At Play: Brendan Hunt, The Art Couple

Symphony Space's At Play series invites actors, playwrights, and artists to imagine, create, and yes, play. The result? Special evenings that are one-night-only and only at Symphony Space. The idea for the series was created in collaboration with actor–director John Benjamin Hickey and launched with a reading of Neil Simon’s classic Plaza Suite, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, directed by Hickey. The evening led to a wildly successful, sold-out Broadway run and a transfer to London's West End.

Brendan Hunt is an award-winning actor, screenwriter and playwright living in Los Angeles, best known for co-creating the international hit Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso along with Jason Sudeikis, Joe Kelly, and Bill Lawrence. He is also an ensemble member for the show, portraying Ted's trusty assistant Coach Beard. In its first two seasons the show won consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, a Peabody Award, and many others. A Chicago native and a veteran of sketch and improv comedy, Brendan’s first professional gig was as performer and writer with the notorious comedy theater Boom Chicago in Amsterdam, where he performed with Sudeikis, Seth Meyers, Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, Amber Ruffin, Heather Anne Campbell, and many more. His solo show about that experience, Five Years in Amsterdam, debuted at iO West in Los Angeles, and went on to be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Upright Citizens Brigade LA & NY, Second City ETC, and the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival. In theater, Hunt has twice been nominated for LA Theater’s Ovation Awards, winning one for Best Actor in a Musical. His two plays, Absolutely Filthy and The Art Couple, both had sold-out LA runs, with the former winning Best Show at both the Hollywood Fringe Festival and the New York International Fringe Festival. His newest solo work, The Movement You Need, just completed a sold-out run at the Soho Playhouse in Manhattan. His television and film appearances include Bless This Mess, Community, Parks and Recreation, Key & Peele, and the upcoming indie science fiction film Chimera. Hunt’s time in Amsterdam engendered in him a passion for the sport of football that would eventually prove to be life-changing, leading not only to Ted Lasso but also finding him as co-host of Apple News' wildly successful World Cup podcast After the Whistle with NBC Sports' Rebecca Lowe.