Dane Peterson (Director / Actor / Educator)
Dane Peterson is an interdisciplinary theatre artist with over 35 years of professional experience as an actor, director, playwright, stage manager, producer, and educator. A passionate advocate for new works and transformational storytelling, his practice explores grief, resilience, and the divine through courageous, heart-centered theatre. Peterson’s original work, Primogeniture, draws from a personal journey with illness and healing, creating spaces for reflection and connection. Peterson has collaborated with notable organizations such as UAB's ArtPlay, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Birmingham Children’s Theatre, Samford University, Indian Springs School, Red Mountain Theatre, the Southern AIDS Coalition, Birmingham-Southern College, and John Carroll Catholic High School, among others, and has developed programming that amplifies the voices of marginalized individuals in the American South. A native of Birmingham, Mr. Peterson has also lived and worked in New York City. He is committed to making theatre a sacred space for empathy, dialogue, and change.
Directing credits include: Dracula, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific (Virginia Samford Theatre); Hansel and Gretel, Peter and the Wolf, The Trumpet of the Swan (Alabama Symphony Orchestra); Charlotte’s Web, Peter Pan, Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka TYA, Beauty and the Beast, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (BCT); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Samford University); Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, The Vast Difference, Quills, LINE (Birmingham Festival Theatre); and The Normal Heart, Long Day's Journey Into Night, A Streetcar Named Desire, tick, tick... BOOM!, The Wild Party, Grey Gardens, Godspell, Guys and Dolls, The Who’s Tommy, A Chorus Line, Jesus Christ Superstar, Say Gay Plays, and more (The DANE).
Selected acting credits include: Off-Off-Broadway include Minerva’s Muscles (NYC Binge Festival), Bar Scene (New York is Dead), and Thirty-Seven Stones (Working Man’s Clothes). Regional: I Am My Own Wife (Birmingham Festival Theatre); August: Osage County (“Little Charles”) (City Equity Theatre); Jesus Christ Superstar (“Herod”) (Virginia Samford Theatre); Cabaret (“Emcee”), 110 in the Shade, Evita, Gypsy (UAB Town and Gown); The Composer is Dead (ASO); Amadeus (“Mozart”), The Normal Heart (“Ned”) (DPTS); Little Shop of Horrors (“Seymour”) (Magic City Actors Theatre); and Chicago (“Amos”) (Red Mountain Theatre).
Peterson has been nationally recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s High School Teachers and received the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program Teacher Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Education in 2001. He previously served as the Founding Vice President of the Birmingham Area Theatre Alliance.
Peterson holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Birmingham-Southern College and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. He is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and an Equity Membership Candidate with Actors’ Equity Association (AEA).
Abridged Teaching Philosophy
As a progressive theatre maker, my teaching philosophy serves as a catalyst for transformation, inspiring theatre students not only to succeed but also to evolve, establish an artistic practice, and nurture holistic processes. Ultimately, using theatre as a conduit, my goal with this philosophy is to equip students for critical, ethical, and empathetic thinking—something we need more than ever in today’s polarized world.
Abridged Diversification in Practice Statement
From the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, Birmingham, Alabama, I have learned to live a life of love and compassion—qualities I express through the transformative power of theatre. In a state often associated with stereotypes, theatre has not only provided me with experiences and opportunities to uplift individuals, create safe spaces, and celebrate the human spirit; it has also been a beacon of hope and positive change, inspiring all who engage with it.
Growing up gay in the South has significantly shaped my worldview and professional philosophy. It has given me firsthand experience of hatred, distrust, and exclusion—and ignited the fire of empathy and acceptance in my soul. When I stepped into a professional rehearsal space at the age of 12, I recognized that theatre was a welcoming world. This personal journey has profoundly influenced my determination that my theatre will always be a place where everyone treats others with compassion, concern, and worth.