Rick Blunt Guest Artist in Residence, Adjunct Professor, Hollins University Rick has an MFA in Shakespeare and Performance (Acting Emphasis) from Mary Baldwin College. Rick first visited Hollins University as a member of the American Shakespeare Center's touring troupe. He has worked as a professional actor for 13 years, mainly at the American Shakespeare Center (Staunton, VA) where he has appeared as 75 different characters in over 30 productions, including Falstaff, Iago, Nick Bottom, Don Armado, Sir Toby Belch, and most recently Puck. While on tour Rick has performed for and taught Shakespeare Workshops for a variety of communities at places like University of Texas, Georgetown, and Mississippi State. Rick also wrote an original one man show called Boatloads of Shame, which was performed in Los Angeles, and New York. Rick is a former collegiate athlete and came to love Shakespeare while climbing telephone poles for the telephone company.