Rachel Hauck, Lewis Center for the Arts

Lecturer in Theater

Photo by Jennifer Reilley

About

Rachel Hauck is a New York based theatrical set designer. She designs extensively Off Broadway and for regional theater, frequently working on new plays and musicals. She has been honored to work with such remarkable directors as Rachel Chavkin, Scott Ellis, Michael Greif, Thomas Kail, Leigh Silverman, Anne Kauffman, Dominique Serrand, Molly Smith, Tony Taccone, Emily Mann, Bill Rauch, Jo Bonney and Lisa Peterson on new plays by extraordinary playwrights and composers such as Anaïs Mitchell, Shaina Taub, The Bengsons, Heidi Schreck, Bruce Norris, Lindsey Ferrentino, Naomi Wallace, Katori Hall, Lisa Peterson, Denis O’Hare, David Greenspan, Tanya Barfield, Culture Clash, Martín Zimmerman and Luis Alfaro among many others.

In New York, Ms. Hauck recently designed the set for the Tony Award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown. She is nominated for a 2023 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play for her work on Good Night, Oscar. Other recent work includes the Broadway production of Latin History for Morons by and starring John Leguizamo, and she regularly designs for such theaters as the Public Theater, 2nd Stage, Roundabout Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theater, New York Theater Workshop, the Vineyard Theater and the Atlantic Theater as well as for ground breaking downtown companies such as Ars Nova and Soho Rep. Ms. Hauck has also designed extensively for regional theater including work at the Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arena Stage and the McCarter Theatre among many, many others. Upcoming projects include Othello and Twelfth Night for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park and Hadestown for the National Theater in London. She is honored to be again working with Sonya Tayeh on her hour-long dance piece for Jacob’s Pillow, You’ll Still Call Me By Name.

Rachel was the Resident Set Designer at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference for 10 years. As such, she worked with more than 70 playwrights, focusing on their work dramaturgically from a design perspective. For many years, she was also a regular designer at the Mark Taper Forum’s New Work Festival in Los Angeles. She has taught at Brown University, Vassar College, NYU, Cal Arts and currently teaches at Princeton University. She remains dedicated to new play development and the education of young artists, and she continues to work with students at the National Theater Institute at the O’Neill whenever possible.

Ms. Hauck’s design work has been recognized with a Tony Award as well as Drama Desk, Lortel and Ovation nominations. In 2019 she received the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Musical and in 2012 she received the Lilly Award for Excellence in Scenic Design and an OBIE for Sustained Achievement in Design. Rachel is honored to have received the Faberge Award from the Princess Grace Foundation. She was an NEA/TCG Fellow, and was very fortunate to be the first recipient of the internship in Art Direction from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her work has been displayed at the Prague Quadrennial, an international exhibition focused on theatrical design.