Martin McClendon

Martin McClendon

  • Professor of Theatre
    Email Address:
    mmcclendon@cnyc86.com
    Office location:
    Straz Center 143
    Phone
    262-551-6121

    Professor Martin McClendon joined the Carthage faculty full-time in 2007 after one year as an adjunct professor. He received a B.F.A. in acting from Rockford College in 1991, and an M.F.A. in acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign in 1994. He teaches a variety of classes at Carthage, designs scenery, and directs productions. Carthage bestowed tenured status on Professor McClendon in 2012.

    Prof. McClendon acted professionally in the midwest, Chicago, and Los Angeles for 11 years, earning membership in Actors Equity and SAG/AFTRA. Onstage credits include roles at Steppenwolf, Northlight, and Victory Gardens in Chicago. On-camera and voiceover work include appearances on “ER” and “Early Edition,” as well as pilots, independent films, and national ad campaigns.

    Prof. McClendon has directed numerous productions at Carthage, ranging from experimental verbatim theatre pieces to large-scale musicals. Three of his productions have been honored with selection for production at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, Region 3 Festival: “A Seat at the Table” (2018), “Afghanistan/Wisconsin” (2017), and “The Rail Splitter” (2012). He has received a KC/ACTF national award as Distinguished Director of a New Work (“Afghanistan/Wisconsin”), as well as a KC/ACTF regional Certificate of Merit for Direction (“Boeing Boeing”). Additionally, “A Seat at the Table” was honored with a KC/ACTF Citizen Artist Award in 2018 for “productions and companies that insist that theatrical production is central to the urgent community, national and international conversations on the campuses of higher education nationwide.”

    He has also pursued scenic carpentry, painting, and scenic design throughout his career. Prof. McClendon’s designs for Chicago-based Defiant Theatre (of which he was a company member) received three non-Equity Jeff Citation Nominations. He worked as a furniture maker and carpenter in Los Angeles, specializing in Arts and Crafts style pieces. In 2013, he was honored to contribute an article to Fine Woodworking magazine, on the furniture style of famous California designers Charles and Henry Greene.

    Prof. McClendon has received Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival national commendations for scenic design (“Up and Away,” “Man of La Mancha,” “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” and “One Day in the Season of Rain”), collaborative video and image routing (“The Breath of Stars”), and lighting design (“Ghost Bike”), as well as a regional Certificate of Merit for scenic design (“Boeing Boeing”, “A Doll’s House Part 2”) and puppetry (“Into the Woods”).

    Prof. McClendon continues to design scenery professionally. Recent credits include “Into The Woods” at Racine Theatre Guild, “Unnecessary Farce” at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and multiple shows at First Stage Children’s Theatre in Milwaukee. Credits there: “Diary of a Worm, Spider, and Fly,” “Nancy Drew and Her Biggest Case Ever, (world premiere)” “Stargirl,” “Goosebumps the Musical” (world premiere), “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “Locomotion,” and “A Wrinkle In Time.”  He has also worked with Artist’s Ensemble Theatre in Rockford, IL, most recently designing “Fox on the Fairway.”

    Prof. McClendon’s recent research and academic practice has revolved around giving voice to unheard stories through verbatim theatre, by gathering testimony from real people and using it to craft plays in response to community issues.  From 2015-2019, Prof. McClendon collaborated with student playwrights and researchers highlighting and encouraging dialogue about the veteran experience through verbatim theatre projects and community arts events, starting with “Afghanistan/Wisconsin.”  Working with student writer Laurel McKenzie, twelve veterans were interviewed as a summer research project, from which Ms. McKenzie created the script, which Prof. McClendon directed.  “Afghanistan/Wisconsin” was remounted at the KC/ACTF Region 3 festival in 2017.

    Prof. McClendon was granted a sabbatical in 2019 in order to create “Fighting For Home,” a verbatim play about the struggles of female service members, in collaboration with Dr. Becki Hornung of Carthage’s Social Work Department, and Marcella Kearns, guest director from Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. The production received a KC/ACTF Certificate of Merit for citizen artistry.

    Recent projects include “Frontline,” written with the seven students of the Verbatim Theatre Techniques class in J-Term of 2022, illuminating the stories of frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic.  “Frontline” received a full production in October 2022, made possible through collaboration with the Nursing Department and the Saemann Foundation. The show was cast entirely with Carthage Theatre alumni.

    Prof. McClendon collaborated with Prof. Nora Carroll and students Rayven Craft ’23 and Katie Layendecker ’25 to create “The Kenosha Verbatim Project” which received its premiere on May 20, 2023.  Based on interviews with twelve people about the unrest in Kenosha following the shooting of Jacob Blake in 2020, “KVP” was included in the “World Premiere Wisconsin” initiative and featured a cast of alumni and community-based actors.

    Martin was honored to receive the Association for Theatre in Higher Education Innovative Teaching Award for 2016-17 for his work with students in developing veteran theatre projects. He is also the co-founder, with David Chrisinger and Lawrence Gums, of Carthage’s annual Veteran Night of the Arts, held every November from 2016-2019 as a fundraiser for Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin. He is the 2016 recipient of the Carthage Quality of Life Enhancement Award for his work to raise awareness of veteran issues on campus.