Professor Emeritus of Acting
What I Do at SSU
As Director of the Acting Program, I teach Theatre History, Acting Fundamentals, Text and Scene Study, Characterization, I teach Shakespeare, Ant-Realism, Comedy and the Directing Workshop. One of my favorite activities in the department is directing productions in our season of performances. I enjoy advising all acting majors and minors as well.
My Bio
Paul Draper is Professor of Theatre Arts and Director of the Acting Program. From 2005-2012 served as the chair of the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance and from 2013-2018 he was Sonoma State University’s first Director of Sustainability. Previously he served as resident director with the Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis and has taught at the Universities of Tennessee and Minnesota where he has been a Guest Artist with the University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theatre BFA Acting Program. Professor. Draper is a member and past Vice President for Advocacy of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE.) Draper holds a MFA in Directing from Columbia University (NY) and a BSS Theatre Studies and Acting from Northwestern University.
Directing credits include: Woyzeck, Hamlet, Orchard Development (a dance/theatre piece based on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, co-directed with Kristen Daley), She Kills Monsters, Molière A-Go-Go, Up 'n Under, Shakers Re-stirred, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Rock 'n' Roll, The Imaginary Invalid, Romeo and Juliet, The Learned Ladies, Ring ‘Round the Moon, Big Love, Cabaret, Spring Awakening, Twelfth Night, Amadeus, Oleanna, She Loves Me, The Monkey King and Other Children’s Tales from Around the World, The Show-Off, Measure for Measure, Alfred Stieglitz Loves O'Keefe, Cymbeline, Voice of the Prairie, Shimmer, Talking With, The Swan, That Time, Force of Habit, and Marie and Bruce.