I am a director, deviser, teaching artist and sometime writer newly based in Washington, DC.
Throughout my career, I have strived to create theatre that addresses deep and difficult questions about our current reality. I want to make plays that turn spectators into witnesses: where they encounter an extraordinary story in such a way that they feel altered by, and responsible towards, what they have seen. I cherish work like Moisés Kaufman's The Laramie Project, or Yael Farber's Molora. These directors touch on large social and political issues by sharing incredibly human stories in theatrical ways. I want to use the liveness of theatre to form a sense of community and urgency around these stories.
I am interested in simultaneously building bridges between people and helping my audiences see the gaps between us that we have to traverse. I am interested in work that requires us to acknowledge our presence in a live event, consider our purpose within it, and thus begin to consider our place in a larger community or conversation.
I currently serve as Assistant Professor of Theatre and Theatre Coordinator at CCBC Catonsville. I am running the campus' theatre program, teaching a heavy course load and directing for the college season.
My scholarly research focuses on directing, witnessing theory, relational antagonism, and audience participation. I am currently conducting research on how participatory theatre can combat White Supremacy. I have been published in the Journal of Dramatic Theory & Criticism, Theatre Topics and HowlRound, and presented at various conferences.
As director, my work has been seen in New York, Chicago, London, Boston and Baltimore. I am the former Artistic Director of Examined Man Theatre, a New York-based non-profit theatre company dedicated to developing plays based on true stories. We took testimonial material from newspapers, interviews and other texts and molded stories in a variety of unique forms from solo-performance to revenge tragedy to musical. I have directed with the Old Vic New Voices, Bridge Rep, Living Room Playmakers, Fresh Ink, and many others.
I hold a MFA in Directing at Northwestern University. My thesis was on creating witnesses in the theater, and I have special concentrations in civic engagement and adaptation of classical texts. For my final directing project, I combined all of these areas to create Thou Proud Dream, a site-specific adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V exploring the necessity and ethics of America's military discourse.
As an assistant, I travelled internationally with the award-winning South African director Yael Farber on her acclaimed production of Molora, her adaptation of The Oresteia set within her country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I also spent three seasons with Red Bull Theater, New York's home for Jacobean theater.
