Speaker Bio

Eric Nightengale served as artistic director of 78th Street Theatre Lab in New York City from 1995 thru 2008, directing over 50 productions and overseeing the development of countless others. Other New York directing credits include work with Circle Repertory Theatre, The Acting Company, Circle in the Square, The River Ensemble, Ensemble Studio Theatre, HERE, and Classic Stage Company.

Eric has served as Artistic Director for Anchorage Theatre in Louisville, Zone 9 Productions in Indianapolis, and Actors Repertory Theatre in Chicago. Chicago directing credits also include work with Victory Gardens Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists Workshop, the Broadway Arts Center, and Second City. He has served as Associate Artistic Director for the Developing Artists Series at the Drama League of New York and developed work at the New Harmony Project and the Last Frontier Theatre Conference. He has guest directed at universities including Indiana University, Brooklyn College, Towsen University, Evansville University, and St. Johns University, among others.

Radio drama credits include work broadcast nationally over NPR affiliate stations, and in the UK over BBC channel 4. He has worked as a teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute, Theatre Development Fund, and as an adjunct professor at Brooklyn College and Towsen University. His work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has resulted in three Fringe First awards, eight published scripts, four adaptations for BBC radio, a Best Ensemble award, and a London transfer. Recent work includes, The Frog Singer, an electro-luminescent-wire puppet play, and The Natasha Plays, currently performing in Bratislava, Slovakia and Varna, Bulgaria.