Adventures in Dramaturgy

The (un-)Usual Suspects (l-r):
William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby; Queen Elizabeth; Christopher Marlowe; Sir Francis Bacon; Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford; and William Shakespeare of Stratford.

About Thomas Canfield

Dr. Thomas Canfield has a Ph.D. in English, with a specialization in Elizabethan drama, from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Currently, he is pursuing a second master’s degree in Theatre at UMKC, where he has been the dramaturg for productions of The Country Wife, Great Expectations, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

At the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, he has contributed to productions of King Lear, Gee’s Bend, The Drawer Boy, and Death of a Salesman.

In eight seasons as Dramaturg in Residence for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, he has contributed to summer productions of Romeo and Juliet, Othello, The Merry Wives of Windsor, King Richard III, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and As You Like It. He also is working on the 2014 production of The Winter's Tale.

Most recently, he presented a lecture on on representations of As You Like It in graphic and performance art at the Kansas City Public Library, and presented a Show Talk at the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. Currently, Dr. Canfield is writing a history of the first Equity playhouse in Kansas City, the Circle theatre, which was located in Union Station from 1962-67.

Dr. Canfield teaches Shakespeare and Foundations of Theatre at UMKC, first-year writing seminars at Park University, and is a professor of English and Humanities at National American University. In his spare time, he is a writer and reviewer for KC Stage magazine. He also has been a new script reader for for the Unicorn Theatre and an adjudicator for the Blue Star program through Kansas City's Starlight Theatre.

Adventures in Dramaturgy

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About Thomas Canfield

The Circle Theatre (1962-67)