DOUG SCHUTTE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Schutte (he really doesn't like the name Doug) just began his 11th season as Artistic Director of Bard Theatre. Since that first performance of "Chasing Ophelia" May 8, 2011, Schutte and the Bard Theatre team have been busy.
21 World Premiere Plays. 71 World Premiere Ten-Minute Plays (80 Total) by 51 Kentucky Playwrights...many first-time playwrights (Schutte is pretty proud of that). 35 Productions of Full-Length Plays by KY Playwrights. More than 400 Weeks of Theatre. Produced the most live theatre, the most comedy performances, and the most improv in the entire state since 2010. More plays written by women than any other theatre in the state. Hired more women as directors for full-length mainstage shows than any other theatre in the state--25% first time directors! (Also proud of that).
21 World Premiere Plays. 71 World Premiere Ten-Minute Plays (80 Total) by 51 Kentucky Playwrights...many first-time playwrights (Schutte is pretty proud of that). 35 Productions of Full-Length Plays by KY Playwrights. More than 400 Weeks of Theatre. Produced the most live theatre, the most comedy performances, and the most improv in the entire state since 2010. More plays written by women than any other theatre in the state. Hired more women as directors for full-length mainstage shows than any other theatre in the state--25% first time directors! (Also proud of that).
Schutte has always been an inclusive theatre artist. His plays typically pull in audiences who don't typically attend the theatre, which is, to him, the greatest compliment. His directing style is also inclusive and collaborative, letting the actor do their work, Schutte helping to navigate the journey for the whole. Sometimes he wonders if some theatre professionals just think he doesn't know what to do. When he first began stealing as much of the brilliance as he could from Glynn MacDonald at Shakespeare's Globe, it was almost embarrassing how much he wanted to make sure theatre people with "status" believed him to be knowledgable and capable. Now? He wonders why he ever pined so much for the approval of the theatre clique. They even try to show how much smarters and artistic they are in their bios, mostly so you won't object when they cling to power. They'll steal your spark. Pay them no mind.
As COVID changed the plans of the world, Schutte can't say for sure...but his plan is to cultivate the 2022 season, line up the production teams for the year, and then hand the reins over to an Artistic Director/Executive Director team, so he can go off in search of the next journey. Maybe he'll just write. Maybe he will just spend his days continuing to try to provide platforms for new and marginalized voices--but in a new challenge. Maybe he will just try to keep theatre from losing its soul in the hands of those who converse in only one direction.
Schutte's two main careers have been in theatre and football, which he thinks is pretty cool. (The exclusive crowd doesn't agree). Playwright. Director. Actor. Designer. Casting Director. Whatever he can do.
He served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Theatre Association beginning 2006, during which time he honored with a City of Louisville Ambassador Award, and a Recovery Grant Award via the KY Arts Council.
Schutte's most beloved theatre experience is a tie between his time spent as a Treadwell Fellow at Shakespeare's Globe in London (where his love of theatre was reawakened) and all of his time as a writer spent with wonderfully unpredictable characters.
Schutte focuses mainly on movement as the foundation of both character creation and play production. Utilizing Laban's "Efforts" and the Elements and Archetypes bestowed upon his by The Globe's incredible Master of Movement Glynn MacDonald, and combining these with his own "T.A.G" methodology of line interpretation linked with movement, Schutte simply loves delving into the creative process. 10 years at Bard Theatre has afforded him a charmed life getting to explore the world he adores. And he has done so for a decade, creating and providing an environment that allow all of the Bard's artists to shine.
Schutte has been featured as a cover story for both LEO Weekly and The Courier Journal, as well as featured in Louisville Magazine Front Pages, and was called a "pun genius" by either TRAVEL AND LEISURE or BON APPETIT.
Directing credits include A Bright New Boise, Rapture Blister Burn, Reasons to Be Pretty, The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence, The Kings of Christmas, Greater Tuna, Bethany, and All the Answers. He's also serves as Festival Director for each of the Ten-Tucky Festivals.
