harriganPeter Harrigan
Associate Professor
pharrigan@smcvt.edu
802.654.2268
MFA in Directing, University of Pittsburgh, 1986
BA in Drama and English, Saint Michael’s College, 1983

Areas of Specialty
Acting, Directing, Costume Design

Courses Taught
Introduction to Theatre, Oral Interpretation of Literature, Principles of Speech, Chief Patterns of Western Theatre II, 20th Century Fine Arts, Senior Seminar in Fine Arts, First Year Seminar: Defining Self and Community  (1996, 1997), First Year Seminar: Peace and Justice  (2001, 2002), Principles of Stage Costuming, Acting – 2 levels, Directing - 2 levels, Directed Studies - Costume Design, Costume Construction, Stage Management, Directing, and Dramaturgy

Professional Affiliations
Organizations: Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Theatre Communications Group (TCG)

Recent Work (Scholarship and Creative)

  • Playwrights Horizons, NYC: Fabulation (assistant to Lynn Nottage)
  • Actors Theatre of Louisville: Amadeus (assistant to Kate Whoriskey)
  • Directing – Professional: Saint Michael's Playhouse: the Boys Next Door; Lend Me a Tenor; Grease; the Mystery of Irma Vep; the Fantasticks; Beau Jest; the Unexpected Guest; I Hate Hamlet. Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh, PA.: Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet (U. S. Premiere)
  • Directing – Academic: Saint Michael's College, Fine Arts Department: Woyzeck (11/05); JB; Museum; And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, Picasso at the Lapin Agile; Tartuffe; Top Girls; Hamlet; the Illusion*; Mad Forest; Company; Execution of Justice
    *Alternate for American College Theatre Festival
  • Costume Design: Over fifty productions in professional and academic venues – some recent designs include Blithe Spirit, Once on this Island, the Bacchae, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
  • Co-Author: Introduction to Performance (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing), currently in its third edition.

Brief Bio
A 1983 Saint Michael’s College graduate, Peter is an Associate Professor of Theatre, and has directed many College theatre productions including Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Tartuffe, Hamlet, and Execution of Justice. He also designed the costumes for these and many other productions. In 2002, Peter led students on a two-month research and rehearsal process for And Then They Came For Me: Remembering The World of Anne Frank that included a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. During his recent sabbatical, Peter visited many professional theatres including the Guthrie Theater and the Jungle Theater (Mpls.), The Cleveland Playhouse, Missouri Rep, Actors Theatre of Luisville and Playwrights Horizons (NYC), and has been thrilled to share the insights he gained with his students. In addition to his professional work with Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Peter directed and designed at many Pittsburgh area theatres prior to his return to Vermont in 1991.

Pithy Quote
“We become just by doing just actions, temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave actions.” (Aristotle)