Al Schnupp, Ph.D. '85

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Al Schnupp, Ph.D. '85, is a retired university theatre professor who taught over 10,000 students at Cal Poly, SLO. He has directed and/or designed approximately 85 shows and written a dozen plays, many of which were published and produced in university settings, regional theatre venues and Off-Off-Broadway. Several of his plays feature real-life female artists and activists, such as Peggy Guggenheim, Käthe Kollwitz and LGBTQ+ icon Ivy Bottini. Two of his novellas were published by small independent presses: "Zero" (Cabal Books; BookLife/Publisher's Weekly Critic’s Pick) and "Goods & Effects" (Golden Antelope Press; 2021 BookViral Millennium Award, fiction category). He is also a visual artist and shows his work in a variety of galleries, shops and fairs.

In a recent article, he reflects on growing up in a strict Mennonite community shaped by fear, shame and emotional repression, including traumatic memories of suicide, rigid religious doctrine and family conflict. He contrasts this environment with the emotional honesty he later found in music, theater, painting and storytelling, which offered him a way to process pain and discover empathy, connection and personal freedom. The essay argues that the arts can become a transformative force: where religion and social conformity sometimes deepen wounds, artistic expression can help people confront suffering, reclaim humanity and turn emotional hurt into healing.

Schnupp earned his doctorate in theater arts.