Andrew Hardaway is an AEA-actor, director, screen and play writer, theatre educator, and native of San Antonio, Texas. He is an alumnus of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art (then The School for Film and Television, under the direction of Joan See) and received his Meisner Certification in Acting, studying under Pamela Moller-Kareman (Neighborhood Playhouse, NYC). Additionally, Andrew received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Adelphi University (Garden City, NY).

 

In his role as theatre educator Andrew served as the Head Director at Theodore Roosevelt High School (Northeast ISD) and, together with his students, competed at both Area and Region levels of OAP Contest; with Michael Cristofer’s Black Angel & Amazing Grace, respectively, after a 33-year absence from the higher echelons of the contest experience. The Amazing Grace Area-showing concluded with the entire ensemble receiving Honorable-Mention All Star Cast among their additional awards. Andrew most recently served as the Acting Director at R.L. Turner High School (Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD) in the Dallas area.

 

Andrew Hardaway is a graduate of the renowned FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training (Sarasota, FL), and trained and worked under Andrei Malaev-Babel, one of the leading experts on Russian theater, acting techniques, and co-editor/co-translator of Nikolai Demidov’s theatrical heritage titled Becoming an Actor-Creator.

 

Other than his love for storytelling and being part of an industry that is invested in sharing what makes us uniquely human, Andrew is big on family and the preservation of the family unit. He enjoys studying antebellum history, throwing weights around, travel and the recreational outdoors.

 

“We are all part of a story with context, a set of circumstances. I am most interested in that aspect. We are authentic characters and we, being human, are inherently a contradiction. We have intentions. We deal with obstacles. We strategize to get our needs met. The emotions we experience, and project are by-products of our taking action. We have somewhere around 80 summers to develop and live this story—it is not a dress rehearsal. I do theatre. I teach theatre-making. I build athletes of the stage. I write scripts. I produce plays. I create performance art. I do design and technical work. I demand greatness. Theatre is my life and my world. I learned how to become human in the theatre. I learned about life doing theatre. My students learn more than just theatre pedagogy. They learn about life and life lessons. When I teach theatre concepts. I teach how to cope with life… how to take life!”