Acting credits include Chasing Ophelia, The Kings of Christmas, Misses Strata, Just Like Life, Love Religiously, A Bright New Boise, Rapture Blister Burn, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Reasons to Be Pretty, Bethany, All the Answers, Nightstalker & Canary.
His writing credits include produced full-length plays Chasing Ophelia, The Kings of Christmas, Misses Strata, Misses Strata Returns, Just Like Life, his full-length one-man shows It's (Still) a Wonderful Life and Mostron: The Absolute Moron's Guide to Being an Absolute Moron, and his produced short plays include Love Religiously, Stained Glass, Whistler's Mother, and The Ward of the Wings.
Schutte wanted to end with: "Challenge yourself. Grow yourself. But don't focus on yourself so much you don't see anyone around you. People who say work hard, play hard clearly don't know how to work or play properly or are in the wrong industries. Stand for what is right, because it's right. But remember that you're wrong a lot. If someone ever says META three times in a conversation with you, run."
As COVID changed the plans of the world, Schutte can't say for sure...but his plan is to cultivate the 2022 season, line up the production teams for the year, and then hand the reins over to an Artistic Director/Executive Director team, so he can go off in search of the next journey. Maybe he'll just write. Maybe he will just spend his days continuing to try to provide platforms for new and marginalized voices--but in a new challenge. Maybe he will just try to keep theatre from losing its soul in the hands of those who converse in only one direction.
Schutte's two main careers have been in theatre and football, which he thinks is pretty cool. (The exclusive crowd doesn't agree). Playwright. Director. Actor. Designer. Casting Director. Whatever he can do.
He served as Executive Director of the Kentucky Theatre Association beginning 2006, during which time he honored with a City of Louisville Ambassador Award, and a Recovery Grant Award via the KY Arts Council.
Schutte's most beloved theatre experience is a tie between his time spent as a Treadwell Fellow at Shakespeare's Globe in London (where his love of theatre was reawakened) and all of his time as a writer spent with wonderfully unpredictable characters.
Schutte focuses mainly on movement as the foundation of both character creation and play production. Utilizing Laban's "Efforts" and the Elements and Archetypes bestowed upon his by The Globe's incredible Master of Movement Glynn MacDonald, and combining these with his own "T.A.G" methodology of line interpretation linked with movement, Schutte simply loves delving into the creative process. 10 years at Bard Theatre has afforded him a charmed life getting to explore the world he adores. And he has done so for a decade, creating and providing an environment that allow all of the Bard's artists to shine.
Schutte has been featured as a cover story for both LEO Weekly and The Courier Journal, as well as featured in Louisville Magazine Front Pages, and was called a "pun genius" by either TRAVEL AND LEISURE or BON APPETIT.
Directing credits include A Bright New Boise, Rapture Blister Burn, Reasons to Be Pretty, The Curious Case of the Watson Intelligence, The Kings of Christmas, Greater Tuna, Bethany, and All the Answers. He's also serves as Festival Director for each of the Ten-Tucky Festivals.
Acting credits include Chasing Ophelia, The Kings of Christmas, Misses Strata, Just Like Life, Love Religiously, A Bright New Boise, Rapture Blister Burn, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Reasons to Be Pretty, Bethany, All the Answers, Nightstalker & Canary.
His writing credits include produced full-length plays Chasing Ophelia, The Kings of Christmas, Misses Strata, Misses Strata Returns, Just Like Life, his full-length one-man shows It's (Still) a Wonderful Life and Mostron: The Absolute Moron's Guide to Being an Absolute Moron, and his produced short plays include Love Religiously, Stained Glass, Whistler's Mother, and The Ward of the Wings.
Schutte wanted to end with: "Challenge yourself. Grow yourself. But don't focus on yourself so much you don't see anyone around you. People who say work hard, play hard clearly don't know how to work or play properly or are in the wrong industries. Stand for what is right, because it's right. But remember that you're wrong a lot. If someone ever says META three times in a conversation with you, run."