Paul Hildebrand
Associate Professor of Theatre
(812) 866-7264
hildebrand@hanover.edu
Biography:
Before joining the Theatre faculty at Hanover College in the Fall of 2004, Paul Hildebrand was co-chair of the theater department at Virginia's Eastern Mennonite University, and has taught theater and speech at James Madison University, Mary Baldwin College and Blue Ridge Community College, all in his home state of Virginia.
Hildebrand received his undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary in 1969, and after two years in the army (1969-71), earned his master of fine arts degree in theater from Catholic University in 1973.
He worked for the National Endowment for the Arts from 1972-75. In 1976, Hildebrand became the first artistic director of the New Playwrights Theater of Washington.
In 1979, he moved from Washington, D.C., to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, where he founded what was to become a nationally and internationally credited theater company, ShenanArts. This included the Shenandoah International Playwrights Retreat, a four-week summer workshop conference drawing playwrights, actors, directors and other theater people from across the U.S. and around the world, conducted for much of its time in partnership with the American College Theatre Festival.
A specialist in the performance of 12th century liturgical drama, Hildebrand was the stage director for the Ensemble for Early Music's notable production of "The Play of Daniel." Originally mounted and performed at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, the production subsequently toured for five years to major arts festivals around the world.
He has also staged the "Filius Getronis" (Son of Getron) with the Folger Early Music Consort at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Hildebrand was the stage director for a film of the "Visitatio Sepulchri" (The Visit to the Sepulcher) from the Fleury Playbook, which was filmed at the Abbaye St. Benoit de Fleury in France. He has explored most of the plays in the Fleury Playbook in various workshop settings with other early musicians and singers.
In addition to his teaching and directing activities in the Hanover Theatre, Hildebrand produces the College's Community Arts Series. He has served on the individual artists' grant review panel for the Indiana Arts Commission and participates in theater advocacy and networking organizations in Indiana.
Education:
B.A., College of William and Mary
M.F.A., Catholic University of America
Teaching Areas / Expertise / Specializations:
Directing for the Stage
Voice & Movement
Nonwestern Theatre
Western Drama - Greeks to Realism
Focus on the Arts (for the education department)
Nonprofit Management (for Center for Business Preparation)
