welcome

Hello!

I am currently the drama teacher and director at North Shore High School in Glen Head, NY, where I established the curricular theater program in 2021.  I hold an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU Steinhardt and graduated with a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch, where I studied at the Atlantic Acting School and Playwrights Horizons Theater School.  I have directed over 80 productions with young artists, many of which were at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, where I taught for fifteen summers.  

Along with directing the shows listed on my resume, I have developed and implemented curriculum progressions for students in various contexts.  At North Shore, our high school program challenges students to engage with theater’s past and present in order to create the work of the future. Our entry-level class connects essential acting skills to their historical roots.  For example, students explore how to physically pursue objectives through Greek mask work. In our next level, students deepen their performance skills with units on improvisation and acting technique, and expand their focus to include the roles of director, designer, and playwright, working through units in production design and studying contemporary play texts like The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe.  This prepares them to workshop a new play by a professional playwright as well-rounded, collaborative artists.  In their third year, students form a theater company, develop a mission statement, take on logistical and creative roles, and write and fully produce original devised pieces.  Our program culminates in a Shakespeare course in which students investigate classical texts alongside their modern adaptations in order to prepare for a touring production that they share with local schools and the community. 

Working with passionate young performers has taught me to develop joyful, challenging spaces born out of support and accountability.  I strive to foster communities in which students are connected around the common pursuits of bravely stepping out of their comfort zones, taking risks, and owning their work.  As a director, I equip actors with an acute understanding of script analysis, so that they can commit to disruptive and truthful performances that are driven by love and founded on real and honest connection with other actors. I encourage them to bring their whole selves to the characters that they play—the parts they love and the parts which make them wary, and I remind them that it is this very imperfection which makes us human and compelling. I often find that a cast can teach me more about a play than I could ever figure out on my own—and in this way, the act of collaboration becomes one of transcendence—where the new work of theater takes on a life of its own that we all must serve.

Thanks for checking out my site! Please visit the Contact Me page if you’d like to get in touch.