◊ HEARTBEATS - 29 Hr New Musical Industry Workshop A 2024 O’Neill NMTC Semi-Finalist, HEARTBEATS tells the story of Eve - a driven, idealistic, and accidentally pregnant Indiana 17-year-old, just as she's about to follow her dreams at college. With (dark) comedy and heart, HEARTBEATS explores how America's harsh dictums on sex and gender affect all of us. The musical features book, music and lyrics by Emma Ashford. An invitation-only reading of the new musical HEARTBEATS will be presented on May 13th in Manhattan.
◊ The 24 Hour Plays: New Victory As part of New Vic's education program Speak Up Act Out: Celebrating Student Voices, The 24 Hour Plays is bringing professional actors and directors with seven student writers in grades 5-11 to write, rehearse and perform brand new short plays over the course of a single day in the company's signature style.
◊ Co-Moderator Music Theatre Factory's Women's Roundtable (ongoing)
Facilitating the sharing of new work and creative community within Music Theatre Factory's monthly work-in-progress gatherings centering women+ artists since August 2022.
RECENTLY
◊ SISTERS ON THE GROUND at NYU Atlantic Directed Max Posner's beautiful play exploring tensions between community/belonging and self discovery/idependence and that fine line between childhood and adulthood with the 3rd year students of the NYU Atlantic training program.
Winter 2024
◊ Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow: Workshop Production For the final part of my New Play Directing Fellowship with the fantastic Clubbed Thumb, I directed a workshop production of the ever evolving MY SIX THERAPISTS alongside playwright Julia Izumi. I had so much fun with this incredible cast and am glad so many people got to see and enjoy this workshop.
Fall 2023
◊ Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow: First Workshop With a wonderful ensemble of young actors, Julia Izumi and I continued developing her new play MY SIX THERAPISTS over two months. This is part of my New Play Directing Fellowship with the fantastic Clubbed Thumb.
◊ The 24 Hr Plays Broadway 2023 Served as the 'Overnight Coordinator' for 24 Hour Plays Broadway 2023, staying up all night with writers christopher oscar peña, Jesse Eisenberg, Kenneth Lonergan, Mona Mansour, Talene Monahon, and Jacquelyn Reingold to provide administrative and dramaturgical support as they all wrote brand new 10 minutes plays overnight. It was a wild evening, but so much fun working with these writers.
SPRING 2023
◊ Brooklyn College Directing MFA Recently graduated with an MFA in Theater Directing from Brooklyn College under the tutelage of Thomas Bullard, Taneisha Duggan, and Jackson Gay. Received a two year Teaching Fellowship, a Buchwald Scholarship, and was selected for the School of Visual Media and Performing Arts Dean's List.
◊ THE SKRIKER at Brooklyn College Directed Caryl Churchill's dark fable, THE SKRIKER, as my thesis production for my Master of Fine Arts program at Brooklyn College.
FALL + WINTER 2022/2023
◊ CIRCUS TRICK at The Brick's Exponential Festival Reunited with playwright Addie Ulrey for the next iteration of her play, CIRCUS TRICK; this time presented by The Brick as part of the 2023 Exponential Festival.
◊ BEING UP IN HERE... workshop at Brooklyn College Acted as dramaturge and director for Marissa Joyce Stamp's new play BEING UP IN HERE AND ALL THE OTHER BUSINESSES THAT DON’T CONCERN YOU for a workshop at Brooklyn College.
SPRING 2022
◊ Co-Leader & Producer of COME BACK CITIES at Queens Museum Kilusan Batista and I lead a simultaneous in-person and virtual community gathering filled with arts and crafts activities, theater games for youth/children, and community resources that support the needs of Deaf-Blind youth and their families.'Come Back Cities' was spearheaded by the New York Parent Association for Deaf-Blind, Queens Museum, and Brooklyn College MFA artists Kilusan Bautista and Lauren Zeftel. The event was also generously co-sponsored and supported by the Helen Keller National Center, Social Practice CUNY and S.O.F.E.D.U.P. CUNY. It featuring art and theater activities lead by facilitators Ellie Bell, Marlee Koenigsberg, and Christian Paxton from the CUNY School of Professional Studies and musical stylings by DJ Royal.
