Robert Cohen

Robert Cohen was the founding chair of the UCI Drama Department from the time of the campus's opening in 1965.  Now holding the title of Claire Trevor Professor of Drama, Cohen is a longtime professional director, translator, playwright, essayist, theatre critic and the author of many books, including the double-volume Acting One/Acting Two, Acting Professionally, Acting in Shakespeare, Theatre, More Power To You, Creative Play Direction, Giraudoux, Working Together in Theatre, and, most recently (2013), Acting Power: the 21st Century Edition.  His other writings include plays, play translations, dramatic anthologies, scholarly essays, and over 300 play reviews; his teaching of acting has led him to teaching and lecturing residencies in more than a dozen countries on four continents and in twenty American states.  Fifteen of his stage productions have been professionally mounted at the Utah and Colorado Shakespeare Festivals, along with others at theatres around the U.S. and in Australia, Hungary, Romania, Poland and the Czech Republic. His honors include the Career Achievement Award in Education from ATHA (the Association for Theatre in Higher Education), an honorary degree (Professor Honoris Causa) from Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, and the Polish Medal of Honor for bringing director-theorist Jerzy Grotowski to UCI for his three year project in Objective Drama.

Please visit Robert Cohen’s personal website at www.RobertCohenDrama.com for more details and photos.

Professor Cohen will receive the honor of his very own Claire Trevor Star on April 24, 2016 at a reception in the Arts Campus. This is an honor only bestowed to those who have made indelible, long-lasting contributions to the progress and mission of the Claire Trevor School of the Arts.