John Devlin Professor of Fine Arts: Theatre, Resident Designer and Technical Director

John Devlin

Programs

Bio

MFA in Design, Syracuse University
MA in American History, Syracuse University
BA, cum laude History and Communication Arts/Theatre, Allegheny College
Deerfield Academy

Areas of Expertise:

Lighting Design
Production Management
Properties Construction
Scenic Design
Stage Management
Technical Direction
Theatre History

Half-Courses I Teach:

TH101 Life in the Theatre (taught in rotation every other Fall)
TH161 Scenery/Paint/Lighting Lab (offered three times in four semesters) CC Arts and Literature
TH163 Scenery/Paint/Lighting/Run Crew Lab (offered every semester) CC Arts and Literature
TH303 Modern and Contemporary Theatre (offered odd-year Falls)

Full Courses I Teach:

TH209 Stagecrafts (offered odd-year Springs) CC Arts and Literature
TH301 Theatre History from Aeschylus to Zannis (offered even-year Spring) CC Arts and Literature
TH331 Scene Design (offered odd-year Fall)
TH341 Lighting Design (offered even-year Fall)

Research

Professional Affiliations

  • Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival: National Executive Committee Design, Technology and Management Member-at-Large; Immediate Past Co-Chair for Region; Past Financial Director for Region; Member of the Regional Selection Team; past Co-Chair for Design, Technology and Management
  • 2017, 2018 Reader for 10-Minute Play submissions
  • 2016 Reader of 52 Tiny Plays Challenge for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Irish Festival and John F. Kennedy Centennial celebration
  • United States Institute for Theatre Technology – national and regional membership
  • National Adjudicator for USITT Scene Design Award sponsored by Rose Brand, 2014
  • National Partners of the American Theater
  • Artistic Associate of Vermont Stage since 2003
  • Theatre Communications Group

Quoted at length in Showcase, Second Edition by Rafael Jaen (Boston: Focal Press, 2012).

Productions:

I have been involved in 428 productions (271 professional and 157 academic). My professional work has been seen with the following companies:

  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse
  • Black Hills Playhouse
  • Lost Nation Theatre
  • Moonbox Productions
  • Vermont Stage
  • Rogue Dance Company
  • Champlain Quadrennial Festival
  • Milwaukee Chamber Theater
  • Northern Stage (White River Junction)
  • Milwaukee Repertory Theater
  • Syracuse Stage
  • First Stage Milwaukee
  •  Pine Mountain Music Festival
  • Northern Stage (Milwaukee summer theatre)
  • Skylight Opera Theatre
  • Et toi, tu dances?
  • Milwaukee Ballet

Among my credits, I have 62 professional scenic designs; 52 professional lighting designs; 70 professional production management or stage management credits and 44 professional technical direction credits.

Recent Theatrical Work Includes:

  • Moonbox Productions (Boston) Scenic Design for Twelfth Night and Shipwrecked! Fall 2018
  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse Scenic and Light Design for See How They Run summer 2018
  • Lost Nation Theater Scenic Design for Silent Sky spring 2018
  • Moonbox Productions Scenic Design for The 39 Steps Fall 2017
  • Black Hills Playhouse Scenic Design for Unnecessary Farce summer 2017
  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse Technical Director summer 2017
  • Lost Nation Theater Lighting Design for Judevine spring 2017
  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse Lighting Design for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner summer 2016
  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse Scenic Design for Sister Act summer 2016
  • Saint Michael’s Playhouse Scenic Design and Lighting Design for Woody Guthrie’s American Song summer 2015
  • Moonbox Productions Scenic Design for Barefoot in the Park Fall 2015
  • Moonbox Productions Scenic Design for Kimberly Akimbo Spring 2015
  • Artistic Associate of Vermont Stage 2002-present  (35 productions, 21 designs)
  • Resident Designer and Technical Director for Saint Michael’s Department of Fine Arts 2001-present (38 productions, 62 designs)
  • Scenic and Lighting design for Past is Present, the Theatre of Tennessee Williams fall 2018
  • Lighting design for Fuddy Meers spring 2018
  • Scenic and Lighting design for Mill Girls fall 2017
  • Scenic, and Lighting design for The Arsonists spring 2017
  • KCACTF Regional Officer 2004-present
  • KCACTF Respondent (41 shows in the region and 10 outside the region)
  • Past Co-Chair of Design, Technology and Management

