Whit Hertford

Whit Hertford
Born (1978-11-02)November 2, 1978
Provo, Utah
Occupation Theatre director, writer, actor

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

Film and television

Hertford's film career spans three decades and began at an early age, most notably with his appearance in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. In 2009 and 2010 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.

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 Charles Manson in the coming of age 1960s era thriller Prettyface.[2]

Theatre

He received an MFA in theatre directing from The University of Essex's East 15 in London. He additionally studied in Moscow at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS).

Hertford serves as Artistic Director of the theatre company Riot Act, founded in the UK in 2015.[3]

Quickly established himself in the London fringe theatre as an enfant terrible with a penchant for adapting and directing resuscitations / redefinitions of classic plays. He is known for a style and approach based in European avant garde realism. He served as an Associate Director at Theatre N16 in South London. He is a member of the Young Vic Directors Programme and was an invitee director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam.

Recent directing credits include his radical adaptations of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People as well as his Chekhov adaptations Mopey Wrecks (Three Sisters) , Poor Bastard (Ivanov) and The Misbegotten Hope of the Dirty Bird* (The Seagull). His Shakespearean adaptations include: Høüses, an immersive LGBTQA version of Romeo and Juliet, and Dóttir* - a bleak tragedy that explores seven of Shakespeare's motherless daughter archetypes. Additionally, he directed the US regional premiere of Annie Baker's The Aliens, the 2016 critically acclaimed[4] contemporary production of Henrik Ibsen's The League of Youth (in only its 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. Other directing credits include the debuts of his original plays: Lunatic, a nü gothic psychological thriller based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anatomy of Arithmetic*, Bloke and Hero & Leander - adapted from Christopher Marlowe.

He has also directed at the Arcola Theatre and Southwark Playhouse in London. He served as an Associate Director at The Courtyard Theatre, in Hoxton East London 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.

"[Hertford] has a vision, thoughtfulness, artistry and fierce passion..." - theatre director Robert Icke

"...a trailblazer and constantly challenging the status quo..." - UK director/playwright Stephen Unwin

As a playwright his other plays include: The Heimrich Maneuver, Endangered Species, The Space Program, Stockholm Syndrome, Hateful Deeds (a restructuring of Richard III) and his remaining Chekhov adaptation, a new version of The Cherry Orchard, entitled Spoilt Fruits (Dispatches from the Intersection of Class, Real Estate and Dead Children).

{*archived in the British Library}

From 2005 to 2011, Hertford was a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles as a sketch writer, performer and improviser.

He holds a BFA from the prestigious Actor Training Program at the University of Utah.

Directing credits

2018

  • Mopey Wrecks - an adaptation of Three Sisters by Whit Hertford after Anton Chekhov, Ember SLC (US)
  • The Aliens - by Annie Baker, Ember SLC, (US)[5]

2017

2016

  • Lunatic by Whit Hertford, based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, Theatre N16, Balham South London
  • The Sting by Suzette Coon (co-dir), Southwark Playhouse, South London
  • The League of Youth by Ashley Pearson after Henrik Ibsen, Theatre N16, Balham South London
  • Anatomy of Arithmetic by Whit Hertford, The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton East London
  • Coverage a new version of Julius Caesar by Ashley Pearson, The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton East London
  • Dóttir by Whit Hertford, The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton East London

2015

  • The Misbegotten Hope of the Dirty Bird an adaptation of The Seagull by Whit Hertford after Anton Chekhov, The Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton East London
  • Bloke by Whit Hertford, East 15, Essex UK
  • Hero + Leander by Whit Hertford adapted from the poem by Christopher Marlowe, East 15, Essex UK
  • 13 by Mike Bartlett (asst. dir.), East 15, Essex UK
  • Bricks and Bones by Hannah Roger (co-dir.), Arcola Theatre, East London
  • Holy, Holy, Shadow devised by The Stage Standard + Concierge Theatre, London, UK

Additional directing credits:

  • Fool For Love by Sam Shepard, The Stage Standard, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Bright Ideas by Eric Coble, University of Utah (regional debut)
  • Twelfth Night by Wm. Shakespeare (asst. dir), Salt Lake Shakespeare, Salt Lake City, UT

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771506/
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Riot Act
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
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