Peter Hackett

Peter Hackett is the Avalon Foundation Chair of the Humanities and Professor of Theater at Dartmouth College where he served as Chair of the Department from 2005-2011. In 2012, he received Dartmouth’s Scholarly Innovation and Advancement Award to support future creative projects.

From 1994 – 2004, Mr. Hackett served as Artistic Director of The Cleveland Play House. During his tenure, he instituted several innovative artistic programs including the Associate Artists Program, The Next Stage Festival of New Plays, and the Professional Actor Training Program in partnership with Case Western Reserve University. Of the over 80 plays he produced at the Play House, six moved to Broadway and off-Broadway theaters earning national distinctions including Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations and the AT&T On-Stage and Obie awards.

In addition to over twenty productions at the Play House, Mr. Hackett has directed at professional theaters across the country and abroad including the Denver Center Theater, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the GeVa Theater, the Lyric Stage Dallas, the Commonweal Theater, The Cape Rep, the New London Barn Playhouse and the National Theater, Miskolc, Hungary.

From 1980-88, he was a member of the Tony Award-winning Denver Center Theater Company, serving variously as Acting Artistic Director, Associate Artistic Director for New Play Development, and Director of the National Theater Conservatory.

Mr. Hackett has taught at the National Theater Conservatory, Catholic University, The Professional Theater Training Program at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the Academy for the Performing Arts in Prague. He has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and AT&T OnStage and as a consultant for the theater programs at Georgetown University and Williams College.