Directing

As a director I specialize in laboratory and co-created performances, devised adaptations, university productions, musical performances, and new plays. Recent partnerships have included directing at Columbia College’s MFA in Acting and Contemporary Performance Making; Oracle, Red Tape, and Trap Door in Chicago; VoxLab, a summer festival of new works at Dartmouth College; and working as a movement specialist staging violence, intimacy, and stylization for main stage productions at the University of IL at Chicago. My most prominent work as a director has been with Walkabout Theater in Chicago (now called Wender Collective). For reviews and descriptions of those works please see Walkabout Theater or Outdoor Phenomenon in this portfolio. Below are highlights from additional projects.

Torn Like a Rose (2024)

Director | Libretto by Ruth Margraff, Choreography by Malia'Kekia Nicolini, with music by Graham Haynes, Jeysa de la Caridad, and Cooper Forsman. Presented by Ruth Margraff and Wender Collective at the Nišville Jazz Theatre Festival, Niš, Serbia.
Between Us (2024)

Director | First year showcase presented at Long Island University's Little Theater, Geenvale, NY. An evening of short plays, scenes and dance performances. Lights by Frankie Ferrer and Costumes by Olivia Button.
The Lightning Thief (2023)

Director | Presented at The New England Youth Theatre in Brattleboro, VT. Book by Joe Tracz, Music and Lyrics by Rob Rokicki, Choreography by Malia'Kekia Nicolini, Music Direction by Bob Thies.
To Sheep To Dream (2023)

Director | Co-created with choreographer Virginia Scholl and music director Amy Cann. Community dance celebration featured at Sandglass Theater’s Puppets in Paradise, Brattleboro, VT.
Revelation Mars (2019)

Director | Co-created with MFA in Acting and Contemporary Performance Making at Columbia College Chicago. Inspired by Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.
Oklahoma! Winner Takes All (2018)

Director | Co-created with MFA in Acting and Contemporary Performance Making at Columbia College Chicago. Inspired by Oklahoma! and The Outsiders.
Mother of Smoke (2017)

Director | Co-created with Walkabout and Red Tape ensembles in Chicago. Original text by Emma Stanton, Morgan McNaught, and Lucas Baisch with fragments of Mee’s Trojan Women and Checkov’s Cherry Orchard.
Circle-Machine (2016)

Director | Adaptation of Chuck Mee’s Full Circle by Emma Stanton, Nigel O’Hearn, Thom Pasculli | Oracle Productions, Chicago
Core of the PUDEL (2013)

Director | Co-created work inspired by the legend of Faust | Links Hall and Trap Door Theatre, Chicago. Jeff Award Nominated best ensemble / best adaptation.
The Reluctant Lesbian (2012)

Director | New Work Written by Kate Mulley | Cherry Lane Studio, NY, NY | VoxLab, NH
Amahl and the Night Visitors (2015)

Movement Director | Directed by John Sheehan at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall