Bruce Bacon - Department Chair and Instructor of Scene Design and Technical Direction

A member of the class of 1974, Bruce Bacon returned to Phillips Academy in 1994 after spending 10 years in Kansas City. There he served as technical director and operations manager for the Missouri Repertory Theatre and headed the technical production division of the M.F.A. Theatre program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He holds a B.A. degree in mathematics and theatre from Amherst College and an M.F.A. degree from the Yale School of Drama. During the summer, Bacon is the production manager at the Adirondack Theatre Festival in New York .

Mark Efinger - Instructor of Acting and Directing

A 1974 Phillips graduate with a B.A. degree in theatre from Middlebury College, Mark Efinger was the artistic director of the Zeiwbreuken American Playhouse in Germany during his Army career. He acted with community and professional theatres before returning to directing at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, where he earned an M.F.A. degree. Efinger directed numerous plays for the North Carolina Playwrights Festival and taught in the university’s undergraduate theatre department. In 1993, he returned to Andover as the theatre and dance department chair and assistant wrestling coach.

Kevin Heelan - Instructor of Playwriting, Acting and Directing

Kevin Heelan is the author of numerous plays, including Distant Fires, seen in New York off-Broadway at the Circle in the Square theatre. It was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award as best play and subsequently was produced in Los Angeles, starring Samuel L. Jackson, and was nominated for Hollywood's Ovation Award. Other plays include Right Behind the Flag, produced at Playwrights Horizons with Kevin Spacey, and Heartland, starring Sean Penn on Broadway. The Hope Zone was produced in New York in 1996 by Circle Rep and starred Olympia Dukakis. His screen adaptation of Split Cherry Tree, starring the late Colleen Dewhurst, was seen on HBO and subsequently nominated for an Academy Award as best live action short. Along with Norman Lear, Heelan wrote and co-produced the pilot episode of a television series, 704 Hauser. He joined the PA faculty in 1983.

Billy Murray has a B.A. degree in theatre arts and classical studies from St. Andrews, an M.F.A. degree in design, theatre, cinema, and an M.Ed. degree in fine arts education, K-12, from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His credits include costume/ lighting design for Misanthrope, The Crucible, Big River, Dido and Aenaus, On the Verge; scenic design for the National Opera, Gianni Schicchi, M. Choufleuri, The Italian Girl in Algiers, Elixir of Love, Beatrice and Benedict; costume design for Gianni Schicchi, Evita, La Boheme, Sour Angelica, Street Scene, University of North Carolina, Conservatory of Music; and cutter/draper for Julius Caesar, The Matchmaker, The Dybik, As You Like It, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival.

Judith Tribo Wombwell - Instructor of Dance

Judy Wombwell moved to Massachusetts in 1995 to join the faculty of Phillips Academy. Originally from Memphis, Tenn., she danced for several years with the Ballet Memphis and served as ballet mistress for three years. Her choreography for the company included a full length Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. She also founded and co-directed the modern dance company Project: Motion, which is celebrating its 13th anniversary in Memphis. She received an Excellence in Choreography award for Carousel, performed by Playhouse on the Square. She has worked extensively to design programs that bring professional dance into city schools with curriculum-based topics.