Academics
Richard Pettengill Book
Assistant Professor
English and Theater
Phone 847-735-5148
E-mail pettengill@lakeforest.edu
Specialization
Theater
Dramaturgy
Performance Studies
Renaissance Drama
Theater History
Education
Ph.D. University of Chicago
M.A. University of Chicago
B.A. Bates College
Courses Taught
English 100 English Composition
English 110 Literary Studies
English 210 Ancient and Medieval Literature
English 211 English Literature I: The Renaissance and Eighteenth Century
English 235 Introduction to Creative Writing
English 308 Renaissance Drama
First Year Studies 181: Producing Plays at Victory Gardens Theater
First Year Studies 191: Reading Performance in Chicago
Theater 230 Theater History I: Greeks to Shakespeare
Theater 231 Theater History II: Moliere to Ibsen
Theater 232 Theater History III: Shaw to Kushner
Theater 240 Theater in Chicago
Theater 255 Dramaturgy
New Perspectives on Performance Studies: Music Across the Disciplines; co-edited with Nicholas Cook, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (forthcoming 2010).
Articles
“Peter Sellars’ Merchant of Venice: A Retrospective Critique of Process” Theatre Research International Vol. 31, Issue 3, Oct. 2006.
“Pitfalls of Cinematic Aspiration: The Reception of Peter Sellars’ The Merchant of Venice” Performance Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, Sept. 2005.
“A Dramaturg Reenters the Academy” in The Theater of Teaching and the Lessons of Theater ed. Domnica Radulescu and Maria Stadler Fox, Rowman and Littlefield, 2005.
“Le Marchand De Venice: Journal de Répétitions du Dramaturge” in Peter Sellars, CNRS Editions/Voies De La Creation Theatrale, ed. and trans. F. Maurin; March, 2002.
"Dramaturging Education" in Dramaturgy in American Theatre: A Sourcebook ed. Susan Jonas, Geoff Proehl, and Michael Lupu; Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997.
"Production Dramaturgy of a Classic: Moliere's The Misanthrope at the Goodman Theatre and the La Jolla Playhouse" in Dramaturgy in American Theatre: A Sourcebook ed. Susan Jonas, Geoff Proehl, and Michael Lupu; Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997.
"Richard Pettengill: Dramaturg at the Court Theatre, Chicago" in What is Dramaturgy? ed. Bert Cardullo, New York: Peter Lang, 1995. (adapted from "Dramaturgy at the Court and Wisdom Bridge" below).
"Dramaturgy at the Court and Wisdom Bridge" with Linda Walsh Jenkins. Yale Theater, Fall 1986.
Shorter articles, interviews, reviews
“Hamlet” (review of Chicago Shakespeare Theater production) Shakespeare Bulletin (Vol. 25 No. 3 Fall 2007).
"The Historical Perspective: An Interview with August Wilson" in August Wilson: A Casebook, ed. Marilyn J. Elkins, New York and London: Garland, 1994., reprinted in Conversations with August Wilson, ed. Jackson R. Bryer and Mary C. Hartig, Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006.
“Memory House: Where the Personal and the Political Converge” Victory News subscriber newsletter, and Chicago Plays program book, Victory Gardens Theater, Sept. 2005.
“Acting, Ensemble” “Playwriting” (with Andrea Telli) The Encyclopedia of Chicago, ed. James R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, Janice L. Reiff Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 2004.
"Education and Community Programs at the Goodman Theatre, 1996" in Dramaturgy in American Theatre: A Sourcebook ed. Susan Jonas, Geoff Proehl, and Michael Lupu; Harcourt Brace and Company, 1997.
"Alternatives...Opposites...Convergences: An Interview with Lloyd Richards";
in August Wilson: A Casebook, ed. Marilyn J. Elkins, New York and London: Garland, 1994.
Invited talks
“Performing Authenticity in Long Form Improvisation,” Keynote Panel: “Bringing Up Baby: Developing Methodology and Pedagogy in Interdisciplinary Performance Studies Based Research,”
Pre-Conference of the Performance Studies Focus Group of the Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE), Chicago, 2006.
“Metatheatricality and Death in Webster’s The White Devil,” Renaissance Drama in Action, Toronto, 2006.
“Living Subjects: A Dramaturg Writes About Process” American Society for Theater Research (ASTR), Chicago IL, 2006.
“When Dramaturgs Come Knocking: Dramaturgy in a Liberal Arts Setting” (“Focus on The Tempest”) (panelist) Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), San Francisco, 2005.
“Reading/Re-reading Sellars’ Merchant: A Dramaturg Looks Back,” (chair and panelist) Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Toronto, Canada, 2004.
Creative Work
1988-2000: Director of Arts in Education, Goodman Theatre. Member of Goodman artistic staff. Served as dramaturg on Goodman Theatre productions:
Moliere's The Misanthrope, adapted by Neil Bartlett, directed by Robert Falls, 1989
Gelbart, Shevelove, and Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, directed by Frank Galati, 1990
Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, adapted by David Mamet, directed by Michael Maggio, 1990
August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone, directed by Jonathan Wilson, 1991
William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, directed by Neil Bartlett, 1992
Wings: A Musical-Theatre Piece, from the play by Arthur Kopit, music by Jeffrey Lunden, book & lyrics by Arthur Perlman, directed by Michael Maggio, 1993
Mikhail Bulgakov's Black Snow, directed by Michael Maggio, 1993
Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa, directed by Kyle Donnelly, 1993
Tennesee Williams' The Night of the Iguana, directed by Robert Falls, 1994
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, directed by Peter Sellars, 1994
Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet, directed by Robert Falls, 1996
August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, directed by Chuck Smith, 1998
1982-86: Dramaturg, Court Theatre at the University of Chicago:
Worked on over 20 productions, including Antigone, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Rivals, The Master Builder, Misalliance, Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Birthday Party. Aided season selection, researched productions, wrote program notes and newsletter articles. Originated and directed education programs, including High School Matinee Series, public lectures, discussions, seminars.