Laurence Ballard (born July 2, 1954) is an American stage and screen

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, whose career has focused on regional theatre in the US.

Stage credits

Ballard has appeared in nearly 250 productions in the past forty-five years, most recently as the spoken voice of Mr. Antrobus (played by Howie Seago) in

Bartlett Sher Bartlett B. Sher (born March 27, 1959) is an American theatre director. ''The New York Times'' has described him as "one of the most original and exciting directors, not only in the American theater but also in the international world of opera". ...

's bilingual production of ''

The Skin of Our Teeth ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, ...

''. He has also performed in several productions directed by

including the world premiere of ''The Singing Forest'' by

Craig Lucas Craig Lucas (born April 30, 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. Biography Born on April 30, 1951, he was found abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Georgia. Lucas was adopted when he was e ...

. Other productions include

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

's ''Homebody/Kabul''; Bergman's ''Nora'';

Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton * Shaw, Swindon, a suburb of Swindon ** ...

's ''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Av ...

'';

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Titus Andronicus ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus'', often shortened to ''Titus Andronicus'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first t ...

''; ''

The Dying Gaul ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

'' by

; and Goldoni's ''

The Servant of Two Masters ''The Servant of Two Masters'' () is a comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1746. Goldoni originally wrote the play at the request of actor Antonio Sacco, one of the great Harlequins in history. His earliest drafts had larg ...

'', all at the

Intiman Playhouse Intiman Theatre is a resident theater company in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1972 by Margaret "Megs" Booker, who named it after Strindberg's Intimate Theater in Stockholm. Through its history, the professional theatre company has been based ...

. He has worked with several Seattle theatre companies, including

ACT Theatre ACT Contemporary Theatre (originally A Contemporary Theatre) is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in Seattle, in the US state of Washington. Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997) founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first Artistic director; a ...

The Empty Space ''The Empty Space'' is a 1968 book by the British director Peter Brook examining four modes or points of view on theatre: Deadly; Holy; Rough; and Immediate. The book is based on a series of four lectures endowed by Granada Television and deliv ...

Seattle Rep Seattle Rep (Seattle Repertory Theatre) is a major regional theater located in Seattle, Washington, at the Seattle Center. Founded in 1963, it is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Jeffrey Herrmann.5th Avenue Theatre The 5th Avenue Theatre is a landmark theatre located in the Skinner Building, in the downtown core of Seattle, Washington, United States. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building ...

. Nationally, he has appeared at Arena Stage,

Arizona Theatre Company The Arizona Theatre Company is an American nonprofit regional theater company operating in Phoenix, Arizona. History The Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) was founded by Sandy Rosenthal in 1966 as the Arizona Civic Theatre. It originally performe ...

Berkeley Rep Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

, Eureka Theatre,

GeVa Theatre Geva Theatre Center is a regional, not-for-profit, professional theatre company based in Rochester, New York. It is housed in an 1868 building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, located in Rochester at 75 Woodbury Boulevard near ...

Joyce Theatre The Joyce Theatre Foundation is a leading presenter of dance in New York City and nationally. It is runs, in part, from the Joyce Theater, a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The ...

, Milwaukee Rep,

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional Repertory, repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and conte ...

Portland Center Stage Portland Center Stage at The Armory is a theater company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at The Armory in Portland's Pearl District. Portland Center Stage at The Armory was founded in 1988 as the no ...

, San Jose Rep and StageWest, among others. Internationally, he has trained and performed with

Tadashi Suzuki is a Japanese avant-garde theatre director, writer, and philosopher. He is the founder and director of the Suzuki Company of Toga (SCOT), and organizer of Japan’s first international theatre festival (Toga Festival). With American director ...

’s SCOT company in Toga-mura, Mito City and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. He has collaborated with German artists on Brecht's, ''

In the Jungle of Cities ''In the Jungle of Cities'' (German language, German: ''Im Dickicht der Städte'') is a play (theatre), play by the Germany, German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Written between 1921 and 1924, it received its first theatrical p ...

'', and Swedes with Strindberg's ''

A Dream Play ''A Dream Play'' (), sometimes staged in English as ''The Dream Play'', is a fantasy play in 14 scenes written in 1901 by the Swedish playwright August Strindberg. It was published in Swedish in 1902 and first performed in Stockholm on 17 April ...

''. He is also a director, helming productions for Seattle's

, the Washington State Arts Commission,

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) was a Private college, private art school, art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914 by music teacher Nellie Cornish. The college's main campus is in the Denny Triangle, Seattle, Denny Triangle ...

, the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, among others. From 1995 through 2002, Ballard taught at Seattle's

Theater Department as an Adjunct Associate Professor.

Television and film credits

His television and film credits include: '' Prefontaine'' (1997 movie), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (1996 television pilot), ''The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial'' (''

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

s 1988 TV movie), ''The Falcon'', and ''The Tale of Lear''.

External links

* * * https://web.archive.org/web/20051125225236/http://www.intiman.org/2004/s_cast.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Laurence American male stage actors Living people 1954 births