About
Richard Kenyon
- Richard Kenyon is a director, producer, and acting coach whose work begins with the actor. For more than three decades, he has explored how language, breath, imagination, and proximity can make classical and contemporary theatre immediate and alive.
- His work is rooted in Shakespeare and classical theatre, but extends across contemporary plays, new work, and film. His directing style is actor-centered and minimalist, with a strong emphasis on text, storytelling, and the direct relationship between performer and audience. He is especially drawn to theatre-in-the-round, immersive performance, and productions that strip away unnecessary convention to bring audiences closer to the story.
- Richard has founded and led several theatre companies, including The Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare in the Mountains in Canada, and Soul In Bliss Theater in Los Angeles, where he serves as Artistic Director. Across these companies, he has directed more than 75 Shakespeare productions, launched new-play festivals, developed artists, and created outreach initiatives designed to make theatre more accessible.
- His classical work extends beyond Shakespeare and includes The Birth of Merlin by William Rowley, which he adapted and directed as part of his continuing interest in rediscovering rarely performed classical texts. He has a particular appreciation for the work of Bernard Shaw and Harley Granville-Barker, and has also directed for the 14/48 Festival, where original plays are written, rehearsed, and performed within 48 hours.
- As an acting coach, Richard has worked with performers at every stage of their careers, helping them develop confidence, vocal clarity, and a strong connection to classical and contemporary text. His approach is grounded in breath, voice, and the belief that heightened language should emerge from the individual actor rather than from an imposed idea of how classical theatre should sound.
- In 2025, Richard completed a lifelong goal of acting in, directing, and producing every play in Shakespeare’s First Folio. That same year, he created, adapted, and directed Wars of the Roses, a one-day marathon of all eight of Shakespeare’s history plays presented as hour-long staged readings.
- Richard has also directed and produced award-nominated films, including Insomniac and A Girl’s Guide to Drowning. Across stage, screen, teaching, and rehearsal, his work is driven by collaboration, curiosity, and a belief in the actor’s ability to make great stories immediate, personal, and human.