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Flatwater Shakespeare Welcomes Aaron Sawyer as New Executive Artistic Director

Flatwater Shakespeare Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Sawyer as its new Executive Artistic Director. Aaron brings decades of leadership and experience in nonprofit and commercial theater to the role as a visionary theatermaker, educator, and director.

The majority of Aaron Sawyer’s work in the arts was based in Chicago, where he built a reputation for creating bold, innovative, and accessible theater. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Red Theater, Aaron led a high-energy performance company that established collectives in Lincoln, Omaha, and Chicago. In Chicago alone, he produced over twenty productions, including several groundbreaking works that integrated American Sign Language- the most celebrated of which was a twice-extended production of Romeo and Juliet featuring d/Deaf cast and production members. Under Aaron’s leadership, Red Theater also created Chicago’s Unified Accessibility Auditions—an unprecedented platform that opened doors for d/Deaf and disabled actors throughout the region. His productions garnered numerous accolades, nominations, and multiple Jeff Awards. More about Aaron here.

Stephen (Steve) Buhler, Co-Founder and Resident Scholar

Stephen served as Education Director of the Flatwater Shakespeare Company for our first two decades and is now our Resident Scholar. He is also the Aaron Douglas Professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has served as dramaturg for nearly all of Flatwater Shakespeare's productions and as humanities adviser for Flatwater Shakespeare's youth programs. He is the author of Shakespeare in the Cinema: Ocular Proof and was the 2015 recipient of the City of Lincoln Mayor's Arts Award for Artistic Achievement – Literary Arts.

Bob Hall, Co-Founder and Former Artistic Director

Bob Hall graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a Master of Arts in Theatre in 1969 and for the next 24 years worked in New York City as a theatre director. He is also a published playwright, with his co-adaptation of Dracula running off-Broadway for two years. He was the Artistic Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre from 1987 to 1992, and relocated to Lincoln in 1997. He has been a comic book artist and writer since 1975, working for Marvel, DC, and Valiant. Most recently, he has shown his artwork at the Iron Tail and Eisentrager/Howard Galleries. He is founder and artistic director of the Flatwater Shakespeare Company. He is married to Paula Ray.