Award-winning Broadway, film and television actor and consummate teacher Stephen McKinley Henderson visited Shenandoah Conservatory Tuesday, April 16, through Thursday, April 18, to coach and mentor acting students, participate in a discussion with conservatory students, and host a film screening of “Fences” followed by a Q&A at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Winchester. Henderson received a Tony nomination and the Richard Seff Award for his performance as Bono in the 2010 Broadway revival of “Fences” with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
“New York Times’ critic Jesse Green, in underlining the impact of Stephen’s immense gravitas as Torvald in Lucas Hnath’s ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2,’ defined for me both Stephen and his work in saying simply, ‘He’s superb,’” said Visiting Associate Professor of Theatre Martha Wollner, M.A. “A more giving actor you cannot find on either stage or in front of the camera, and even more importantly, as a master teacher of the art of acting. Our students are immensely fortunate.”
Henderson is also one of the greatest living authorities on two contemporary American Theatre legends: iconic American playwright and chronicler of the U.S. African American experience, August Wilson, and Lloyd Richards, award-winning theatre director and head of the historic and renowned National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Henderson appeared most recently on Broadway in “A Doll’s House, Part 2.” His Obie and Lucille Lortel awards are for outstanding lead actor in Stephen Adly Guirgis’, “Between Riverside and Crazy,” which received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2015.
He has performed in five Oscar-nominated films: Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird”; Denzel Washington’s “Fences,” for which Henderson received a Virtuoso Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival; Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea”; Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln”; and Stephen Daldry’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” Noteworthy television work includes Alex Garland’s FX series “Devs”; Aaron Sorkin’s HBO series “The Newsroom”; HBO Films’ “Everyday People” presented at Sundance Film Festival in 2004; and the PBS American Playhouse film of “A Raisin in the Sun,” starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle.
Henderson’s visit to Shenandoah Conservatory is made possible by the Lewis Gift for Excellence in Acting Training from Marjorie and John Lewis.
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
Event: Performance Forum featuring Stephen McKinley Henderson
Where: Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre (Shenandoah University Main Campus)
When: 3 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17
Tickets: This event is free and open to the public; however, seating preference is given to current Shenandoah Conservatory students. Tickets not required; seating is general admission.
Event: “Fences” Film Screening and Q&A with Stephen McKinley Henderson
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (181 Kernstown Commons Blvd.)
When: 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 18
Tickets: Visit drafthouse.com/winchester/show/fences-w-special-guest-stephen-mckinley-henderson to purchase tickets.
