Don Yanik, Theatre Department Chair, joined the theatre faculty in 1985. He completed his bachelor's degree in elementary education from Anderson College (University) in 1964, and earned a master's of education degree in administration from the University of Nebraska in 1970. In 1981 he received an MFAin Scenery and Costume Design from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas where he studied under designers Forrest A. Newlin, William and Jean Eckart, and Ming Cho Lee. Don became Head of Theatre Design at the University of Arkansas from 1981-1983. He is a member of United Scenic Artists/IATSE Local 829 and designs locally, nationally and internationally. His design credits of over 250 productions include eight World Premieres, two U.S. Premieres and several Northwest Premieres. Specific credits include a commissioned work, According to Coyote, by John Kauffman, for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which appeared at the Moscow Theatre Director’s Festival (Russia), Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Berkley Repertory Theatre, two world tours and numerous regional theatres; productions for the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Burt Reynolds Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and several theatres and universities in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Florida. Don has also designed productions for the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute in Cambridge, England. His Seattle credits include the World Premiere of Things Being What They Are by Wendy MacLeod for the Seattle Repertory Theatre; the World Premiere of Jar The Floor, by Cheryl L. West and the West Coast Premiere of David Mamet’s Speed The Plow for The Empty Space Theatre; the U.S. Premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s Invisible Friends for the Seattle Children’s Theatre; as well as productions at ACT, Seattle Civic Light Opera, Taproot Theatre, and Village Theatre. Don is a Fulbright Scholar and taught at the National Institute for the Arts in Taipei, Taiwan. He serves as the Restoration Designer for the home of C.S. Lewis in Oxford, England, and is a Board member of the Kilns Project. Don is a Professor of Theatre and teaches courses in scene design and technical drawing, costume and period styles, scene painting, stage makeup and serves as Producing Director for all SPU productions.

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George A. Scranton graduated from Briercrest Bible Institute with a Pastor's major before transferring to Seattle Pacific College where he completed a bachelor of arts degree with a double major in speech (with a drama emphasis) and religion, and a master of arts in Biblical Literature. He also holds a master of arts degree in theatre history and criticism from the University of Washington and completed his Ph.D. in Theology and Theatre at The Graduate Theological Union and Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Dr. Scranton has taken stage movement training at Webster University's American Movement Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, and at the Paddy Crean International Stage Combat Workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland. Of the dozen plays he has written and/or adapted, three received National Awards by the Christians in Theatre Arts Guild. Another was selected as one of seven national winners in a contest co-sponsored by American Theatre Association's (ATA) Religion and Theatre Forum Group and Anchorage Press, for inclusion in Wrestling With God: New Plays with Jewish or Christian Themes. His latest full-length play Ring-a-Ring of Roses won the Association for Theatre in Higher Education's (ATHE) Religion and Theatre annual playwriting contest. Dr. Scranton directed and toured with Seattle Pacific University's "Chancel Players" for 20 years, and wrote many of their performance scripts. His academic and professional acting credits include performing in more than 30 plays. His directing credits include more than 80 plays in both educational and professional venues, including Taproot Theatre Company, in Seattle, Washington, Acacia Theatre Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and TOV in Manhattan Kansas. Dr. Scranton joined the SPU faculty in 1970 and is a Professor of Theatre. He is Ordained to Specialized Ministry in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

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Andrew Ryder joined the Theatre faculty in September 2000. Andrew graduated with a bachelor of arts in English and Drama from Anderson (Indiana) University (where he met his lovely wife, Sharon) in 1990. That same year, he and Sharon were married on December 29. They have two very active sons: James, born March 17, 2003, and Braden, born December 2, 2005. Andrew earned his master of arts degree in theatre from Michigan State University, and his Ph.D. in theatre from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. From 1997-2000, he taught theatre at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California. At SPU, Andrew teaches Playscript Analysis, Play Directing, History of Theatre, Theatre Education Methods, Theatre and Drama: Tragedy, and upper-division Acting courses, as well as directing one mainstage show per season.  Two particular directing favorites on SPU’s mainstage have been Sophocles’ ANTIGONE and Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT.  His research interests include 20th-century American Theatre History, Medieval English Theatre, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He is a regular respondent to area college and university productions through the American College Theater Festival.

