Philip J. Hickman is a graduate of The Ohio State University with a BA in English focusing on Early Modern English Literature. He was co-founder of Bison Players and has worked for Actors’ Theatre of Columbus since 2010. After serving as Associate Artistic Director beginning in 2013, he was named Artistic Director in 2015. Hickman has performed in works by Shakespeare and other classic authors for more than 20 years. His favorite roles in Shakespeare’s plays are Cassius in Julius Caesar and Caliban in The Tempest. He appeared last as Le Vicomte de Valmont in Christopher Hampton’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Doctor Bartolo in Pierre Beaumarchais’ The Barber of Seville, and as King Edward IV in Richard III. Philip Hickman is also a playwright, adapting the legend Robin Hood and Alexandre Dumas’ Le Comte de Monte-Cristo to the stage. Both plays were named to the Columbus Dispatch “Best Plays” lists for their respective years (2012, 2016). Most recently, Hickman directed the world premiere of Beowulf (and the Bard) and co-directed Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the 2019 Actors’ Theatre season. He also directed 2018’s Macbeth and Puss in Boots, and 2015’s world premiere of Vidas Barzdukas’ Captain Blood (an adaptation of the Raphael Sabatini novel), which was named “Best Play of 2015” by the Columbus Dispatch. Hickman also teaches playwriting; he taught with Bison Players, The Graham School, and with private students.