Awards & Recognition

2018
Promoted to Full Professor of Fine Arts

2018
KCACTF Region I Gold Medallion Recipient for service to the region for a second time
The citation reads in part:
Each year, the eight KCACTF regions honor individuals or organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Most importantly, recipients have demonstrated a strong commitment to the values and goals of KCACTF and to excellence in educational theatre. It is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF and is considered one of the great honors in theatre education.

2017
Boston Theater Critics Association 36th Annual Elliot Norton Awards nominee for outstanding production by a small company for THE 39 STEPS

2017
Elected to the National Executive Committee of KCACTF as the Design, Technology and Management Member-at-large

2016
Faculty Excellence in Scholarship and Artistic Achievement Award

2015
McCarthy Art Gallery Show “A Peek Behind the Curtain: The Scenic and Lighting Designs of John Paul Devlin 2001-2015”

2013-2014
Named Davis Fellow, Saint Michael’s College

2011
KCACTF Region I Certificate of Merit for Scenic Design of Crimes of the Heart

2010
KCACTF Region I Gold Medallion Recipient for service to the region
The citation reads in part:
Each year, the eight KCACTF regions honor individuals or organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Most importantly, recipients have demonstrated a strong commitment to the values and goals of KCACTF and to excellence in educational theatre. It is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF and is considered one of the great honors in theatre education.

2005
Named Artistic Associate of Vermont Stage Company

1998
KCACTF Region III Certificate of Merit for Scenic Design of The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket

1997
KCACTF Region III Certificate of Merit for Scenic Design of Hedda Gabler

1991
Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts Master’s Prize

1986
Allegheny College Departmental Honors, Theatre
Allegheny College Robert C. Wilson Theatre Award
Allegheny College Paul Henry and John V. Gilmore Prize in Theatre

Interview

My Saint Michael’s:
Over the last 18 years at Saint Michael’s and the previous seven years at Marquette University, I have had had the opportunity to work with many young theatre artists. I enjoy taking time to talk with them about all aspects of theatrical work…and beyond. I especially enjoy working with them in the scene shop during the academic year and through the summer as well.

As a theatre artist, I fully embrace “The Doctrine of Applied Sloth.” Students have heard me hold forth on finding safe, but easier ways of accomplishing projects for years. I owe the phrase to a slender book by Jan Adkins called Moving Heavy Things. Under this doctrine, the age-old stagehands adage applies: never lift what you can drag, never drag what you can roll and never roll what can be left alone. I call myself a lazy man because I’m always looking for simplified approaches to projects — I own that I am a workaholic who has averaged a show every 4.5 weeks for the last 37 years. That work would not be possible without the support of my wife, Carol, since 1989 and the understanding of my children Kat and Patrick.

In My Spare Time:
I enjoy building furniture, vegetable gardening, Sudoko puzzles, and reading history books and biographies or anything by Wendell Berry. Favorite films include Citizen Kane, Bladerunner, and The Outlaw Josie Wales. Go figure. I’ll listen to just about any music (at least once through), but prefers classic rock and pop from the 60s to today…with a twist of jazz and folk thrown in for variety. I currently am a regular reader and Eucharistic Minister at Mass at the Chapel of Saint Michael the Archangel on campus. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

Favorite Quote:
“To use gifts less than well is to dishonor them and their Giver. There is no material or subject in Creation that in using, we are excused from using well; there is no work in which we are excused from being able and responsible artists.” – Wendell Berry from “Christianity and the Survival of Creation”

