Robert Haven

After receiving his undergraduate degree in English Education from Keene State College in Keene, New Hampshire, went on to spend sixteen years teaching grade 8 English in his home state of New Hampshire.

Getting a taste of the theater with school productions, he went on to receive his MA in School and Community Theater from Emerson College in Boston. As part of his graduate program he also developed a year round children's theater in New Hampshire called Kids Into Drama (K.I.D.). After serving as artistic director for ten years he left New Hampshire to pursue an MFA in Costume Production and Shop Management at the University of Delaware Professional Theatre Training Program.

Upon completion of the degree he served as Costume Shop Manager and Lecturer at the University of Michigan where he developed a computer program called the Wardrobe Wizard. In addition he has worked in many regional theaters including the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, the Old Globe Theatre, the Guthrie Theatre, the Hope Summer Repertory and American Stage Festival in Milford, New Hampshire.

After four years at the U of M he took on the job of Costume Director at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois where he was responsible for the overall operation of the costume department as well as the MFA Costume Technology program. During his five years at Illinois, he was introduced to the work of Shozo Sato, founder of the Illinois Kabuki Theatre. Along with professional cutter draper Manin Rassi he began to work on documenting the construction techniques used to create traditional Kabuki costumes. This has resulted in a presentation of Kabuki costumes at the USITT National Convention in Toronto followed by a master class in constructing kimonos.

Currently, he is an associate professor of Costume Technology and costume director at the University of Kentucky and also serves as the Vice -Commissioner for Programming for the Costume Commission of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. The most recent Kabuki master class on men's wear included a special day of activities for public school teachers in Kentucky that culminated with a presentation of Scenes from Kabuki Macbeth directed by Shozo Sato and performed by Chicago actors Barbara Robertson and Michael Goldberg.

At the University of Kentucky, he oversees the operation of the Costume Studio. He teaches a range of costume technology courses and also serves as Co-Director of the University of Kentucky's Asia Center.