◊ Adapted and Directed THE TUESDAY CLUB MURDERS at Brooklyn College With special permission from Agatha Christie Limited, I adapted and directed short stories from her 1932 novel "The Tuesday Club Murders" into an original ensemble theater piece.
◊ CIRCUS TRICK at The Tank Reunited with playwright Addie Ulrey to develop and direct her one act "Circus Trick" as part of Weasel Fest at The Brick. Circus Trick is the story of a clown who stages a rebellion against the commodification of entertainment in an on-demand world, and in doing so, explores some of the stranger possible benefits of live performance.
◊ Dramaturgy for CONCORD FLORAL at Brooklyn College Supporting director Nicholas J. Browne in his thesis production of CONCORD FLORAL by Jordan Tannahill.
FALL + WINTER 2021/2022
◊ Directed a reading of IN THE GAME at BRIC I had a lovely but short process with one of my new favorite playwrights, Addie Ulrey and some of the funniest actors as part of Brooklyn College's New Play Lab. The reading was produced by Haruna Lee and presented with generous support from BRIC House.
◊ Started MFA Program at Brooklyn College Entered and completed my first semester in the Brooklyn College Master of Fine Arts program in Director for Theatre.
WINTER 2020/2021
◊ LOVE AND INFORMATION at Arlington High School Directed a completely virtual production of Caryl Churchill's play "Love and Information" with the students of Arlington High School. The entire piece was created using zoom, their smartphones, and a lot of ingenuity. Video direction and editing by Luke Paulino.
◊ PASTURES GREEN at Brooklyn College Workshopped a new play by MFA playwright candidate Noelle Viñas as part of the New Play Lab at Brooklyn College.
WINTER 2019/2020
◊ IDEAL GROWING CONDITIONS at WORKSHOP THEATER Directed a reading of Izzi D'Esposito's play in development at Workshop Theater.
>> about the play: "Ideal Growing Conditions is a romantic comedy about persistence and plants. It's a love story where everything goes wrong from the start, a survival story about a plant that blooms despite adversity, and a death-defying tale of stab wounds and migraines and broken bones."
◊ METALERO with UNDISCOVERED COUNTRIES [Pandemic Cancellation] Directing a staged reading of Karsten Otto's new play as part of Undiscovered Countries March at Judson Church.
◊ PERFORMANCE PIECES with THE CENTER SCHOOL Created short performance pieces over two months with middle school students at The Center School to be preformed for their friends and family.
◊ AUDITION MODERATOR at ONE ON ONE [Postponed] Beginning a new position as a Moderator for new member auditions at One on One, New York City.
◊ PLAYxPLAY
PXP FEBRUARY: SERENA BERMAN On February 25th, we presented the short works of playwright Serena Berman as directed by NJ AGWUNA / RACHEL DART / BRYN HERDRICH / LAUREN ZEFTEL (that's me!). I directed Serena's short "Invisible Ink" with performers Ashley Marie Ortiz and Elizabeth Poleski. The event was generously hosted by JACK in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
◊ PXP DECEMBER: MEGAN CHAN MENEIRO We presented excerpts and short works of playwright MEGAN CHAN MENEIRO as interpreted by directors JAKE BECKHARD / KYLIE M. BROWN / EMILIA LIRMAN / NICHOLAS POLONIO and performed by a fantastic set of performers in the Gallery space, generously donated by Normal Ave.
FALL 2019
◊ EVERYTHING YOU'RE TOLD Developed and directed a workshop reading of Xandra Nur Clark's new play as part of the culmination of her Queer|Art|Mentorship.
◊ CREATEHER BY SHENYC ARTS Directed the staged readings of 10 minute plays by the young playwrights for the final performance of this educational program for female-identifying high school students.
PLAYxPLAY
◊ PxP NOVEMBER: EMILY ZEMBA we presented excerpts and short works of playwright EMILY ZEMBA as interpreted by directors TATIANA BACCARI / JAKE BECKHARD / TOM COSTELLO / EUGENE MA and performed by a fantastic set of performers in the Gallery space, generously donated by Access Theater. I acted as lead producer.
◊ PxP OCTOBER: LIZZIE STERN we presented the short works of playwright LIZZIE STERN as interpreted by directors MAYA DAVIS / BRYN HERDRICH / KYLIE M. BROWN / LAUREN ZEFTEL and performed by a fantastic set of performers in the generously donated MTC Rehearsal Studio. I directed an excerpt from Lizzie's full-length WILLIAMSBURG.