Recent News

John Paul Devlin, Professor of Fine Arts, Theatre worked with Chuck Tobin, Saint Michael’s Playhouse Producing Artistic Director, to hire a company of 50 theatre artists who are bringing back professional theatre to the McCarthy Arts Center for the first time since 2019. Three shows are being presented this summer: INTO THE BREECHES!  by George Brant, THE MOUNTAINTOP by Katori Hall and DESPERATE MEASURES by Peter Kellogg and David Friedman. Devlin served as the Production Manager and Lead Covid Compliance officer for the company for the season and designed the lighting for DESPERATE MEASURES.
(posted July 2022)

Peter Harrigan of the fine arts/theater faculty during the fall semester directed the Mainstage play, the Irish-themed Dancing at Lughnasa,” overcoming many obstacles posed by the pandemic to make the show available to limited but enthusiastic audiences. Peter also joined a panel of faculty to discuss the Irish context of the play, including Biology Professor Declan McCabe, Religious Studies Professor James Byrne and President Lorraine Sterritt, all of whom grew up in Ireland. John Devlin of the fine arts/theater faculty, the set designer, also joined the discussion.
(posted February 2022)

John Devlin of the College’s Fine Arts/Theatre faculty this spring directed a production of Silent Sky, a historically-rooted play by the widely popular young American dramatist Lauren Gunderson based on the life of the pioneering astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt more than a century ago, as the Mainstage spring 2021 production. While the production will took place in McCarthy Arts Center Theatre as is traditional for Mainstage shows, the St. Mike’s campus remained closed to outside visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the play was streamed live on YouTube. Cast members wore masks in this play.
(posted July 2021)

John Devlin, professor of Fine Arts, theatre, is attending three of the eight Kennedy Center American College Theater Festivals this season in his capacity on the National Executive Committee as Design, Technology and Management member-at-large. In all three regions he is seeing invited productions and providing feedback for national recognition awards to the artistic director of the festival. In Madison, WI (Region Three) he responded to student allied craft exhibitions, portfolios and resumes and gave a workshop on resumes and cover letters for technical theatre. In Hyannis, MA (Region One) he will give his resume workshop again, see shows and present a workshop with Saint Michael’s students on the adaptation of The Summoning of Everyman which he directed last fall. In Abilene, TX at the end of February he will respond to student work and offer his resumes workshop again. In April he is off to Washington, DC for the National Festival for business meetings and to draw to a conclusion 16 years of voluntary leadership service in the region and nationally.
(posted February 2020)

John Devlin, professor of fine arts, theatre, designed scenery for Shipwrecked! and Twelfth Night which played in rotating rep for Moonbox Productions in Boston in November and December, 2018. He is the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Design, Technology and Management member-at-large. As such he attended three of the eight regional festivals in Sioux Falls, SD, Hyannis, MA and Eugene, OR in January and February. In Sioux Falls and Eugene he responded to student design work in scenery, lighting and sound design. In April he attended the KCACTF national festival in Washington, DC and participated in organizational meetings and watched the student nominees in scenery and sound design that he brought forward take home national awards. John offered a workshop on resumes in Eugene with Jane Childs from the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas. He also supported KCACTF Allied Craft regional winners at the United States Institute for Theatre Technology in Louisville, KY in March. Closer to home, John served as secretary to the faculty assembly and served on the Faculty Council this year, and was one of six members of the Dean of Faculty search committee.
(posted June 2019)

John Devlin, professor of fine arts/theater, accompanied 16 Saint Michael’s College students to the annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Danbury, CT, from January 30-February 4, 2018. John was awarded a Gold Medallion by the Region. The citation for this commendation reads in part: “each year the eight KCACTF regions honor individuals and organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry, and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Most importantly, recipients have demonstrated a strong commitment to the values and goals of KCACTF and to excellence in educational theatre. The Kennedy Center Medallion is the most prestigious regional award given by KCACTF and is considered one of the great honors in theatre education.”
(posted June 2018)

