Shenandoah Conservatory announces the appointment of scenic designer and educator R. Eric Stone, M.F.A., as associate professor of scenic design beginning August 2023. Stone succeeds Scenic and Lighting Designer and Associate Professor of Theatre, Scenic and Lighting Design William “Bill” Pierson, M.F.A., who retired at the end of the 2022/23 academic year after 29 years of service at Shenandoah.
Stone is a 28-year veteran of professional theatre and university teaching, designing scenery for 145 productions across the country, including 46 musicals, 37 Shakespeare productions and 14 new works. He has worked in regional theatres, summer companies, universities and internationally.
“We are so excited that Eric will be joining us this fall at SU,” said Theatre Division Co-chair, Director of Theatre Design & Production, Associate Professor of Theatre and Costume Design and Costume Designer Cheryl Yancey, M.F.A. “We look forward to where his talent and expertise will take us. I don’t think we could have found a better fit for our program.”
A recipient of the University of Iowa’s prestigious 2017 Collegiate Teaching Award, Stone comes to Shenandoah after 15 years at the University of Iowa’s Department of Theatre Arts where he was designated a professor emeritus. As the director of graduate studies and head of the design program, Stone designed 28 productions for Iowa, including “Something Rotten!,” “Our Lady of 121st Street,” “Orlando,” “The Crucible,” “American Idiot,” “The Luck of the Irish” and “Eurydice,” as well as advised over 180 student productions. He has designed events in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Utah, Wisconsin, Germany and the Czech Republic, with work touring to New York and beyond.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts at Lewis & Clark College, and Master of Fine Arts at Ohio University. Eric is a member of the United Scenic Artists 829.