◊ PxP SEPTEMBER: TOM NIEBOER we presented the short works of playwright TOM NIEBOER as interpreted by directors ALISHA BHOWMIK / BRYN HERDRICH / VICTORIA GRUENBERG / MARGARET LEE and performed by a fantastic set of performers in the Gallery space, generously donated by Access Theater.
SUMMER 2019
◊ A PLAY TITLED AFTER THE COLLECTIVE NOUN FOR FEMALE-IDENTIFYING 20-SOMETHINGS LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY IN THE 2010s Continuing development of this incredible play with playwright Haleh Roshan and producer Brandon Smithey as part of the Corkscrew Theater Festival mainstage season. COLLECTIVE NOUN is a love letter to an unsung history of collective action, and a battle cry for radically re-envisioning conceptions of progress and what it means to fight for change.
◊ THE COUSINHOOD Joined The Associates and a bunch of amazing collaborating performers to deeply develop and present a staged workshop production as part of the The Center at West Park's Furnace Festival.
◊ SEVEN MINUTES (short film) The short film that I directed with Means of Production screened as part of FemFilm Festival at the Tank on August 22nd.
SPRING 2019
◊ CALL OUT CULTURE: OR THE UNBEARABLE WHITENESS OF BEING Rejoined forces with the brilliant Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin to develop and direct her new play which examines Kaela's own journey with the colonization of her Chinese-Irish-American heritage and her body through interweaving historical, pop-culture, and personal narratives. Part of Ars Nova's ANT Fest.
◊ WHAT, YOU SCARED? Directed a staged reading of this hot of the presses new play by Daaimah Mubashshir for Brooklyn Generator at The Tank.
◊ FUNNY HA HA OR THE MOST LAMENTABLE COMEDIE OF JANE THE FOOL Directed the pilot episode of Jessica Moss's new play for Cycle 51 of Serials at the Flea Theater which unpacks the culture of sexual assault in comedy, but in Medieval times and with whip smart jokes! The piece got voted back and will continue.
PLAYxPLAY
◊ PxP MAY: REN DARA SANTIAGO we presented the short works of playwright REN DARA SANTIAGO as interpreted by directors KATHLEEEN CAPEÑSUNER / BRYN HERDRICH / DOMINIQUE RIDER / RENEE YEONG / LAUREN ZEFTEL and performed by a cast of 16 at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater as part of their curated rental program. I directed the short piece LOVE AND ANIMATION featuring Ashley Marie Ortiz and Starr Kirkland.
◊ PxP APRIL: NAZARETH HASSAN we presented the short works of playwright NAZARETH HASSAN as interpreted by directors GARRETT ALLEN / JAKE BECKHARD / MIRANDA HAYMON / RAZ GOLDEN / WILLIAM ALEX RUNNELS at Cloud City BK. With 25 performers and over 70 audience members, it was our biggest event, yet!
WINTER 2018/19
◊ SEVEN MINUTES (short film) Take a watch of the four-minute video above for my short film directorial debut with my friends at Means of Production! Thanks again to our all female team: Glenna Brucken, Erika Grob, Abby Leigh Huffstetler, Hannah Karpenko, + of course, the incredible Grace Palmer.
◊ INK: A PIECE FOR MUSEUMS Served as Associate Director on James & Jerome's production at The Museum of Metropolitan Arts (dir. Rachel Chavkin + Annie Tippe), presented as part of The Public's Under the Radar Festival.
◊ UNTITLED SUFFRAGIST PROJECT Assisted director Leigh Silverman on a two-week developmental workshop of Act 1 of Shaina Taub's new musical through The Public Theater.
PLAYxPLAY
» PxP DECEMBER: LILY HOUGHTON featured playwright Lily Houghton X directors Tara Elliott, Bryn Herdrich, Tatiana Pandiani, and myself. I directed the wacky and intimate piece, THIS IS GROWTH.
» PxP FEBRUARY: JONA TARLIN featured playwright Jona Tarlin X directors NJ Agwuna, Jacob Basri, + Byrn Herdrich and presented by the Dixon Place in their Lounge. I acted as lead producer for this iteration.
FALL 2018
◊ PLAYxPLAY returns! After almost two years in hibernation, the reading series that I co-founded and co-produced from 2015 - 2016 has returned!
