About Me
As an artist, scholar, and educator, I am committed to telling powerful, transformational stories. My practice and pedagogy revolve around the idea that engaging with theater and performance allows us to explore how humans make meaning, learn to hold multiple truths simultaneously, and act in solidarity with others. I received my Ph.D. in modern and contemporary literature at the University of Virginia in 2019, focusing on contemporary drama.
My scholarship on contemporary theater and critical theory has appeared in PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, The Journal of Contemporary Drama in English, the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, and the essay collection The Written Dead, among other places. My current research includes a book tentatively titled The Possibilities of Catastrophe: Tragic Visions of the Anthropocene in Contemporary Drama and a project on creative anachronism in contemporary performance.
I am also an experienced theater practitioner, working primarily as a theater director and creative producer for the past fifteen years, alongside my academic pursuits. I currently collaborate with regional theaters and service organizations in the greater Philadelphia area. I am also proud to serve on the board of New Light Theatre.
I have recently taught courses on writing and critical inquiry, playwriting, global theater, and theater for social change as the Edgar F. Shannon Postdoctoral Fellow at UVa, a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, and in my current post as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware. Aside from my classroom teaching, I have supervised artist-apprentices in theater direction, dramaturgy, and production management.
I have directed with, produced work by, or dramaturged for Bree Luck, Julie Hamberg, Marianne Kubik, Jeremy Duncan Pape, Betsy Rudelich Tucker, Ray Nedzel, and Lisa Devine, and enjoyed the mentorship of Sandy Robbins and other members of the University of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players. I have also worked for the American High School Theatre Festival/International Collegiate Festival supporting high schools and colleges as they bring their productions to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I am past co-convenor of the Ecology & Performance Working Group of the American Society for Theater Research and co-director of the yearly flash play festival at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts (with Carrie J. Cole).
I am available for freelance directing and consulting projects. See "Theater" to learn more about my practice. I've been directing theater for over a decade, from youth musicals to contemporary plays and complex site-specific works. I am especially keen to work collaboratively on large-scale performance events and environmental pieces (the more giant puppets and dramatic lighting, the better).
