Whit Hertford


Whit Hertford is a theatre director, writer and actor.

Film and television

Hertford's film career spans three decades and began at an early age, most notably with his appearance in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park. In 2009 and 2010 he recurred as "Officer / Detective Ross" on the FOX comedy Raising Hope and as the tyrannical rival choreographer Dakota Stanley during the first season of Glee. Other TV credits include Psych, various appearances on Conan and as the voice of Cadet Kryze on .
In 2009 he co-founded the independent film company with director Ryan Darst. Their American New Wave award-winning short and full-length films have screened at festivals all over the US and Europe, including the premiere of the revenge film Wildlife at Cannes Film Festival. The production shot all on location in rural Utah and co-stars Jon Heder and is scored by Joshua James.
In 2014 he received Best Actor awards for his work as geneticist Jesse Darden in the science fiction independent feature film The Perfect 46 from the Other Worlds Film Festival in Austin, Texas and Filmquest Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In 2015, he portrayed Charles Manson in the coming of age 1960s era thriller Prettyface.

Theatre

He received an MFA in theatre directing from The University of Essex's East 15 in London. He additionally studied in Moscow at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts.
Hertford serves as Artistic Director of the theatre company Riot Act, founded in the UK in 2015.
Quickly established himself in the London fringe theatre as an enfant terrible with a penchant for adapting and directing resuscitations / redefinitions of classic plays. He is known for a style and approach based in European avant garde realism. He served as an Associate Director at in South London. He is a member of the Young Vic Directors Programme and was an invitee director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam.
Recent directing credits include his radical adaptations of Ibsen's An Enemy of the People as well as his Chekhov adaptations ', ' and *. His Shakespearean adaptations include: Høüses, an immersive LGBTQA version of Romeo and Juliet, and Dóttir* - a bleak tragedy that explores seven of Shakespeare's motherless daughter archetypes. Additionally, he directed the US regional premiere of Annie Baker's The Aliens, the 2016 critically acclaimed contemporary production of Henrik Ibsen's The League of Youth and a London fringe sellout run of Coverage, a newsroom retelling of Julius Caesar - both by Canadian playwright Ashley Pearson. Other directing credits include the debuts of his original plays: Lunatic, a nü gothic psychological thriller based on Bram Stoker's Dracula, Anatomy of Arithmetic*, Bloke and Hero & Leander - adapted from Christopher Marlowe.
He has also directed at the Arcola Theatre and Southwark Playhouse in London. He served as an Associate Director at The Courtyard Theatre, in Hoxton East London where he was artistic director of Versions, a month long festival of classical adaptations and devised theatre in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare.
" has a vision, thoughtfulness, artistry and fierce passion..." - Olivier-awarding winning theatre director Robert Icke
"...a trailblazer and constantly challenging the status quo..." - UK director/playwright Stephen Unwin
As a playwright his other plays include: The Heimrich Maneuver, Endangered Species, The Space Program, Stockholm Syndrome, Hateful Deeds and his remaining Chekhov adaptation, a new version of The Cherry Orchard, entitled Spoilt Fruits .
From 2005 to 2011, Hertford was a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles as a sketch writer, performer and improviser.
He holds a BFA from the prestigious Actor Training Program at the University of Utah.

Directing credits

2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
Additional directing credits: