Whit Hertford

Whit Hertford

Hertford in East London UK
Occupation Theatre director, writer and actor

Whit Hertford is an American theatre director, writer and actor.

Theatre

Artistic Director of the UK based theatre company, Riot Act. Currently serves as an Associate Director at Theatre N16 in South London. He received his MFA in theatre directing from The University of Essex's East 15 and studied in Moscow at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS).

His recent directing credits include the original production of his nü gothic psychological thriller Lunatic which focuses on the relationship and therapeutic sessions of Dr. Seward and Renfield from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Other directing credits include the critically acclaimed adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's The League of Youth (in only it's third UK production since publication in 1870) and a London fringe sellout run of Coverage, a newsroom retelling of Julius Caesar - both by Canadian playwright Ashley Pearson. He adapted and directed Chekhov's The Seagull renamed The Misbegotten Hope of the Dirty Bird (or A Meditation on the Proper Use of Firearms in Dramatic Literature)* and directed the debuts of his original plays: Dóttir - a bleak tragedy that explores seven of Shakespeare's motherless daughter archetypes, Anatomy of Arithmetic, Bloke and Hero & Leander - adapted from Marlowe. Additional directing credits: Fool for Love by Sam Shepard, Twelfth Night (asst. dir.), and 13 by Mike Bartlett (asst. dir.)

Whit has also directed at the Arcola Theatre and Southwark Playhouse in London. He served as an Associate Director at The Courtyard Theatre, in Hoxton where he was artistic director of Versions, a month long festival of classical adaptations and devised theatre in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare.

As a playwright his plays include: The Heimrich Maneuver, Endangered Species, The Space Program, Houses - a new site specific version of Romeo & Juliet. Additional Chekhov works he's adapted include: Poor Bastard (A Triumphant Guide to Midlife Crisis) - based on Ivanov, Spoilt Fruits (Dispatches from the Intersection of Class, Real Estate and Dead Children).

He holds a BFA from the Actor Training Program conservatory at The University of Utah (US).

{*archived in the British Library}

Film and television

His film career spans three decades and began at an early age, most notably with his appearance in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.

In 2009 he co-founded the independent film company Sneak Attack with director Ryan Darst. Their American New Wave award-winning short and full-length films (written by Hertford) have screened at festivals all over the US and Europe, including the premiere of the revenge film Wildlife at Cannes Film Festival (2015). The production shot all on location in rural Utah and co-stars Jon Heder and is scored by Joshua James.

In 2014 he received Best Actor awards for his work as geneticist Jesse Darden in the science fiction independent feature film The Perfect 46[1] from the Other Worlds Film Festival in Austin, Texas and Filmquest Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In 2015 he portrayed the role of iconic cult leader and convicted killer, Charles Manson, in the coming of age 1960s era thriller, Prettyface.

From 2005 to 2011, he was a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles as a sketch writer, performer and improviser. During that time he recurred as "Officer / Detective Ross" on the FOX comedy Raising Hope and as the tyrannical rival choreographer Dakota Stanley during the first season of Glee. Other TV credits include Psych, various appearances on Conan and as the voice of Cadet Kryze on Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771506/
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/28/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.