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Staff and Adjunct Faculty

Jerry L. Collum joined the theatre faculty in September 2006. Jerry graduated from Auburn University with a BFA in Technical Theater in 1984. He began his professional theater career at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and over the course of seven seasons grew into the position of Assistant Technical Director. In 1992, he moved to the Pacific Northwest to accept the position of Assistant Technical Director at the Seattle Children’s Theater. Since then he has worked as Technical Director for Tacoma Actors Guild, INTIMAN Theatre, Wildwood Opera Company, Ilkom Theatre, Russia (for US tour) and has also worked as project manager/technician in commercial environments such as Pacific Studios and Nickelodeon Studios in Florida. In 2001, after 16 years in the professional ranks, he joined the University of Washington School of Drama as the Faculty Technical Director. He is also a member of IATSE Local 15. He met his wife at the INTIMAN Theatre in 1998 and they have 2 boys, Ben, born in 2003 and Thomas, born in 2005.  He serves as the staff Technical Director for McKinley Hall and teaches courses in Stagecraft, Drafting and Technical Direction.

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Josh Hornbeck , Director of the University Players,graduated from Seattle Pacific University's Theatre Department in 1999.  He spent two years as a part of the University Players under the direction of Eric Morgan.  Upon graduation, Josh served for two years as a member of Taproot Theatre's Road Company, performing in five touring shows over a period of ten months.  Josh is the founder and artistic director of Desert Rose Productions, a multi-disciplinary arts company in the Seattle area.  As an actor, his favorite roles include Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing, George in The Actor's Nightmare, and Orgon in "Tartuffe."  He has directed Oleanna, The M Word, and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as several original works.

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Kim Gilnett is a 37 year member of the Seattle Pacific University community, first arriving as a student in 1970. He graduated in 1974 with a double major in Speech/Drama and Biblical Literature. In the summer of 1974 he was offered a position in the Admissions Office where, as a part of his responsibilities, he coordinated the application process for graduate and international students. In 1976 he was accepted and undertook graduate work in Communication at the University of Washington. Kim joined the School of Fine and Performing Arts as Marketing Associate in 1984. He currently coordinates the Fine Arts Scholarship Program, and specializes in assisting students with financial problems or difficulties encountered while attending Seattle Pacific. He is known for helping students through the byways of the system. He has the road maps. Since the mid-1970’s Kim has made a study of the life and work of author C. S. Lewis, and has attained impressive knowledge and experience in this subject area. He is regularly asked to speaks on Lewis, and has taught a class at Queens College, Cambridge, England, with noted author Thomas Howard. Kim is a staff member of the C. S. Lewis Foundation of Southern California and is a Board member of the Kilns Project, an ambitious restoration of Lewis’ home in Oxford, England.

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Theatre Program Founder

James L. Chapman, emeritus professor of theatre from Seattle Pacific University, passed away Wednesday, July 31, 2002 after a courageous battle with congestive heart failure and complications from diabetes. He was 64 years of age. Actor, director, dramatist and teacher, Professor Chapman retired from Seattle Pacific in 2000 after 39 years of establishing and leading its liberal arts curriculum in theatre. During his tenure he directed 70 plays at SPU including 10 productions from the pen of William Shakespeare, and from other playwrights such as Anouilh, Agatha Christie, Eugene O'Neill, Peter Shaffer, George Bernard Shaw, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, and many, many others. He introduced Seattle audiences in 1974 to the musical Godspell by John-Michael Tabelak and Stephen Schwartz and in 1994 performed his own one-man show of Damien by Aldyth Morris. His productions garnered regional and national acclaim in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. The theatre program at Seattle Pacific has been cited by the Religion and Theatre Focus group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for its excellence under Chapman's leadership. Affectionately known as Chaps by his students, his influence on educational theatre will be sorely missed in Seattle and across the nation. James Chapman was educated at Cascade College, Portland, OR., the University of Washington where he received the M.A. in Speech, and the University of Oregon where he completed performance requirements for the theatre doctorate. He received Best Actor of the Year awards while in Eugene. In addition to his campus activities Professor Chapman shaped the Los Angeles Film Studies program of the Christian College Coalition. He served on the national Association for Theatre in Higher Education as liaison for the religion and theatre focus group. He also served on the inaugurating board of Taproot Theatre, the Seattle professional company.

Jim passed away July 31, 2002. He was 64 years of age.