John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theatre, completed another season with the Saint Michael’s Playhouse, serving as Production Manager and Technical Director for all four shows.  John also designed the scenery for Murder for Two. Working with him this summer at the Playhouse were Saint Michael’s students Lauren Sousa ’18, Sage Fagbohun, ’20, Merissa Jansky 18, Justin Ranicar ’18, Beth Parsons ’20, and Caleb Roman ’20.  John also designed scenery for the Black Hills Playhouse production of Unnecessary Farce in South Dakota in July and scenery for Moonbox Productions’ The 39 Steps in Boston in November—assisted in painting by Kate Bell ’20. He also designed scenery and lighting for the department’s production of Mill Girls, assisted in the execution by members of TH161 and TH163 labs and four on-campus student employees. John participated in the annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival national executive board meetings in Las Vegas in July as the newly elected Design, Technology and Management member-at-large. As a KCACTF representative, John responded to the Johnson State College production of Antigone: Red Feed, Blue Feed in November.  In September, John delivered the faculty address at the academic convocation entitled “Stewardship and the Arts: Holding the Ladder for the Next Generation.”
(posted December 2017)

John Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theatre, designed scenery for Sister Act and lighting for Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? with the Saint Michael’s Playhouse. He was production manager for those two shows as well as Baskerville and Pete ‘n’ Keely.  Working with him this summer were Lauren Sousa ’18, Lindsey Baldwin ’17, Anna-Maria Forger ’17, Rissa Jansky ’18, Jenny Burke ’19, Jordan DeKett ’16, Richie Bernache ’16, Katelyn Whitman ’14, Alan Hefferon ’14 and Tracey Sullivan ’05.  John also designed lighting for the Lost Nation Theater production of Sylvia this fall.  And he collaborated with departmental colleague Cathy Hurst on the departmental production of Ophelia, designing scenery and lighting and supervising the construction of the set.
(posted November 2016)

John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theater, and Cathy Hurst, professor of fine Arts/theater, accompanied 18 Saint Michael’s College students to the regional Kennedy Center American Theater Festival at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT during the week of January 26 – January 31, 2016.  John is currently the Regional Co-Chair for KCACTF and Cathy is the Immediate Past Chair of the region. Four theater majors (Sean Morrissey ’16, Jordan DeKett ’16, Richie Bernache ‘16 and Josh Lacourse ‘18) participated with their scene partners (Emma Drennen ’19, McKenzie Bergan ’17, Ian Underwood ‘18 and Nathan Worthen ’17 in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Audition.  Pat Cornacchio (’18) submitted his dramaturgy research from the Saint Michael’s production of The Crucible for award consideration. Rosalie McNamara ’18 served as an Arts Administration Intern for the festival.  Also, John Devlin and Paul Ricciardi from Kingsborough Community College were second-year Regional Co- Chairs.  The KCACTF was host to more than 1,000 theater students and faculty from New England and eastern New York, recognizing the finest and most diverse work in university and college theater programs.
(posted June 2016)

John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theater, designed lighting and stage managed Rogue Dance Company’s September concert in the McCarthy Arts Center.  He also designed and painted scenery for the Moonbox Production of Barefoot in the Park running through 11/12 at the BCA Plaza theater in Boston —“ John Paul Devlin’s marvelous set (complete with working stovetop) allows us to look through the tall, side by side kitchen windows to see Thompson crossing the narrow ledge (and waving) like a Flying Wallenda.” http://bostonartsreview.blogspot.com/2015/11/quick-take-review-by-beverly-creasey_27.html “John Paul Devlin’s set beautifully captures the ethos of a typical West Side 5th floor walk-up apartment that is the starter home for newlyweds” http://whiterhinoreport.blogspot.com/2015/11/moonbox-productions-presents-neil.html
(posted January 2016)

