THE KENTUCKY CYCLE
Director Lavinia Hart Biography

LAVINIA HART has enjoyed a thirty-year career as a professional actress, director, artistic director and teacher. Currently she is the Director of the MFA Acting Program at Wayne State University where her students also perform seven shows in repertory rotation: a season of classical and contemporary plays.

Outside the department, she directs regularly for the Hilberry Theatre’s summer production of a nationally recognized children’s play. Her production of Charlotte’s Web opened on June 23, 2004 to sold out houses. In addition to teaching and directing for Wayne State University, Ms. Hart looks forward to the challenge of regularly directing at local and regional theatres.

In the 2004 – 2005 season she will be directing for the Jewish Ensemble Theatre.

In recent years she directed Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile for Meadowbrook Theatre, Michigan’s only LORT theatre, during their 2001 season. Earlier that same season, she collaborated with artists at The Performance Network on a world premiere play by a Michigan playwright. In this case she acted the title role in Kim Carney’s new comedy Maggie Rose.

In 1998 Lavinia returned home to Detroit after teaching acting and directing for three years in Minnesota at St. Olaf College. Prior to her teaching career, she was the Artistic Director of the Attic Theatre in Detroit for 19 years and has acted, directed and produced more than 100 plays. During that time she was known as Lavinia Moyer and was a winner of the Detroit Free Press Lee Hills Distinguished Career award and named Michiganian of the Year by the Detroit News Magazine.

Her most recent directing project has been co-direction with Patricia Ansuini for For The Kentucky Cycle, Parts 1 and 2, Ansuini and Hart won best directors and best play of the 2003 – 2004 season, awarded by The Oakland Press. Other recent directing projects that are favorites of Ms. Hart include It’s A Wonderful Life, Sweet Charity, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear.