About

I'm fascinated by the exploration of theatrical magic in intimate performance spaces, the creation of other worlds for engaged audiences only a few feet away. I love the challenge of generating a similar immediacy for audiences within much larger venues or through a screen.

I believe that, to stay relevant, theatre must create something for audiences that they cannot find elsewhere.

I believe that attention to detail in all aspects of production is vitally important, no matter how small (or large) the venue and budget.

I believe that any production must simultaneously recognize the humanity and capacity of the artists creating the work.

I believe in excellence without exhaustion.

I believe in building community through performance.

I believe in recycling and upcycling and repurposing as much as possible in my design work.

I believe we have a responsibility to acknowledge and address the climate crisis.

I believe that we need to clean the air we share.

I believe that theatre cannot be afraid to embrace new technology.

I believe that technology cannot take the place of good storytelling.

My design aesthetic tends toward spectacular minimalism and elegant, economical maximalism.

For ten years I was Producing Artistic Director of Know Theatre of Cincinnati, where I've also been resident scenic and lighting designer since 2007.

As a playwright, my work has been seen in Cincinnati, Edinburgh, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. My plays include Of People and Not Things, A.J. Raffles: Amateur Cracksman, Between the Water and the Air, and the musical The Light Chasers with music and lyrics by Craig Minowa, based upon the album Light Chasers by Cloud Cult.

My directing work includes 3 plays by Steve Yockey, one by Lauren Gunderson, and several multi-scene adventure plays.

My writing, directing, and performance experience round out an approach to design that aims to serve the theatrical experience as a whole.

Here's a pretty cool thing about me from American Theatre Magazine.

Here are some nice things people in the press have said in writing.

"Listening to their raw, celebratory songs echo against the brick walls, as lighting designer Andrew Hungerford’s gorgeous array of starry light bulbs glimmered overhead, I heard lines from my favorite poem running through my head: “We must risk delight … We must admit there will be music despite everything.”

Sarah Holdren

Vulture review of Hundred Days at NYTW

"It’s also visually powerful, as columns of sand cascade onto Kris Stone and Andrew Hungerford’s spare set (lit by Hungerford for maximum drama)"

James Herbert

San Diego Tribune review of Hundred Days at La Jolla Playhouse

The set looks spectacularly like the product of a fateful collision between a laser tag course and an episode of Star Trek...Hungerford also employs ingenious lighting tactics that create a delightful cosmic atmosphere.

Jackie Mulay

CityBeat review of The Absentee at Know Theatre

"The play’s entertaining dialogue and director/designer Andrew Hungerford’s rotating set beckons the audience to lean forward into the story, and wonder what the hell is happening. Upbeat, offbeat and bloody funny...Mercury is a dark-horse crowd pleaser featuring an engaging cast and more than a few surprises."

Harper Lee

CityBeat review of Mercury at Know Theatre

"Andrew Hungerford’s exquisite set and lighting designs offered breathtaking, painterly tableaus."

Rick Pender

CityBeat review of Oliver Twist at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company

"Add to that Andrew J. Hungerford’s beautiful lighting and a gobsmacking projection design by Adam Flemming, and it’s all pretty gorgeous."

Jennie Webb

Backstage review of Creation at Boston Court Pasadena

"Director Iskandar heads a deeply artistic design team. The action plays on a nuanced and engrossing set by Julia Noulin-Merat under dramatic, complex, and often beautiful lights by Andrew Hungerford... at the end, the entire cast returns and forms a stunning stage picture, reaffirming the brilliance of the director and his design team."

Joseph Samuel Wright

theasy.com review of the remount of These 7 Sicknesses at the Flea.

"simple, but ethereal lighting design by Andrew Hungerford gives a perfect context for this transportive work."

MIA BONADONNA

Laist Review of Glint by Need Theatre at Hollywood Fringe

"Andrew Hungerford's stark, ingenious production design blinks with binary precision and cranks and creaks like the cruel machinery of commerce itself. In Burnham's dynamic staging, with most furnishings replaced by objects of containment and torture, the performers literally turn the winches of their own destruction."

Julie York Coppens

CityBeat review of Adding Machine: The Musical at Know Theatre