About the Webmaster
"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"
—The Wizard of Oz
In the garden of my wife, in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Lewis W. Heniford (aka Ig Heniford, aka Lewis Williams Heniford, American playwright, actor, bibliographical essayist, director, drama teacher, educator, film writer, librarian, novelist, producer, writer, b. Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A., April 16, 1928-____), trained in the postgraduate theatre program at the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill with the Carolina Playmakers.
He holds an A.B. degree in English from U.N.C., an M.A. degree in Library and Information Science from San Jose State University, and a Ph.D. degree in Speech and Drama from Stanford University.
He has taught drama and directed plays in North Carolina, Montana, California (U.S.A.), Germany, and Mexico—in high schools, community colleges, universities, and community theatres.
The Carolina Playmakers' legendary high regard for the one-act play format conditioned Dr. Heniford entire career in theatre. Since 1947, he has directed or produced more than a thousand short plays. Some of these won statewide awards in North Carolina and Montana. Some appeared on the programs of California statewide theatre and library conventions.
He received a U.S. Office of Education grant to found PACTO (Pan-American Community Theatre Organization) and has directed and produced one-act and full-length Spanish-language plays.
His students beginning in the 1940s for five decades presented short plays throughout the academic year, during many years producing a different short play each week and taking shows off campus to appropriate venues in their community.
He established a major collection of one-act plays, many of them rare; these scripts are archived in the Lewis W. Heniford Collection of Small-Cast One-Act Plays, The Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California, U.S.A., http://library.stanford.edu/depts/hasrg/ablit/britlit/heniford.htm.
Currently, he is
- managing this Web site with the assistance of Paul Lewis
- compiling a CD-ROM database of one-act plays listed on this Website
- tutoring students internationally via the Web
- writing résumés
- researching genealogy for an extended-family Website
- writing for publication in 2010 a family genealogy of seven-hundred-plus pages
- serving as occasional theatrical dramaturg and film script reviewer
- ghost writing for friends in need of help
Dr. Heniford's writing includes short and long stage plays, film scripts, a novel, computer guides, interactive multimedia software, and Web pages.