Cathy Hurst, professor, and John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theatre, accompanied 18 Saint Michael’s College students to the regional Kennedy Center American Theater Festival in Hyannis, MA, Jan. 26 – Feb.1, with students competing and submitting work in a wide variety of categories, from partner scene-acting to stage management, directing and musical theatre; one student also was administration intern for the festival. Cathy received awards for excellence in directing the acting ensemble for Saint Michael’s productions of Proof and Godspell; she also took home the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion Award for “extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre” — the most prestigious award given by KCACTF among the top theatre-education honors.  She is Immediate Past Chair of KCACTF, Region 1. John is one of two first-year regional co-chairs for the event and weather made this festival a “baptism by blizzard.”  Eleven hundred students and faculty were pre-registered with most scheduled to arrive on Tuesday–the day of the 24-hour travel ban/blizzard in Massachusetts.  John and Paul led the 20-member regional board in reconfiguring the festival schedule to accommodate all the late arrivals without depriving them of opportunities to audition or display their work.  They also coordinated the relocation of four of the six productions invited to the festival when the venues intended for them were closed due to snow.  In a testament to regional resilience, only 38 registrants cancelled.
(posted April 2015)

John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts/theater, served as Production Manager for the Saint Michael’s Playhouse this summer, supervising the work of 21 professional staff and interns including seven Saint Michael’s students: Mary Jo Rodriguez ’13, Katelyn Whitman ’14, Shannon Carroll ’15, Dee-Jai Cowles ’15, Grace Scanlon ’15, Julia Bianconi ’15, and Lexi Goyette ’16. In addition to these duties, John designed lighting for Fiddler on the Roof, and settings for Tuesdays with Morrie and Rumors. On September 20, he will be walking with members of the Drama Club and his daughter Kat in the annual Light the Night walk fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Drama Club members began the tradition in honor of Patrick Devlin who died of leukemia in 2009. Members provide a lot of volunteer organizational help on the day of the event and have led the walk, carrying the banner in each of the last four years.

John Paul Devlin, associate professor of fine arts, recently designed lighting for the Vermont Stage production of Time Stands Still and built the scenery for 4000 Miles. He also just returned from the United States Institute for Theatre Technology convention in Milwaukee, WI, where he represented the leadership of Design, Technology and Management for Region One of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (New England and Eastern New York). In addition to several working meetings for KCACTF, he was on a panel presentation entitled “State of the Art: Design Technology and Management.” And he also participated in the USITT/New England and New York Metro area working meetings and the Education Commission working meetings planning for future conferences.

Fine Arts/Theatre Professor Cathy Hurst and Associate Professor John Paul Devlin accompanied 18 students to the regional Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival in Hyannis, MA during the week of January 29 – February 2. Marla Caram ’13, Dustin Kenyon ’15, Zachary Pesner ’15 and Michelle Kazanowski ’15 competed with their scene partnersm Richard Bernache ’16, Ben Lane ’16, Jill Holland ’15 and Evyn Whiteley ’15, in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Audition. Alan Hefferon ’14 submitted his video projection design from the college production of APPetite for award consideration, Julia Grace Scanlon ’15 submitted her stage management book for APPetite and advanced to the final round of competition. Shannon Carroll ’15 served as an Arts Administration Intern for the festival. Ashley James ’15 was cast in a role in an original 10-minute play which was presented at the festival, and Cathy Hurst and Kit Rivers ’14 received awards for excellence in Co-Directing APPetite at Saint Michael’s. There were 1100 student, faculty and local participants at the festival. Cathy Hurst is Co-Chair of KCACTF of Region I (New England and eastern New York) and John Paul Devlin is Co-Vice Chair of the region. Both coordinated planning for festival transportation, booking venues, scheduling programming and accommodating visiting professionals from across the country who participated in the festival as respondents to student work.