Richard Lorig
Professor of Emeritus Theatre; Head of Design
Email: rlorig@spu.edu
Education: BS, Northern Arizona University, 1989; MFA, Arizona State University, 2006. At SPU 2014–2014. Emeritus since 2024..
Richard Lorig joined the faculty of the Seattle Pacific Theatre Department in Fall 2014 as an associate professor. He teaches courses in scenic design, makeup design, scenic painting, and world theatre, as well as the introductory “Theatre Experience” course. He also serves as resident scenic designer and makeup supervisor for the department’s five-show season.
Lorig moved to the Seattle area in 1993 to take a position as faculty/staff member for the Drama Department at Highline College, where he served for 21 years. He was the department's scenic designer and production manager and ran the program from 2009 to 2014. At Highline, he oversaw the production of 62 plays and directed nine of them, including Elmer Rice’s The Adding Machine and Mary Zimmerman’s The Odyssey.
Lorig is also a professional freelance scenic designer, with long-standing artistic partnerships with Taproot Theatre and Youth Theatre Northwest. Additionally, he has provided designs for Village Theatre, Ethereal Mutt/West of Lenin, Seattle Public Theatre, Early Music Guild, Bathhouse Theatre, Empty Space, Tacoma Actors Guild, and Northwest Asian American Theatre.
He has designed scenery for new works and established scripts ranging across all genres, styles, and periods, including the Greeks, Shakespeare, musical theatre, and contemporary drama. His process in design, as well as in teaching, features a commitment to collaboration and learning with and from one another.
Please see Mr. Lorig’s CV for publications and other information.