David Engel: The Actor
“Engel, an actor of tremendous physical and verbal gifts, carries it off effortlessly, bringing both meaning and masquerade to every word.”
“Engel…is more comically than seriously indignant. His humor is goofy but it works, adding an element of post-modern burlesque.”
As an actor, David has enjoyed a varied career performing Shakespeare, Avant-guard, contemporary drama, spectacle theatre, and Restoration comedy. Mr. Engel also has over 30 commercial, film and television credits including Law & Order, Gossip Girl, The Untouchables (TV series), Early Edition and Missing Persons.
Mr. Engel is also an accomplished Fight Director, having choreographed over 35 productions, and is a member (in honorary withdrawal) of Actor’s Equity, S.A.G and A.F.T.R.A. Training: Columbia College, Chicago (’89) and past alumna of the Piven Theater Workshop, and Shakespeare and Company.
SELECTED ACTING CREDITS
New York: Titus in Titus Andronicus, Gotham Shakes @ SoHo Rep, NYC; The Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Target Margin (Off-Broadway); Hunchback co-produced with Chicago’s Steppenwolf & Redmoon Theaters for the Henson Festival @ Public Theater, NYC.
Regional: Macbeth in Macbeth, Playhouse on the Square, Memphis, TN; Moonlight and Magnolia’s, Opus, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, OH; A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream, Maryland Stage @ CenterStage, Baltimore; Valere in La Bete, and Stonewall Jackson’s House, Wayside Theater, VA; Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac, Athos in The Three Musketeers, B.F.B Tours, Miami, FL.
Chicago: Hysteria (directed by John Malkovich) and Charles Lang in The Water Engine, both for Steppenwolf Theater. The title role of Hamlet, Andrew Rally in I Hate Hamlet, Valere in La Bete, plus The Recruiting Officer, Our Country’s Good, The Custom of the Country, for Buffalo Theater Ensemble; multiple roles with Redmoon Theater productions of Moby-Dick, Frankie and Johnny, Hunchback, and the multi-award winning Plan B productions of Pentecost and The Kentucky Cycle..
MORE TESTIMONIALS FROM CRITICS AND PEERS
“Engel…makes the bloodthirsty king (Macbeth) as pathetic as he is volatile and terrifying.”
Chris Davis, Memphis Flyer, Memphis, TN
“…Breathlessly played by David Engel as a kind of bookish Groucho Marx.”
Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune Chief Critic
“Engel exhibited his richly nuanced understanding of Shakespeare…”
Lucia Mauro, Performink, Chicago, IL
"David Engel, in a bravura performance as Valere, not only keeps up the steam in that incredible first-act monologue but also manages to suggest, throughout his constantly inventive portrayal of egocentric hamminess, a kind of 17th Century Robin Williams on the loose. Bravo to him.”
Richard Christiansen, Chicago Tribune Chief Critic
“…Played with wicked intelligence by David Engel.”
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
“…Played with death-tinged comic brilliance by David Engel.”
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
“Of all actors I have directed, David is one of the most successful at his ability to marry his thought and feeling processes…”
Peter Forster, Freelance Director, Casting Agent & Professor of Drama, De Paul University, Chicago