David Hammond is an American
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''Di ...
and acting teacher. He trained for the theatre at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...
and received his
M.F.A. from the
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
Drama Department. He did his undergraduate studies at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and graduated
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
with a concentration in
Elizabethan literature
Elizabethan literature refers to bodies of work produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and is one of the most splendid ages of English literature. In addition to drama and the theatre, it saw a flowering of poetry, with n ...
. He taught at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
, the
American Conservatory Theater
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school.
History
The Ameri ...
, and the
Yale School of Drama
The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
and later became the artistic director of the
PlayMakers Repertory Company
PlayMakers Repertory Company is the professional theater company in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. PlayMakers Repertory Company is the successor of the Carolina Playmakers and is named after the Historic Playmakers ...
.
Hammond has continued to teach, at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
's Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts, the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School
Institute for Advanced Theater Training at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, and recently at
Guilford College
Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society of ...
.
Hammond also serves as the 6th Congressional District Chair for the LGBTQ Democrats of North Carolina.
Education
Hammond trained at the Jules Faber Studio and the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...
in New York and received an M.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University's Drama Department. He also attended
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and graduated
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
with a concentration in
Elizabethan literature
Elizabethan literature refers to bodies of work produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and is one of the most splendid ages of English literature. In addition to drama and the theatre, it saw a flowering of poetry, with n ...
.
Teaching, Directing, Writing
Hammond was a teacher at the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...
, the
American Conservatory Theater
The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school.
History
The Ameri ...
in San Francisco, and the
Yale School of Drama
The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...
, specializing in Shakespeare and the performance of classic texts, and he directed numerous productions for
A.C.T. and the
Yale Repertory Theatre
Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented student ...
, including a production of
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's ''Philanderer'', which was an "effective" production of a hundred year old play because it "exposed patriarchal assumptions that still influenced most of the audience".
His 1989 direction of
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
's "The Master Builder" was called "sound and respectful of the text" and led the New York Magazine's John Simon to state "Our theater could use more Hammonds".
He subsequently spent 22 years at the
PlayMakers Repertory Company
PlayMakers Repertory Company is the professional theater company in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. PlayMakers Repertory Company is the successor of the Carolina Playmakers and is named after the Historic Playmakers ...
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 14 of which as
artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...
. In 1989 at the PRC, he rescripted the framing material in
Taming of the Shrew
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
, cutting some speeches, but adding jugglers and clowns and a drastic scene change to signal the play as being Sly's dream and allowing for a doubling of the Sly/Petruchio and Lord/Vincentio characters which "provided a distinctly different perspective".
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
''A Prayer for Owen Meany'' is the seventh novel by American writer John Irving. Published in 1989, it tells the story of John Wheelwright and his best friend Owen Meany growing up together in a small New Hampshire town during the 1950s and 1960s. ...
'' and Nick Stafford's ''
Luminosity
Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object over time. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electromagnetic energy emitted per unit of time by a st ...
''. Upon his retirement from UNC Chapel Hill as Professor Emeritus in 2006, he was named Artistic Director Emeritus of PlayMakers Repertory Company. He has both written and adapted plays, and his theatre version of ''
The Nutcracker
''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...
'' has been staged at numerous theatres in the United States and Canada. He contributed an essay to ''Standard Speech: Essays on Voice and Speech'' on the methods of
Edith Skinner.
He has also taught at the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School
Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University and the New York University Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts. He joined the faculty of Guilford College as Professor of Theatre Studies in 2007 and served as Arts Division Chair and Theatre Studies Chair before retiring as Professor Emeritus in 2017.
Hammond has directed operas for the San Francisco Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, and the Opera Company of North Carolina and has directed or coached Shakespeare productions for theatres throughout the United States and Latin America. He has also traveled extensively as a Cultural Specialist for the United States Information Service, directing and teaching in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. He directed Ibsen's ''
The Master Builder
''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works.
Performance
The play was published ...
'' for New York's Roundabout Theatre in 1983 and Thornton Wilder's unpublished version of Ibsen's ''
A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...
'' at Guilford College in 2007. In 2011 he directed ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' for Empirical Rogue in New York and in 2012 ''
As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' for the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He directed ''Hedda Gabler'' for Telon Rojo in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2014 and ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' for Uruguay's Comedia Nacional in 2015.
Chicago's Polarity Ensemble-Theatre presented his adaptation of Fielding's ''
Tom Jones'' in March 2012.
Reception
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called his production of George Bernard Shaw's''
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.
It is one of the three plays Shaw published as ''Plays Unpleasa ...
'' 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.
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 Review's Best Director and Triangle Theatre Person of the Year.
Accusation of misconduct
In 1997, an accusation of sexual harassment was made against Hammond; however, a subsequent investigation cleared Hammond of any wrong doing.
References
External links
''The New York Times'' filmographyGuilford College Staff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammond, David
1948 births
Living people
Artists from New York City
Harvard College alumni
Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni
American theatre directors
Juilliard School faculty
Yale University faculty
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Tisch School of the Arts faculty
Harvard University faculty
Guilford College faculty
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni