For over 20 years I have enjoyed living and working in New York City as a professional theatre artist and teacher as well as using my outgoing personality, my exceptional organizational and administrative skills successfully in the hospitality and corporate environments. I am a Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union member as well as a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Okay, a lot more...
{Directing}My approach to directing is one of exploration & experimentation in rehearsals and highly detailed in pre-production preparation. Trained?in varied acting techniques I use multiple approaches to nurture actors in finding their way to an honest and thoughtful performance giving them room to grow and develop their characters fully and naturally. An easy, collaborative environment?when working with designers, producers and actors alike is?vital and the key ingredients for me is listening carefully, considering differing options respectfully and being decisive at crucial times.?
{Playwriting}Playwriting is more than a passion for me it's something intrinsic that happens throughout the day, every day from the time I wake up with script ideas whirling around in my head to writing notes on random scraps of paper and being inspired by everything around me. With over twenty-two plays written I always look forward to every new character inspiration and every story come to life.
{Dramaturg}??It's a tremendous pleasure to?enter?a production in progress or to start at the beginning with a creative team helping them to?make the most of their production. ?My natural love of research and exceptional organizational skills are an asset with complicated productions as well as working with collaborating with new?writers, helping them develop their plays before, during and after production. Seeing a new play shine on stage and a writer experience the exhilaration of seeing their work come alive in front of an audience is thrilling. My education background also contributes to my success as a dramaturg when creating supplemental and interpretive materials for the benefit of audience understanding and participation & educational programs.
After graduating I chose to continue my theatre studies while incorporating teacher training and found that my love and passion for the theatre only grew when I combined it with a love of teaching. Attending Leslie College (now a university) where great emphasis is paid to encouraging artistic expression in all areas of education I was inspired to tailor the Arts Education program to focus much of my work on drama in education.
Accepted into the Theatre Arts Bachelor program at Salem State College (now a university) I had the immense pleasure of studying with truly talented, nurturing theatre professionals in an intimate class environment. We studied every aspect of theatre production and learned first-hand how to take a script from the page on to the stage and all with an emphasis on respect for your fellow theatre artists and the expressive art form we all clearly loved.
I was only six years old when I saw my first professional theatre production, a traveling repertory company performing The Fantasticks for a group of American students living in Gaeta, Italy where all the students' parents were stationed by the U.S. Navy. From the moment the actors took the stage in the make-shift theatre (our grade-school gymnasium) the heartwarming story, the eccentric characters and the beautiful music captivated my imagination and I not only fell in love with the theatre I knew then my life would happily never be the same. I started training professionally in my final year of high school when the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston began a teen program for aspiring theatre professionals affording us the opportunity of learning from the first table-read to opening night, the intricate processes of brining On the Verge; or, The Geography of Yearning by Eric Overmyer to theatrical life.
In Pursuit of a Passion
In the glorious city of Galway, Ireland I had the pleasure of studying for my TEFL certificate at the Bridge Mills Language Centre successfully completeting the program and quickly going on to teach English as a second language once again finding that my passion for theatre/drama was clearly useful in every aspect of my life. When working with ESL students individually and in the classroom setting I incorporate drama practices to enhance the learning process encouraging play and exploration and a love of the language. And, as we can never stop learning, I am currently a Master degree student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England pursuing an advanced degree in Creative Producing and Dramaturgy.
EDUCATION
Creative Writing - Arts Enrichment Programs (Applied Drama)
English as a second language (ESL)
THEATRE
Director - Playwright - Dramaturg
