Who is the head of the University of Illinois Theatre Department
The College of Fine and Applied Arts is pleased to announce that Andrew (Drew) Friedman has been selected as the next head of the Department of Theatre. His appointment will begin August 16, 2026, pending approval by the Board of Trustees.
Friedman joins the University of Illinois following three decades of work in theatre and nearly two decades of experience teaching in higher education. He was a founding member and co-artistic director of Riot Group (1998–2012), an internationally celebrated theatre collective with which he created nine original works that toured throughout the United States and Europe. As an artist, he has collaborated with numerous theatre companies, including Applied Mechanics, New Paradise Laboratories, SHUNT, and Pig Iron Theatre Company.
His research focuses on theatrical provocation and experimentation, as well as the relationship between modernism and contemporary performance. The author of more than thirty essays and articles, Friedman’s scholarship has appeared in leading journals and has been translated into multiple languages. He is the author of Ibsen Apocalypse: Vegard Vinge and Ida Müller Six-Hundred-Year Mission to Raise the Ghosts of Modernity (Northwestern University Press) and co-editor of Theatre Things: Material Theories and Histories (University of Michigan Press). His honors include participation in the 2015 Mellon School of Theatre and Performance Research at Harvard University and recognition as a 2023 National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Fellow.
Friedman earned his PhD in Theatre and Performance from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and his BA from Sarah Lawrence College. Most recently, he served as associate dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ball State University and associate professor of Theatre History in the Department of Theatre and Dance, where he also held roles as dramaturgy supervisor and Theatre Creation option coordinator.
The college extends its gratitude to the search committee for its thoughtful work throughout the process, as well as to the many faculty, staff, and students who contributed by attending presentations and providing feedback. Special thanks are also extended to Valleri Robinson for her exceptional leadership as department head and to J.W. Morrissette for his service in providing interim leadership during this transition.
Please join us in welcoming Drew Friedman to his new role as head of the Department of Theatre.
