Peter Lichtenfels has a long and internationally renowned reputation as a theatre director and artistic director, with directing credits ranging from new theatre (Michael Wilcox's Accounts ), to opera (Tom Stoppard's Every Good Boy Deserves Favour ), to musicals (Guys and Dolls), to main stage productions (The Crucible with Kevin Whateley, Summer and Smoke with Frances Barber and Neal Person). At first he directed primarily in Britain , becoming recognized as one of the most skillful dramaturges in English theatre, as well as performing an invaluable service as one of the sole promoters of new writing by new writers. His directing experience then expanded to continental Europe and North America , his most recent production being Sartre's The Flies for the Stratford Festival of Canada (2003). Peter ran the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh during the expansion years of the 1980s against the backdrop of resurgent Scottish nationalism, working with, among others, Robbie Coltrane, Tilda Swinton, and Simon Russell Beale. He moved on to become the Executive Director of the Leicester Haymarket, where he created an important international dance festival, a vibrant community theatre, a European base for experimental performance and groundbreaking main stage productions. Here he worked with, among others, writers such as Samuel Beckett, the actor Anthony Hopkins and composer Gavin Bryars. An accomplished teacher of acting and verse, Peter is also a critical writer and editor of a wide range of theatre commentary, particularly on the conditions of modern British and European theatre practice. He has just co-edited the Arden Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet (2004), written a theatre commentary on The Merchant of Venice , and several articles on Shakespeare and the stage. For the last four years he has developed an exciting working relationship with the London Shakespeare's Globe theatre, looking at a variety of issues to do with voice, verse, staging and acting, on the Globe stage. He recently co-organized an international conference on the interface between theatre practitioners and critics, with the Globe, that included the directors Nicolas Hytner (The National Theatre), Gregory Doran (Royal Shakespeare Company), Calixto Bieto (Roma, Barcelona ), Annabel Arden (Theatre de Complicite) and Bradby, Maria Delgado and Margo Hendricks. This ability to build bridges between practice and criticism has become a hallmark of his work. As the co-editor of the series ‘Theatre: theory – practice – performance', he is developing a successful list of publications to open out and deepen the field of theatre and performance studies. Coming to Davis in 2003, he is best known on campus for his directorial work as a returning Granada Artist-in-Residence on Plastic Rose, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream.