Bio
With more than 30 years of experience as a theatre maker, Todd Ristau is passionate about lifting up voices and helping playwrights turn ideas into stories and stories into plays.
He is a distinguished graduate of the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and his own work has been produced in theatres ranging from church basements to London's West End. At Iowa he created No Shame Theatre in the back of his pickup truck and opened the first "franchise" in New York's HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art during his internship in the their literary office. Bob Moss, of Playwrights Horizons, once called No Shame Theatre a "national Caffe Cino."
Ristau was a member of Geese Theatre, a touring Grotowski-based improvisational mask work company that only performed in prisons and has acted on university and regional stages. Highlights include a tour of W. David Hancock's original production of Race of the Ark Tattoo (directed by David Gothard) and performing in his own one-person play Under a Banner of Shadow at Studio Roanoke.
Ristau was the founding artistic director of Midwest Center for Developing Artists as well as Studio Roanoke. He led new works programming at Mill Mountain Theatre from 2003 to 2009.
Ristau has taught in graduate and undergraduate theatre programs at several universities. He created the Playwright's Lab at Hollins University in 2006, which he led as program director until 2025.
He has been active in leadership with SETC and KCACTF, with many awards and commendations for his work with student playwrights and their productions. Honors include the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion and the Kendig Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture.
He is currently doing freelance work through Ristau Rising LLC. Ristau also conducts annual workshops for Barter's Young Playwrights Festival and is a regular respondent for the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights.
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