Marshall W. Mason

Award-Winning Stage Director Marshall Mason Conducts Workshops for Texas Wesleyan Students

      The theatre arts program at Texas Wesleyan University strengthened its ties with Broadway in October when award-winning stage director Marshall Mason spent Fall Break Weekend on the Welseyan campus for three days of workshops.

      Mason has been named one of the 21 most influential and innovative directors of the twentieth century. He has four Tony Award nominations for directing, and has won six Obie awards for his off-Broadway work.

       He has received more than two dozen Tony nominations.

      The Amarillo native is perhaps best known for his 40-year collaboration with playwright Lanford Wilson on plays such as Fifth of July, Angels Fall and Hot L Baltimore.

      Mason is right at home on a college campus; he is professor emeritus in the theatre department at Arizona State University, where he taught for 11 years.   His workshop will run Oct. 5-7. The morning sessions will be open to the public and the afternoon sessions will be with students only.

       Mason is well known for working closely with his actors. He is credited with enhancing the careers of actors such as William Hurt, Jeff Daniels, and Kathy Bates, to name a few.

       Texas Wesleyan students have already had a significant dose of New York City’s theater district. In May, they performed The Body of Eva Peron, a play written by Texas Wesleyan alumni Angela Gant and W.L. Bryan.

        The trip, and performance, were part of the university’s Playmarket program, an annual showcase for original works by Wesleyan students and alumni.

        The play was presented at 37 ARTS, a state-of-the-art theatre complex located in midtown Manhattan.