical Theatricality by Bruce R. Burningham,” New England Theatre Journal, Volume 21, New England Theatre Conference, 2011.
“Book Review: Honor and Violence in Golden Age Spain by Scott K Taylor,” Theatre History Studies, Volume XX, The University of Alabama Press, 2010.
“Ford Lee ‘Buck’ Washington.” African American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2010.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Geek!” Preview and Demonstration of “Lightsaber” Stage Combat, Hunstville Comic & Pop Culture Expo, Von Braun Center, Hunstville, AL, March 2017.
“Stage Combat, Superscenes, and Directing Romeo & Juliet,” for the Physical Acting Pedagogy Session, Panel Chair, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Chicago, IL, August 2014.
“A Fight Choreographer’s Approach to La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream),” Dream-a-turgy: New Tools for Translating, Staging, and Contextualizing La vida es sueño, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, July 2014.
“Rediscovering the Dream: New Resources for Teaching La vida es sueno,” Session Panel Member, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, July 2014.
“The Challenges and Rewards for Single Person Theatre Departments,” Session Panel Member, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Orlando, FL, August 2013.
“Uncovering the Physical Comedy and Combat of Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist”, Shakespearean Performance Research Group, American Society for Theatre Research, Nashville, TN, November 2012.
“The Rumble: Navaja Knife Fighting in West Side Story”, Comparative Drama Conference, March 2010.
“The Swords of Lope de Vega”, Association for Hispanic Classical Theater Symposium, March 2009.
“The Swords of Lope de Vega”, New Approaches to Plays from the Spanish Golden Age, American Society for Theatre Research, 2008.
“Romeo & Juliet, A Duelists Tragedy”, Shakespearean Performance Research Group, American Society for Theatre Research, 2007.
“This Chinese Theatre is All Greek to Me: An Exploration of Adaptation and Performance of Greek Tragedy in China.” Intercultural Taiwanese and Chinese Theatre, Comparative Drama Conference, 2007.
“‘These are not men for me’: An Exploration of Elizabethan Manhood in Marlowe’s Edward II.” English Renaissance Drama, Comparative Drama Conference, 2006.
INVITED GUEST LECTURER, WORKSHOPS, & TALKBACKS
Lecturer:
“Draw if you be Men: An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Theatrical Swordplay – Huntsville Public Library’s Celebration of Shakespeare, April 9th, 2014
The Actor Teacher – Heritage Reading Council, Athens, AL, February 28, 2013
Tennessee Williams and “A Streetcar Named Desire” – Dinner & a Movie, Center For Lifelong Learning, Athens, AL, February 22, 2013
The Rumble: Dueling in “West Side Story” – Yellow Taxi Productions, Lunch Box Lecture Series, Nashua, NH, March 19, 2009
Roundtable Participant:
“The Two-Year College Dream: A Summit of Two-Year College Theatre Programs”, Round-Table participant, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Scottsdale, AZ, July 2014
“Critical Encounters: Possibilities of Performance”, Association for Hispanic Classical Theater Symposium, March 2009.
Workshop Instructor:
First Folio Acting Technique – Alabama Conference of Theatre, Trumbauer Festival, Troy University, November ‘18
Stage Combat Workshop – Truancy Intervention Program of Alabama, Athens State University, July ‘13
First Folio Acting Technique – KCACTF Region 1, Festival 44, January ‘12
Armed Stage Combat Workshop – Shakespeare Society, Wellesley College, Dec. ‘11
Stage Combat Workshop – Neighborhood House Charter School, May ‘11
Stage Combat Workshop – Shakespeare Society, Wellesley College, April ‘11
Comedy Combat – Northern Essex Community College, Feb. ‘11
First Folio Acting Technique – KCACTF Region 1, Festival 43, January ‘11
Combat Comedy – Low Comedy, Laurence Senelick, Tufts University, Fall ‘08
Movement for Animators, workshop, New York Film Academy, New York Film Academy – Harvard Summer Program 2009
Stage Combat for Directors, workshop, New York Film Academy, New York Film Academy – Harvard Summer Program 2009
Speaker:
“Georgia Bottoms: The Value of Narrative Methods,” Moderator of a panel of academic experts for Hunstville Symphony Orchestra’s premiere of the new opera, Georgia Bottoms: A Comic Opera of the Modern South, February 2015
“The Art of Critique: Writing an Objective Response to a Subjective Experience”, Intra-College Faculty Forum. Athens State University, November 2013
“Trojan Women” Scholah Hollah Panel, Whistler in the Dark Theatre, May 2012
“Así que pasen cinco años” (When Five Years Pass), Performance Talkback, CSUN Theatre, October 2003.
ACADEMIC SERVICE
Faculty Committees:
2020-present – Faculty Senate
2015-2020 – Faculty Elections Committee Member, College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Representative
2012-2014 – Strategic Planning Committee, Executive Committee, College of Arts & Sciences Faculty Representative
2012-2014 – QEP Student Success Team Committee Member
2012-2014 – Curriculum Committee member and standing proxy member
2012-2015 – Served on the committee for the architectural design of Phase II of the Alabama Center for the Arts
Search Committees:
Spring 2022 – Chair of the Search Committee for the Assistant Professor of Drama & Theatre Arts: Scenic & Lighting Design faculty member.
Summer of 2020 – Served as the Athens State University represenatative on Calhoun Community College Search Committee for the new Theatre Instructor faculty member.
Spring of 2019 – Search Committee member for the Assistant Professor of Graphic Design faculty Member
Spring & Summer of 2018 – Chair of the Search Committee for the Assistant Professor of Drama & Theatre Arts: Scenic & Lighting Design faculty member
Spring of 2013 – Search Committee member for the Assistant Professor of English faculty Member
Fall of 2013 – Search Committee for the Building Coordinator of the Alabama Center for the Arts
Director, 11th Annual Tufts University Graduate Student Council Research Symposium,
2007.
Coordinator, “Getting It Published”, Tufts University Graduate Drama Colloquium, 2006.
Academic Chair, Graduate Student Council, Tufts University, 2006-07.
Drama Department Representative, Graduate Student Council, Tufts University, 2006-07.
Committee Member, Graduate Student Research Awards Committee, Tufts University, Fall 2008, Spring 2007 & 2008.
Session Chair:
“Physical Acting Pedagogy”, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, National Conference, Chicago, IL, August 2014
“Comparative Hamlets”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2010
“Virtual Performances: Ethnicity & Sexuality on the Digital Stage”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2010
“Theatre for Youth in an Intercultural World”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2007.
“American Culture on Stage”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2006.
“Theater for Young Audiences”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2006.
“Intercultural Spanish Theatre”, Comparative Drama Conference, 2005.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
Princess Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, Decatur, AL
- Member of the Board of Directors (2015-2022)
- Secretary to the Board of Directors (2019-2022)
Alabama Conference of Theatre (ACT)
- College and University Division – Member
Methods, A Journal of Acting Pedagogy, Volume 1, 2015, Pace University Press
- Editorial Board Member
American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR)
Association for Hispanic Classical Theatre (AHCT)
Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)
International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR)
Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD)
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
New England Theatre Conference (NETC)
Hugh K. Long, Ph.D. 