Rick Barbour
Professor
303-871-4394 (Office)
Johnson-McFarlane Hall, 1903 E. Iliff Ave. Denver, CO 80210
What I do
I'm a theatre-maker: my job is to create beauty, tell the truth, and invite catharsis.Specialization(s)
Theatre, stage directing, actor training
Professional Biography
I've taught acting, directing and a wide variety of theatre courses to conservatory, undergrad, grad, teen and adult students for over thirty-five years. In addition to teaching, I work professionally as a free-lance director and acting coach.
Here in Colorado, my recent directorial credits include Grounded (Sis Tryst Theatre Company), The Electric Baby (Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities) and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly (Butterfly Effect Theatre Company). With Denver Center Theatre Company, I twice served as an Associate Director (King Lear, 2007 and Pierre, 2002). At the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory, I directed Macbeth, Mad Forest, and The Admirable Crichton. I also served as DCTC’s Production Manager for over fifty productions, including the world-premieres of Peter Hall’s Tantalus and Moisés Kaufman’s The Laramie Project. For the company’s 2002 production of Betrayal by Harold Pinter, I served as Scenic Designer.
Further afield, as founding member and Associate Artist at Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN since 2004, I created and led GRSF’s production wing for its first two seasons, and often return each summer as a resident director. Most recently, I directed critically-acclaimed productions of Shipwrecked! and All’s Well That Ends Well. Other directing credits at GRSF include apprentice company productions of King John, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. Elsewhere in the Midwest, I directed Twelfth Night at Illinois Shakespeare Festival (2016). In California, I directed multiple productions at PCPA Theaterfest and at Sacramento Theatre Company.
Since joining the Department of Theatre in 2003, I've directed many productions over the years, including Hedda Gabler, Oleanna, The Shape of Things, Pericles, Two Rooms, Dog Act, Hamlet, Far Away, Some Girl(s), The Grapes of Wrath, Quake, Othello, Henry VI.3, Antigone, Yours Anne, and others. From 2009 through 2018 I also served as department chair.
I'm a graduate of Temple University’s Actor Training Program (MFA 1983) and my professional acting credits include residencies at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, and Philadelphia Festival for New Plays. Since 2002, my primary professional identity has been as a stage director.
Here in Colorado, my recent directorial credits include Grounded (Sis Tryst Theatre Company), The Electric Baby (Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities) and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly (Butterfly Effect Theatre Company). With Denver Center Theatre Company, I twice served as an Associate Director (King Lear, 2007 and Pierre, 2002). At the Denver Center’s National Theatre Conservatory, I directed Macbeth, Mad Forest, and The Admirable Crichton. I also served as DCTC’s Production Manager for over fifty productions, including the world-premieres of Peter Hall’s Tantalus and Moisés Kaufman’s The Laramie Project. For the company’s 2002 production of Betrayal by Harold Pinter, I served as Scenic Designer.
Further afield, as founding member and Associate Artist at Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN since 2004, I created and led GRSF’s production wing for its first two seasons, and often return each summer as a resident director. Most recently, I directed critically-acclaimed productions of Shipwrecked! and All’s Well That Ends Well. Other directing credits at GRSF include apprentice company productions of King John, Troilus and Cressida, Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. Elsewhere in the Midwest, I directed Twelfth Night at Illinois Shakespeare Festival (2016). In California, I directed multiple productions at PCPA Theaterfest and at Sacramento Theatre Company.
Since joining the Department of Theatre in 2003, I've directed many productions over the years, including Hedda Gabler, Oleanna, The Shape of Things, Pericles, Two Rooms, Dog Act, Hamlet, Far Away, Some Girl(s), The Grapes of Wrath, Quake, Othello, Henry VI.3, Antigone, Yours Anne, and others. From 2009 through 2018 I also served as department chair.
I'm a graduate of Temple University’s Actor Training Program (MFA 1983) and my professional acting credits include residencies at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, and Philadelphia Festival for New Plays. Since 2002, my primary professional identity has been as a stage director.
Degree(s)
- MFA, Acting, Temple University, 1983
- Certificate, Actor Training Program, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts at Allan Hancock College, 1980
Professional Affiliations
- Actors Equity Association
- Theatre Communications Group