◊ CONVERSATIONS with ELIZA Started development on this original piece through a First Stage residency with The Drama League. I'm exploring the invention of the first chatterbot in 1964 at MIT and the dangers of technology that can mimic intimacy and understanding.
◊ A PLAY TITLED AFTER THE COLLECTIVE NOUN FOR FEMALE-IDENTIFYING 20-SOMETHINGS LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY IN THE 2010S (OR, GIRLS.) Directed a 29 hr staged reading of Haleh Roshan's new play with THML Theatre Company.
◊ THE OFFICE, REBOOT Directed this pilot short by Chloé Hayat as part of Serials at The Flea with The Bats.
PLAYxPLAY
» PxP NOVEMBER: JAHNA FERRON-SMITH featured playwright Jahna Ferron-Smith X directors Jake Beckhard, Raz Golden, and myself. I directed RE: HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
» PxP OCTOBER: CELINE SONG featured playwright Celine Song X directors Jake Beckhard, Bryn Herdrich, and Marina Montesanti. I acted as lead producer for this month.
SUMMER 2018 Member of the 2018 Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corp as a Directing Assistant.
◊ IN A WORD Directed a production of this brilliant and moving play by Lauren Yee in collaboration with actors from the WTF non-Equity company.
◊ IN SEARCH OF Directed and developed a production of this new work with playwright Sarah Einspanier and actors from the non-Equity company.
◊ SELLING KABUL Assisted director Leigh Silverman on a WTF Fridays@3 reading of Sylvia Khoury's new play.
◊ SECRET SOLDIERS Assisted director Leigh Silverman on a Fridays@3 reading of Marsha Norman and Zoe Sarnak's new musical.
◊ THE CLOSET Assisted director Mark Brokaw on the world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's comedy starring Matthew Broderick and Jessica Hecht.
SPRING 2018
◊ ON LOSS AND MICE AND MONSTERS AND LOVE Directed a developmental workshop production of this new play by Emily Zemba, as part of the LPAC Rough Draft Festival.
◊ SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS Travelled to Philadelphia for a national tour stop at Philadelphia Theatre Company.
◊ LETTERS TO SALA Directed an excerpt of Arlene Hutton's play as part of the Untold Stories of Jewish Women Festival at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
◊ LEEKSPIN Directed the short, sci-fi play by Cortland Nesley as part of Brunch Theatre Company's show BLACK COFFEE.
WINTER 2017/18
◊ THE AMATEURS Assisted director Oliver Butler on the premiere production of this new play by Jordan Harrison, at the Vineyard Theatre.
◊ THE BEAUTY BOOK Directed and staged a selection of Sofya Levitsky-Weitz's play for Barn Art Collective's Barn Fest at Cloud City.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» HORIZON THREE Drinking Plays & Reading Wine returned for a developmental reading of a new play with writer Isabella D'Esposito in attendance.
FALL 2017
◊ SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS Serving as Associate Director, I rehearsed and accompanied this amazing production on our national tour stops in New Haven, Connecticut at the Long Wharf Theater and in San Francisco, California at the A.C.T.'s The Strand.
◊ BOOK OF ESTHER Directed a workshop production of Gina Stevensen's play for The Joust Theatre Company.
SUMMER 2017
◊ Lincoln Center Directors Lab: Making Theater in a Time of Change Had an incredible time as one of the directors at this year's Lincoln Center Directors Lab. For three weeks this summer, the Lab investigated "Making Theater in a Time of Change" with 66 directors from 30 countries.
◊ ON LOSS AND MICE AND MONSTERS AND LOVE
» I received a Rough Draft Residency from The Drama League to continue development of the play with playwright Emily Zemba.
» Exquisite Corpse Company also brought the play back to where it started for a workshop production as part of their Corpse Revival series inhabiting a house on Governor's Island.
◊ THE BEAUTY BOOK Continued directing and the development of Sofya Levitsky-Weitz's play in beautiful Maine as part of her artist residency with Barn Arts Collective.
◊ LEMPICKA Zipped down to Williamstown Theatre Festival to assist director Rachel Chavkin on 5 days of development for the new musical starring Cynthia Erivo, Steven Pasquale, & Carmen Cusack; music by Matt Gould, book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer.
