Bernard Coyne
Professor Emeritus
Theatre
Bernie joined The University of Toledo in 1964 and was instrumental in establishing a Department of Theatre, serving as the department’s first chair until 1974, laying the foundations for its development over the next twenty years. He was also chiefly responsible for the formation of the Center for Performing Arts, completed in 1976. A constant experimenter and innovator, he has been a colleague of some of the leading contemporary theatre practitioners including Jerzy Grotowski, Richard Schechner and Viola Spolin. His numerous professional roles have included co-founder of the Creative Arts Community in Toledo, Acting Consultant to the members of City Center Acting Company of New York (Julliard), Director for the Actor’s Workshop of the Open Space Theatre in London, delegate to the Prague International Theatre Festival, member of the American Educational Theatre Association and American National Theatre and Academy. An experimental theatre director, practitioner of the Rubenfeld Synergy Method and member of the senior faculty of the Rubenfeld Center in New York, he has been recognized as a Master Synergist. After 33 years of teaching and service at The University of Toledo, he was honored with the distinction of Professor Emeritus of Theatre in 1997. Bernie is the currently the director of Sunnyside, a learning center he co-founded with his wife, Dorothy Ann, in the Irish Hills of Michigan.
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