Dudley Swetland

In his second year at FPAC, and best known locally for his portrayal of “Scrooge” in the Great Lakes Theatre Festival’s production of A Christmas Carol for the last ten seasons, Dr. Swetland has appeared in more than 80 productions in his 30 years as a professional actor. He is also an
accomplished director and teacher.

Dr. Swetland received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University after a three year stint in the Army which included a year in Viet Nam. Upon his graduation from Ohio State, he joined the faculty at Case Western Reserve’s Department of Theatre where he taught acting, theatre history, and voice for the stage, while also directing (and acting in) one to two productions a year. In 1979, he joined the Cleveland Play House acting company, while maintaining his duties at Case. At the Play House, he served as actor, director (he directed the last production which featured members of the Play House company, The Immigrant) and, for two seasons, as artistic associate and head of the intern program.

In 1985, Dr. Swetland was asked to direct Hamlet at the Champlain Shakespeare festival in Burlington, Vermont and returned for the next three summers to direct such stylistically
diverse plays as The Taming of the Shrew and The Miracle Worker.

While a member of the faculty at Case Western, Dr. Swetland was also one of the original members of THE ACTOR’S COMPANY, a pre-professional acting company. It was as an actor in that company that he was nominated twice and was the recipient of the Best Supporting Actor award by the Cleveland Critic’s Circle.

Dr. Swetland also taught at the University of Akron, where he served as Master Acting Instructor for one semester. He also served as an acting teacher for the experimental program which sought to certify Ohio high school drama teachers.

For the last eleven years Dr. Swetland has appeared extensively with the Great Lakes Theatre Festival in a wide variety of roles. He also worked at Porthouse Summer Theatre where he was in the original company of Kent State students who formed the nucleus of that early acting troop. He performed at the Beck Center for the Performing Arts, Dobama Theatre (in that wonderful little leaky theatre!), Berea Summer Theatre and at the Contemporary American Theatre Company in Columbus where he tries to do at least one show per season.

Along with his teaching, acting, and directing credits, Dr. Swetland has worked in film (Miracle Dog with Rue McClanahan and a very talented Josh Hutchenson who has become something of a young star, and Turn of Faith with Charles Durning and Ray
Mancini). He has also done voice and on-camera work throughout Northeast Ohio.