Garland Wright

Garland Wright was a stage director, and is known for being a leader in the regional theatre movement. He was the artistic director of the Tyrone Guthrie in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from Southern Methodist University, Wright joined the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford Connecticut, where he acted in several productions. After leaving the Shakespeare Festival, he founded the Lion Theatre Company, an off-Broadway company known for its nontraditional productions. The Lion's production Kafka's The Trial  won an Obie Award. In 1976, he directed "Vanities", one of the longest-running nonmusical off-Broadway plays.

Wright went on to direct productions at the Arena Stage in Washington, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Seattle Repertory Theater and the Guthrie. From 1980 to 1983 he was associate artistic director at the Guthrie.

After leaving the Guthrie, he became a director of the Julliard School's New Directors Program at the Juilliard School. In his later years, he staged productions at the Lincoln Center Theatre and the New York Theatre Workship.

Wright passed away in 1998 from cancer at the age of fifty-two.