Hank Willenbrink

Hank Willenbrink is a scholar, artist, and education professional with more than 10 years of experience in higher education. He has published academic essays, plays, and created unique theatrical experiences which bring together educational institutions and communities.

Hank’s current research project examines religious performances in support of Donald Trump and is entitled Performing for the Don: Theatres of Faith in the Trump Era. The monograph is due to be published by Routledge in 2024.

Hank’s essays have been published in Ecumenica, Theatre Journal, Contemporary Theatre Review, Theatre Forum, and online at The Lark and HowlRound.

As a playwright, Hank’s play The Boat in the Tiger Suit premiered at The Brick Theater (NYC) and is published by Original Works Publishing. His work has also been seen and developed at Sala Beckett (Barcelona), Performance Highways, WordBRIDGE, quiet, and World Interplay International Festival of Young Playwrights (Australia). 18 won the John Cauble Award for Best Short Play from KCACTF. Hank’s monologues have been featured in Monologues for Men by Men, More Monologues for Men by Men, and Best Men’s Stage Monologues of 2014.

Hank has developed innovative and collaborative theatrical productions with community members, students, and colleagues from across different institutions and disciplines including Proprioception with Dr. Miguel Calvo Salve, The Porches Project with Jennifer Rhoads, and 1902 with Dr. Adam Pratt.

Hank co-edited an anthology of contemporary Spanish and Portuguese-language writers, Palabras: Dispatches from the Festival de la Palabra. His essay on the use of music in HBO’s Girls can be found in HBO’s Girls and the Awkward Politics of Gender, Race, and Privilege. He co-founded the music blog We Listen for You (welistenforyou.com).

He holds degrees from the University of Tulsa and University of California, Santa Barbara.

Hank is currently an associate professor at The University of Scranton where he has served in leadership positions like Theatre Program Director and First Year Seminar Director. He has also held key positions on committees including general education review, faculty research, the humanities, community-based learning.

You can follow his work on Research Gate, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Academia.edu.