Lou Bellamy is the founder and artistic director emeritus of Penumbra. During his 40 year tenure, Penumbra evolved into one of America’s premier theaters dedicated to dramatic exploration of the African American experience. Under his leadership, Penumbra has grown to be the largest theater of its kind in America and has produced over 40 world premieres, including August Wilson’s first professional production. Bellamy and Penumbra are proud to have produced more of Mr. Wilson’s plays than any theater in the world. Bellamy is an Obie Award-winning director, an accomplished actor, and for 38 years was appointed as an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance. Mr. Bellamy most recently directed Penumbra’s productions of What I Learned in Paris, Thurgood, Pipeline, and The Brothers Paranormal. Selected directing credits outside of Penumbra include plays at the Logan Festival, Indiana Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arizona Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Signature Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Guthrie Theater, Kennedy Center, Geva Theatre, Kansas City Repertory, Gem Theater, Round House, and Hartford Stage.