Paul Edward Hope is a DC area base actor, singer, fight director, and teaching artist. Prior to relocating to DC in the fall of 2009 he was based in New York City, working with Off Broadway and Off-off Broadway theatres. He has toured nationally and internationally with The Kennedy Center, and has performed with award winning regional theatres such as: The Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and the Oregon Cabaret Theatre. He was a founding member of the Helen Hayes Award winning group, Faction of Fools and is a frequent collaborator with DC’s Taffety Punk theatre company. As an independent fight director, he has choreographed fights for: The Annapolis Shakespeare Company (resident fight director), The Utah Shakespeare Festival, Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Stella Adler Studios (NYC), Michael Howard Studios (NYC), Folding Chair Classical Theatre (NYC - resident movement director), Urban Stages (NYC), and multiple shows and Bootlegs for Taffety Punk Theatre Company, including the now infamous light sabre duel.
He now lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Vanessa and dog, Daisy. Acting Credits: NYC: Red Bull Theatre: A Jovial Crew, Don Jonny; York Theatre Company: The Black
Dahlia; Folding Chair Classical Theatre: Posthumus in Cymbeline, Ralph Clark in Our Country’s Good, Aegisthus/Apollo in The Oresteia; ShakespeareNYC: Macduff in Macbeth; American Globe Theatre: Macduff in Macbeth; BAM Outside Arts Festival: Costard in Love’s Labours’ Lost; Urban Stages: Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night; Point of Entry Theatre (P.O.E.T.) in residence at Lincoln Center: Lucentio/Grumio/Tailor in a 3-actor version of The Taming of the Shrew. DC: The Shakespeare Theatre Company: first waiter in The Servant of Two Masters; The Kennedy Center: Dad in Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical, Det. Mike Thomas in Shear Madness; REP Stage: Robert in BOEING BOEING; Bay Theatre Company: Rick in The Foursome, Henry Irving/Executioner in The Actor’s Nightmare, Gary in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You; Baltimore Shakespeare Festival: Rivers/Richmond in Richard III; Faction of Fools: Capitano/Pedrolino in Tales of Love and Sausages, Capitano/Boy in The Sandbox (at Arena Stage) and many others; Taffety Punk: Syrrus in Burn Your Bookes, Heironymous in suicide.chat.room, Hector in Bootleg Troilus and Cressida, Guiderius in Bootleg Cymbeline, ‘Osric’ in Bootleg Hamlet – The Badass Quarto, and also Bootleg Two
Noble Kinsmen and Bootleg Henry VIII. REGIONAL: The Utah Shakespeare Festival: Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, Starveling in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Rocky in Damn Yankees, also – Forever Plaid and Cmplt Wrks of Wllm Shkspr Abridged; Royal George Theatre, Chicago/Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (tour): Frankie/Jinx in Forever Plaid; Orlando Shakespeare Theatre: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar; Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Ashland, OR: Matt, et al in 5 Course Love; Lake George Theatre Lab: Owen in The Swearing Jar. INTERNATIONAL: Spring of Culture Festival, Manama, Bahrain: Dad in Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical (The Kennedy Center, producer). TRAINING: MFA: The Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University; The Royal National Theatre Studio Summer Acting Programme; BFA: Millikin University. Proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.