Laura Hope

Assistant Professor

B.F.A., University of Colorado-Boulder; M.A., San Francisco State University; Ph.D., University of California-Davis

Dr. Hope has a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a M.A. in Drama from San Francisco State University; and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California, Davis.

Laura served as the Resident Dramaturg at the California Shakespeare Theatre, dramaturging productions of Restoration Comedy by Amy Freed, directed by Sharon Ott, The Merchant of Venice directed by Daniel Fish, As You Like It, directed by Jonathan Moscone, Richard III directed by Mark Rucker, and George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, directed by Jonathan Moscone.

For over six seasons, Laura worked at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco where she was the Literary Manager and Festival Director, producing numerous new play festivals including, A Festival of Irish Women Playwrights, Playwrights in Danger, A Festival of Lesbian Playwrights, Plays at the Border, and Science on Stage.

As an Associate Artist with Golden Thread Productions, she directed and helped choose scripts for the annual ReOrient festival, focusing on plays from or concerning the Middle East.

Laura co-founded the award-winning  Shee Theatre Company in San Francisco, devoted to developing women artists for the theatre, and has worked with the Bay Area Playwrights Foundation as an actor, literary manager,  associate producer, and dramaturg.

She performed with numerous companies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including Magic Theatre, The Shee Theatre Company, Crowded Fire, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, TheatreWorks, and the San Francisco Playhouse, and received a Dean Goodman Choice Award as Best Actress for her performance in the title role of Augustine (Big Hysteria) by Anna Furse, directed by Virginia Reed, produced by The Shee Theatre Company.

Laura taught Theatre History and Literature, and Shakespeare at both the graduate and undergraduate levels at San Francisco State University for three years before coming to Loyola in Fall 2007. She is working on a book about nationalism and performance in Ireland and Germany.

 

Office: MA 303
Office phone: 504-865-3586
E-mail: llhope@loyno.edu