by Rachel Williams
Actor and guest lecturer Bill Bowers will return to the University of West Georgia on January 6 for a five-week residency. During his residency, Bill will direct the upcoming UWG Theatre production of Snapshot, a dramatic anthology created for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival of New Plays. Snapshot is a series of scenes based on the famous Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, 1969 photo by Lee Friedlander. The show will run February 12-16 at the Townsend Center for Performing Arts. This will be the second show Bill has directed at UWG; in 2008, he directed a rambunctious production of Moliere’s Scapin.
"This fresh, utterly original and brilliantly skilled performer evokes new depths from his art form,” says playwright John Pielemeier. “In fact, he enlarges it. The heights he reaches bring us into different and unexpected worlds."
In addition to many years of experience as an actor and mime, Bill has performed in all 50 states, in Canada and in Europe. He has performed on Broadway as Zazu in Disney’s The Lion King and Leggett in The Scarlet Pimpernel, among other roles. Off broadway, he has also written and performed in his own original shows It Goes Without Saying, Beyond Words and Under a Montana Moon, to critical acclaim. Last summer, Bill received five-star reviews for his performances in the Edinburgh Fringe, the world’s largest theater festival.
Bill holds an MFA from Rutgers University and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Rocky Mountain College, where he received his undergraduate degree. He has presented master classes, residencies and performances at UWG, Harvard, Princeton, New York University, UCLA and numerous other major professional actor training programs.
