Henson Keys
Acting Faculty — Professor, Chair of Acting Program
MFA, Florida State University
Specialties: Acting, Directing, Shakespeare
Henson Keys is a veteran of over 120 productions as an actor and director in New York and with professional theatres across the country including the New York, Utah, Alabama, North Carolina, and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals, the McCarter Theatre (Princeton), Yale Repertory, Asolo (Sarasota), Walnut Street (Philadelphia), Meadowbrook (Detroit), Folger (Washington, DC), Cleveland Playhouse, and Coconut Grove (Miami). Recent professional directing work includes Julius Caesar for North Carolina Shakespeare, Harvey for Utah Shakespeare, Shaw for Asolo Conservatory, and The Man Who Came to Dinner, Misalliance, The Illusion, and The Millionairess for Alabama Shakespeare. Previously he headed graduate training programs at Ohio University and at Alabama Shakespeare, where he held the ASF Endowed Chair of the University of Alabama. He recently served three years on the Board of Directors of the University Resident Theatre Association. At UIUC, he has played King Lear, and directed productions of Everyman, Angels in America, Othello, Virtual Devotion, Gross Indecency, A Chorus Line, and Shakespeare’s R&J as well as La Traviata and La Boheme for the Opera Program.
Specialties: Acting, Directing, Shakespeare
Henson Keys is a veteran of over 120 productions as an actor and director in New York and with professional theatres across the country including the New York, Utah, Alabama, North Carolina, and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals, the McCarter Theatre (Princeton), Yale Repertory, Asolo (Sarasota), Walnut Street (Philadelphia), Meadowbrook (Detroit), Folger (Washington, DC), Cleveland Playhouse, and Coconut Grove (Miami). Recent professional directing work includes Julius Caesar for North Carolina Shakespeare, Harvey for Utah Shakespeare, Shaw for Asolo Conservatory, and The Man Who Came to Dinner, Misalliance, The Illusion, and The Millionairess for Alabama Shakespeare. Previously he headed graduate training programs at Ohio University and at Alabama Shakespeare, where he held the ASF Endowed Chair of the University of Alabama. He recently served three years on the Board of Directors of the University Resident Theatre Association. At UIUC, he has played King Lear, and directed productions of Everyman, Angels in America, Othello, Virtual Devotion, Gross Indecency, A Chorus Line, and Shakespeare’s R&J as well as La Traviata and La Boheme for the Opera Program.
Email: hkeys@illinois.edu
