Jack B. Wright

Jack Wright, emeritus professor of theatre, held the titles of Artistic Director of Theatre at the University of Kansas (KU) from 1976 to 1994, and Director of the University Theatre at KU from 1989 to 1994. He became a Fellow of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in 1998. In 2002 he received the Kemper award for outstanding teacher at KU.

Dr. Wright is a former national chair of the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) and has also served as chair of ACTF's Regions V and VI. In 1983 his production of Buried Child was selected for the National ACTF at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

While a professor at KU, Dr. Wright taught courses in Acting, Directing, Acting for the Camera, and American Theatre History.

In addition to teaching and directing, he also acts and directs for professional theatre, television, and film. He and his partner Heather Laird have a casting agency in Kansas City called Wright/Laird Casting.

Since 1981, and as time permits, he has appeared throughout the United States as William Allen White in a one-man show called The Sage of Emporia.

Professor Wright has directed over 90 productions. His productions include Grease, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Some Enchanted Evening, Romeo and Juliet, Uncle Vanya, 1776, You Can't Take It With You, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Boys Next Door, West Side Story, Bus Stop, Henry IV, Part 1, and Angels in America, to name just a few. In 1989 he was a guest director at the Teatr Popularney in Warsaw, Poland. He has also directed for the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival—Omaha, where he staged Henry IV, Part 1, King Lear, and As You Like It.