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Thomas Campbell

Thomas Campbell

Associate Professor
(920) 465-2735
campbelt@uwgb.edu
TH 331G
Theatre & Dance

Education

Ph.D. in Speech Communications/Theatre - Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2013) 
M.F.A. in Playwriting - Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2007)
B.F.A. in Playwriting/Directing - University of Wyoming (2003)

Biography

Originally from the Denver area, Thomas is a published playwright and theatre scholar. Thomas earned his B.F.A. in playwriting/directing from the University of Wyoming (2003), his M.F.A. in playwriting from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2007), and his Ph.D. in Speech Communication/Theatre (also from SIUC, 2013) where he specialized in dramaturgical studies. His research focuses on depictions/portrayals of alcohol abuse/dependency on the American stage and how plays can subvert stigmas and stereotypes associated with alcoholism. In 2013, he became the director of University Theatre, the theatre program at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus, where he was the producer and stage director of 17 productions from 2013 through 2020. As a dramaturg, he has worked on everything from Shakespeare, to new works, to the avant-garde, to modernist plays. As a playwright, his work has been seen throughout the country including Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, the HB Studio in New York City, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and with Taffety Punk at CHAW in Washington D.C. He has experience writing in various forms of theatre from traditional realism to language-based playwriting to works steeped in performance studies methodologies such as autoethnography and adaptation. Some of his playwriting credits include The Bearer of Bad News (1999), The Four Horsemen (2000), Moon Garden (2002), American Shih-Tzu (2003), Paralysis (2005), Awkward Silence (2006), The Highwayman (2007), dREAMtRIPPIN’ (2007), Risata, Sciocco… Risata! (2011), Descartes à la Mode (2014), One Step Up (2017), and Faithfall (2020).

Awards

  • 2018 Arthur M. Kaplan Award for Outstanding Teaching – UW Colleges; Sheboygan Campus
  • 2016 Teacher of the Year – University of Wisconsin -Sheboygan Campus
  • 2013 Best Long Play – Christian H. Moe Playwriting Contest for Descartes à la Mode
  • 2012 Best New Work – Archie Award, Southern Illinois University Carbondale for Risata, Sciocco… Risata!

Publications
  • dREAMtRIPPIN’ (one-act play). Featured in Conceptualizing New Plays: Studies in Theatre Concepts, Forms, and Styles (ed. Scott Irelan and Anne Fletcher -Cognella, Inc., 2018) 
  • "Plenty to do with a theatre degree.” (guest column) Sheboygan Press 28 Sept. 2016.
  • “Performing Politics: ‘Southern Actor’ John Wilkes Booth” (Book Chapter). Featured in Enacting Nationhood: Identity, Ideology and the Theatre, 1855-99 (ed. Scott Irelan - Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014).
  • BLIND DATE (10-Minute Play). Featured in Naked Playwriting (William Missouri Downs and Robin Russin - Silman-James Press, 2004).

Affiliaions
  • Member, Dramatists Guild of America
  • Member, Mid-America Theatre Conference
  • Member of Board of Directors, Mental Health America-Sheboygan County

Classes Taught
  • Playwriting
  • Script Analysis
  • Dramaturgy
  • Intro to Theatre
  • World Theatre & Performance