Tony Penna
Associate Professor of Theatre
Contact
Department of Performing Arts
Office: 219 Brooks
Phone: 864-656-6961
Email: tpenna@clemson.edu
Education
MFA, Boston University; BA, Hanover College
Courses
Stage Management, Stage Lighting, Theatre Appreciation
Professor Tony Penna is an associate professor of theatre in the Department of Performing Arts and comes to Clemson University after serving as the Resident Lighting Designer at Actors Theatre of Louisville (ATL) for four years. While there, he designed the lighting for over 50 plays and musicals, as well as 16 new plays in the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Favorite designs at ATL include Ain’t Misbehavin’, directed by Gerry McIntyre, Macbeth, directed by Marc Masterson, Amadeus, directed by Kate Whoriskey, and Dracula, directed by Bill McNulty.
Prof. Penna’s work on Macbeth was exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial in 2003 and was displayed at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology conference in 2004. Other design credits during his time at ATL include Blues for an Alabama Sky at the Berkshire Theatre Festival and The Drawer Boy at Cincinnati Playhouse. In New York, collaborations with the Eleventh Hour Theatre Company include Richard II, performed at the HERE Arts Center, and the set and lighting designs for The Brothers Karamazov parts 1 and 2, presented at The Culture Project and La MaMa Annex, respectively. Future New York projects include the set and lighting designs for Twelfth Night and a festival of ten-minutes plays.
Prof. Penna earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, under the guidance of Dr. Tom Evans. Professor Penna has maintained a close artistic relationship with the Hanover College Theatre, teaching set and lighting design, as well as stagecraft courses.
After working in various professional theatres as an electrician, Professor Penna earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Boston University, where he taught lighting design and computer drafting. He also designed lighting for several Boston University Theatre and Boston University Opera Institute productions. While at BU, Professor Penna worked with such lighting designers as Kenneth Posner, Nancy Schertler, and Tom Sturge. Professor Penna is a member of United Scenic Artists
