William Partlan
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No campus work address TEMPE, AZ 00000
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Bill Partlan is associate professor and head of stage directing in the School of Music, Dance and Theatre in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. He is also the artistic director of Triple Espresso LLC. in Minneapolis, MN. His world premier production of Triple Espresso has been performed in 48 American cities, as well as in Canada, Ireland, London’s West End, in Belgium in Flemish, and in Munich and Berlin in German.
He directed 44 plays at the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference by such playwrights as David Lindsay Abaire, Lee Blessing, Jeffrey Hatcher, John Patrick Shanley and Robert Schenkkan, including premieres of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Fences. He has directed such well-known talents as Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Mary McDonnell, Frances McDormand, Howard Rollins, and John Turturro in plays at the National Playwrights Conference, Off-Broadway, regional, and international premiers over the last 40 years.
Partlan directed the world premier of All God’s Dangers, starring Cleavon Little, at the Cricket Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Off-Broadway and for PBS American Playhouse. His American-premiere production of Hugh Whitemore’s The Best of Friends was produced off-Broadway by actor Michael Douglas and Producer Circle. He directed Swim Visit and Sacred Journey off-Broadway at Primary Stages. His production of Sacred Journey toured the U.S. and Great Britain, twice. He has directed regionally at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre Atlanta, The Empty Space Seattle, Florida Stage, Jewish Repertory Theatre in NYC, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre Minneapolis, New Mexico Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Festival Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Trinity Repertory Theatre Providence, Virginia Stage, and Yale Repertory Theatre.
Partlan was, for nine years, the artistic director of the Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis. He served as Producing Artistic Director of New Stage Theatre in Jackson, Mississippi. He founded the New Play Series at New York’s Bottom Line Theatre where he directed the premier of the Broadway musical, Leader of the Pack, the music of Ellie Greenwich, featuring Darlene Love, Paul Shaffer, Jimmy Vivino, Lenny Pickett, and Ellie Greenwich herself. Partlan directed for National Public Radio’s Earplay Series and served as an on-site reporter for the National Endowment for the Arts and as Jury Chairman for the 2000 Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre.
A graduate of Dartmouth College and the National Theater Institute, he earned his MFA in Directing from the University of Minnesota on a Bush Foundation Fellowship.
- M.F.A. Directing, University of Minnesota
- B.A. Magna Cum Laude, Dartmouth College
- The original class of the National Theater Institute, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center
Effective new play development methods involving playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, actors and designers in a collaborative creative process.
Professionally, I develop new versions of my production of Triple Espresso as it is produced in multiple cities nationally and internationally. I direct new works at the Phoenix Theatre in their new play incubator each year and also direct new work at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis. I annually devlop new work on campus with MFA Playwrights in workshops with MFA directors and student actors.
Courses
2025 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
2024 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 401 | Theatre Practicum |
THP 593 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 318 | Intermediate Directing |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THE 493 | Honors Thesis |
THP 561 | Scripts in Progress |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
2023 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 418 | Advanced Directing |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THP 518 | Advanced Directing Lab |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 561 | Scripts in Progress |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THP 484 | Internship |
THP 520 | Directing the New Play |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
2023 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 401 | Theatre Practicum |
THP 593 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 318 | Intermediate Directing |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THE 493 | Honors Thesis |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 520 | Directing the New Play |
THP 561 | Scripts in Progress |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
2022 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 418 | Advanced Directing |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THP 518 | Advanced Directing Lab |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 561 | Scripts in Progress |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THP 484 | Internship |
2022 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 401 | Theatre Practicum |
THP 593 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 318 | Intermediate Directing |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THE 493 | Honors Thesis |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 520 | Directing the New Play |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
2021 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 418 | Advanced Directing |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 218 | Introduction to Directing |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THP 518 | Advanced Directing Lab |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THP 484 | Internship |
2021 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 593 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 318 | Intermediate Directing |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THE 493 | Honors Thesis |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 520 | Directing the New Play |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
THF 397 | Prof Development Seminar |
2020 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 418 | Advanced Directing |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 218 | Introduction to Directing |
THP 518 | Advanced Directing Lab |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
2020 Spring
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 593 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 318 | Intermediate Directing |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THE 493 | Honors Thesis |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 520 | Directing the New Play |
THP 684 | Internship |
2019 Fall
Course Number | Course Title |
---|---|
THP 401 | Theatre Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |
THP 680 | Practicum |
THP 418 | Advanced Directing |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 580 | Practicum |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 301 | Theatre Production |
THP 401 | Theatre Practicum |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THP 499 | Individualized Instruction |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 497 | Senior Project |
THF 125 | Orientation Film/Dance/Theatre |
THP 518 | Advanced Directing Lab |
THE 492 | Honors Directed Study |
THP 684 | Internship |
THP 598 | Special Topics |
THP 693 | Applied Project |
THP 307 | Acting: Ten-Minute Plays |