Richard L. Hay is the Principal Theatre and Scenic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States. The festival annually produces eleven plays on three stages during a season that lasts from February to October...

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Career

Richard L. Hay has since 1950 been Actor, Lighting Assistant, Technical Director, Art Director, Designer and Technical Director, Resident Scenic Designer, and Principal Theatre and Scenic Director at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, interrupted by occasional stints at other theatres. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival has dedicated its 2009 season, the fiftieth anniversary of the Elizabethan Stage which he designed, to Richard Hay.

Over more than half a century, Hay has designed four theaters and 224 productions, 114 of them by Shakespeare, for the Festival. He is one of the few people who have designed sets for every single one of Shakespeare’s plays, and he has designed sets for The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...

, Twelfth Night, Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

, and Much Ado about Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

 five times. He designed nine other theaters including the Festival Stage and New Old Globe Theatre

Old Globe Theatre

The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...

 in San Diego, the Source Theatre and Space Theatre in Denver, the Intiman Playhouse

Intiman Playhouse

Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, was founded in 1972 by Margaret "Megs" Booker, who named it for August Strindberg's Stockholm theater. With a self-declared focus on "a resident acting ensemble, fidelity to the playwright's intentions and a close relationship between actor and audience", the...

 in Seattle, the Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Repertory Theater, founded by Mary Widrig John in 1954, as the Fred Miller Theatre Company, is now located on the east bank of the Milwaukee River in the Patty and Jay Baker Theater Complex at 108 E Wells St, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to an eleven member Resident Acting Company...

, and Artists Repertory Theatre

Artists Repertory Theatre

Artists Repertory Theatre is a critically acclaimed professional non-profit theatre located in Portland, Oregon. The company was established in 1982 and focuses on presenting the works of contemporary playwrights, including many world premieres...

 in Portland, Oregon. Outside of the Oregon Shakespearean Festival he has done the scenic design for 85 additional productions at theatres such as the Mark Taper Forum

Mark Taper Forum

The Mark Taper Forum is a 739 seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles...

 in Los Angeles, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and the Gramercy Arts Theatre

Gramercy Theater

Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in Manhattan.-History:Built in 1937 and designed by architect Charles A. Sandblom in the Streamline Moderne style, the theatre is located at 127 E...

 and Nederlander Theatre

Nederlander Theatre

David T. Nederlander Theatre is a 1,232-seat Broadway theatre located at 208 West 41st Street, in New York City . One of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, the legacy of the theatre began with David Tobias Nederlander, for whom the theatre is named.Built by Walter C...

 (formerly Billy Rose Theatre) in New York. He is known for producing sets that vary from the highly realistic through the whimsical to the stark and abstract, and for his ability to work with directors and technical staff.

Biography

Richard Hay designed his first theatre for puppets as a child, and his first set for his high school class production of Pride and Prejudice in Wichita, Kansas. He earned his BA in civil engineering and architecture in 1952, and his MA in theater arts from Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

. He was a Fulbright Fellow in England and is the recipient of the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award. the Hollywood Drama-Logue Critics Award, the Portland, Oregon, Critics Circle Drammy Award, and was selected as the first recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology

United States Institute for Theatre Technology

The United States Institute for Theatre Technology is a membership organization which aims to advance the skills and knowledge of theatre, entertainment and performing arts professionals involved in the areas of design, production and technology, and to generally promote their interests...

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He has been listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in Entertainment, and Theatrical Designers: An International Biographical Dictionary. He has appeared in small roles in Henry IV, Part One, The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...

, Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, and possibly George Peele, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy, and is often seen as his attempt to emulate the violent and bloody revenge plays of his contemporaries, which were...

, and The Knight of the Burning Pestle

The Knight of the Burning Pestle

The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a play by Francis Beaumont, first performed in 1607 and first published in a quarto in 1613. It is notable as the first whole parody play in English...

. His work is summarized with illustrations in A Space for Magic: Stage Settings by Richard Hay.