Ethan Hollinger

Ethan Hollinger makes stories with light, sound, and media. A designer, educator, and tinkerer, their work begins with two questions: What is the story asking for, and how do we make it happen? At UC Davis, they bring that same curiosity to their teaching and production work, from theatre and dance to projects that stretch beyond traditional performance spaces.

As an Assistant Professor of Teaching, Hollinger works with students who arrive from many different directions. Some already think of themselves as designers; others are drawn to the mechanics of the stage, curious about how performance is built, or eager to get involved in making art on a larger scale. He meets students where they are, helping them develop their own artistic instincts while learning the practical skills to turn an idea into something real. His teaching is hands-on and collaborative, with an emphasis on experimentation, communication, and learning what to do when the first idea doesn’t quite work.

Hollinger continues to design professionally alongside his work at UC Davis. Recent and current highlights include lighting design for The Lehman Trilogy and Just for Us at Capital Stage, sound design for Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at B Street Theatre, and projection design for Eureka Day at Capital Stage. They also regularly design lighting for dance and especially value the conversation between movement, music, space, and light.

Hollinger is drawn to work that uses design to build worlds that spill past the edges of the stage. In their practice, light, sound, and media can sometimes become performers in their own right, carrying narrative, atmosphere, and rhythm; at other times, they recede, shape focus, and give a human performer the space to carry the story. He is especially interested in projects where design disciplines overlap, where technology can reshape an audience’s relationship to space and performance, and where the boundaries between theatre, dance, installation, and interactive work begin to blur.

Hollinger was a two-year Frederick Douglass Fellow at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and their design work has been recognized at multiple regional festivals of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. They have presented at national industry conferences including the USITT Annual Conference & Stage Expo and Live Design International (LDI). He holds an M.F.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Lighting Design from Illinois State University and a B.A. in Theatre, summa cum laude, from North Greenville University.

When he isn’t making things or teaching other people to make them, Hollinger is a writer, musician, traveler, and avid hiker, usually with popcorn nearby, a D20 within reach, and increasingly questionable quantities of tea.