MORGAN HICKS

Ms. Hicks’ academic career began at Arkansas State University, where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in acting and supplemented the degree by pursuing a course in political theatre at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. She then completed a Master of Arts with an emphasis in Performance Studies from Missouri State University. While pursuing that degree, she had the opportunity to serve as the company manager of BareStage, a touring troupe that worked as ambassadors of the University’s public affairs mission. The company toured the Midwest with performances of Playback theatre, a form of political theatre devised by Augusto Boal. In addition to practical work in the field, Ms. Hicks also published an article in the Journal of Public Affairs, addressing the application of political theatre practices to build a sense of community on a college campus. Upon graduation Ms. Hicks relocated to Chicago, where she worked briefly in arts administration departments of Steppenwolf Theatre and the Lyra Ensemble before she took the position of General Manager at Writers’ Theatre, one of Chicago’s most well-respected regional theatres.

After several years with Writers’ Theatre, Ms. Hicks returned to academia and completed a Master of Fine Arts Degree in the area of Directing at the University of Arkansas. With the training in directing, and her experience running a large non-profit professional theatre, Ms. Hicks was an integral co-founder of TheatreSquared in 2004. The company has since grown to be a major contributor to the cultural landscape of Northwest Arkansas, and was recently honored by the American Theatre Wing as one of the “Top 10 Emerging Theatres in the Nation”.

 

Ms. Hicks transitioned from a position as Managing Director into the role of Director of Education and Program Development in 2009, where she built a thriving education department for the company, which includes workshops, summer drama academies, professional development opportunities for high school students, residency programs at high schools throughout the state, and ongoing curriculum development in partnership with several departments within the University of Arkansas.

Moving into the position of Arts Engagement Director in 2021, Morgan was able to use her talents to serve both the artistic and education departments of the theatre, where she serves as the program director of the TheatreSquared Professional Development Institute, The Shakespeare Academy, SummerStage, The Young Playwrights Showcase, Post-show discussions and the Sunday Night Social programming.

 

Since 2007, Morgan has served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at the University of Arkansas' flagship Fayetteville campus.  Her areas of research include directing and Theatre History.  She has also served the department as the Undergraduate Advisor and the head of a program that she helped to create: The Bachelor of Arts in Teaching in Drama Education.  Morgan also serves as the Theatre Specialist in a cross-curricular Arts-Led Integration Project housed in the School of Art.  In 2023, Morgan was named the Head of MFA Directing at the University of Arkansas and now mentors the MFA Directing Candidates. 

Ms. Hicks was initiated as a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national union for directors of the stage, and serves as a nominator for The Kilroys, an national advocacy council for female voices and gender parity in theatre.  She is also a member of LMDA  (Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America).

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Morgan has been awarded a Fulbright Connor Fellowship, was named a “Key Woman in Arts Education” by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society and was honored with an Individual Artist Fellowship by the Arkansas Arts Council.  She was recently named a "Theatre Maker to Know" in American Theatre Magazine.  

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