William Church is the director of theatre at Interlochen Center for the Arts and serves as the artistic director for the Interlochen Shakespeare Festival, which he founded in 2008. Church has performed for theatre companies throughout the United States, including the American Repertory Theatre, California Theatre Center, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Publick Theatre, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, and the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Recent performances include Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in Prose with Parallel 45; Captain Nick Flanagan in The Guys, Prospero in The Tempest, and Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, all at Interlochen. His directing credits range from Shakespeare to contemporary work, including a touring children's theatre troupe he founded while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. Directing credits at Interlochen include The Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, Othello, Richard III, Much Ado About Nothing, and King Lear for the Shakespeare Festival; Hamlet, An American in Paris, The Winter's Tale, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, My Fair Lady, RENT, Amadeus, Spring Awakening, and West Side Story at the Academy; as well as several productions at Camp. Church is a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. He has won multiple Wilde Awards for Best of the Bard for his professional Shakespeare productions and was named a Distinguished Teacher by the US Presidential Scholars Program. Church is a graduate of the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, has an M.F.A. from the Moscow Art Theatre School, a B.F.A. from Webster University’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts, and is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy.
My aim is to assist students in the development of their own artistic process by providing them with tools to maximize their potential. With a focus on individual growth in a supportive ensemble setting, students gain the confidence necessary to develop their unique voice as theatre artists.
- Member of Actors' Equity Association
- Member of Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
- Founder and Artistic Director of Interlochen Shakespeare Festival
- Directed 'Best of the Bard' productions of Richard III and King Lear (named best Shakespeare in the state of Michigan by Encore Michigan)
- Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
High School Diploma - Interlochen Arts Academy
B.F.A. (Magna Cum Laude), Theatre - Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts
M.F.A., Acting - Moscow Art Theatre School
Graduate of the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University