Hank Boland Named New Artistic Director of Strawdog Theatre Company

Strawdog Theatre Company and Board President Seth Rickard announce, that effective immediately, Hank Boland is to assume the role of artistic director of Strawdog Theater Company. Boland has been acting as interim artistic director since fall 2012.

Rickard said, "It is with pleasure that the Board announces that beginning July 1, 2014, Hank Boland transitioned from interim artistic director to artistic director of Strawdog Theatre Company. The Board would like to thank Hank for his dedication, courage, and artistic leadership over the past year and a half. During his interim period, Hank guided Strawdog through successful production seasons, the expansion of Hugen Hall performances, increased the staff as well as implemented initiatives that continue to establish Strawdog as a leader on the Chicago scene. We are confident that with Hank at the helm we will continue to be impressed with his leadership, vision and actions."

Boland added, "I have been lucky to call Strawdog my artistic home for ten years, and I am honored to carry on the traditions and champion the values of the company while exploring the possibilities of the future. Strawdog has a twenty-seven year history of providing a home to countless Chicago theatre makers and continues to grow a fiercely loyal audience base. I look forward to working with Stawdog as we invite audiences into our home and spend time together with them sharing the experience of community through theatre."

Boland was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin, raised in Pensacola, Florida and has lived in Chicago since 1990. He attended Florida State University, Pensacola Junior College, has a Bachelor's Degree in Film from Columbia College Chicago and recently received his MFA in Playwriting through Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. He teaches screenwriting at Columbia College Chicago.

Boland's work with Strawdog includes Season Seventeen's epic musical The True Ballad of Fall's Blessings, written in collaboration with Strawdog Theatre Company, which premiered in 2005 and was directed by Nic Dimond. Additionally he contributed "The Adventures of the Glenwood Springs Kid: The War Mask of El Dorado," directed by Gregor Mortis, to Season Eighteen's Wireless Program Four. In Season Nineteen he was the author of Strawdog Radio Theatre Six: A Many-Splendored Thing, directed by Jennifer Avery. Strawdog ensemble. In 2006, Boland was asked to develop and oversee the Strawdog Ensemble Writing Initiative, more modestly known as The Hit Factory! In 2008,he was asked to join the He held the position of managing director at Strawdog from 2009-2011. He is also the director of Strawdog's popular late night offering THEATRE WARS!