Faculty Profile

George Scranton

George Scranton

Professor Emeritus of Theatre

Email: gascrant@spu.edu


Education: BA, Seattle Pacific College, 1968; MA, Seattle Pacific College, 1971; MA, University of Washington, 1975; PhD, Graduate Theological Union and Pacific School of Religion, 1994. At SPU since 1970.

George Scranton has been teaching theatre at Seattle Pacific for more than four decades. He holds degrees in speech (with a drama emphasis) and religion, biblical literature, theatre history and criticism, and theology and theatre. He has also taken stage movement training at Webster University’s American Movement Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, and at the Paddy Crean International Stage Combat Workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Of the dozen plays Dr. Scranton has written and/or adapted, three received national awards by the Christians in Theatre Arts Guild (CITA). Another was selected as one of seven national winners in a contest co-sponsored by the American Theatre Association’s (ATA) Religion and Theatre Forum Group and Anchorage Press, for inclusion in Wrestling With God: New Plays With Jewish or Christian Themes. His latest full-length play, Ring-a-Ring of Roses, won the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's (ATHE) Religion and Theatre annual playwriting contest.

Dr. Scranton directed and toured with Seattle Pacific University’s “Chancel Players” for 20 years, and wrote many of their performance scripts. His academic and professional acting credits include performing in more than 30 plays. His directing credits include more than 90 plays in both educational and professional venues, including Taproot Theatre Company; Acacia Theatre Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and TOV in Manhattan, Kansas. Dr. Scranton is ordained to specialized ministry in the Evangelical Covenant Church.


George Scranton - Why I Teach

Why I Taught at SPU

George Scranton, Professor Emeritus of Theatre

“I have been blessed with a long series of mentors, without whom I would not have been at SPU in any capacity. Just as they lovingly invested in my nurture and growth both in theatre and in theology, I wanted to ‘pay it forward’ with my students. As we collaborated in the classroom and on the stage, I hoped to become a mentor to them, as we sought to grow both as artists and as persons, who are made in the image of God and who strive to become more and more conformed to the ‘mind of Christ.’”