◊ SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS national tour Started rehearsal serving as the Associate Director for the National Tour and sustaining the original vision of Director Rachel Chavkin and playwright Bess Wohl with a whole new cast and new audience arrangement.
◊ SORORITY GIRL K888 Directed the solo performance piece by Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin for the American AF festival at the New Ohio.
SPRING 2017
◊ BLACK HOLLOW Rejoined forces with playwright Aeneas Sagar Hemphill to direct his Columbia MFA playwriting thesis at the Ford Studio Theater at the Signature Center.
◊ JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF A BLACK HOLE Contined development and directed the workshop production of Paige Goodloe's one woman show exploring both the far off cosmos and the intimate recesses of depression. Presented as part of Two of a Mind: A Night of Solo Performances at the Alchemical Theatre Laboratory.
◊ ON THE ASCENT Had a wonderful, whirlwind of a process, continuing development of this beautiful play with playwright A.P. Andrews as part of his residency with Pipeline Theatre Company. We had two fantastic invited industry showing of our workshop production and the play is officially ready for take off.
◊ AMBITION: THE FEMALE AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER workshop Our team was at it again! We explored new songs, new characters, and new killing techniques (theatrical representation only, of course) in a 3-day developmental process.
◊ SWEET TOOTH Put on my Dramaturgy hat and jumped into rehearsal with The Associates for a workshop of their new show.
WINTER 2016/17
◊ DETROIT Directed this powerful play by Lisa D'Amour at the IATI Underground Theater with Pigeonholed Theatre Company for their first official production!
◊ EF AY JEE JEE OH TEE Directed this short play by Derek Edgren for Cross Pollinate, a new works round robin (which I also co-created + co-produced), matching playwrights + directors for their first collaborations.
◊ ABBIE JONES AND THAT JORGE KID Directed this short play by Nelson Diaz-Marcano for The Resister Project, presented by FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade in association with The Dirty Blondes and Rebecca Aparicio.
◊ JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF A BLACK HOLE Developed and workshopped this one-woman show with writer/performer Paige Goodloe about the black holes in the cosmos and those much closer.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» THE RIBBED We returned to Jimmy's No 43 to read + discuss this new play with playwright Sofya Weitz.
FALL 2016
◊ POSEUR Directed a workshop production of Lyndsey Bourne's new play at The Tank and produced by Cue for Passion Collaborative.
◊ CRASH TEST Directed this short dream play by Aeneas Hemphill as part of Pipeline Theatre Company's Matchstick Series: While We Slept and presented in partnership with the New York Public Library.
◊ I'M NOT HERE RIGHT NOW Created & performed this original, interactive sound installation as part of Theatre Thursdays @ The Yard curated by Matthew Minnicino.
◊ The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway Assisted director Elena Araoz on the UNION SQUARE INCIDENT, written overnight by Warren Leight.
◊ SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS The run extended until October 9th! Gibson Frazier and Carmen Zilles beautifully took over two of the roles.
◊ A NOVEL EXPERIMENT Put a short Agatha Christie story into space as part of The Party Line's POP! Festival in Bushwick.
◊ ON THE ASCENT Reunited with the wonderful A.P. Andrews for a developmental staged reading of his play with Crashbox Theater Company's READ. PLAY. WRITE. series.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY In light of the recent election, we read and discussed this political play by Tony Kushner.
» MARISOL We read and discussed this powerful play by José Rivera and the themes that are still very present in modern day.
» SEVENTY SCENES OF HALLOWEEN To conjure some Halloween Spirit, we read the spooky, silly, and sincere play by Jeffrey M. Jones.
SUMMER 2016
◊ AMBITION: THE FEMALE AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER MUSICAL Directed the premiere productions of Kaela Garvin's new musical for Ars Nova's ANT Fest + The Planet Connections Theatre Festivus.
◊ SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS Assisted director Rachel Chavkin on the commercial run of this brilliant, quiet, and intimate play by Bess Wohl at The Perishing Square Signature Center. During the run, I took notes to maintain Rachel's vision and also lead understudy rehearsals.
◊ THE BEAUTY BOOK Reunited with playwright Sofya Weitz to direct a reading of her play for Outlier Theatre Co.'s PLAY DATE series.
◊ ON THE ASCENT Directed a reading of A.P. Andrew's play for id Theater's NYC SIT IN!.
◊ LUCKY NUMBER THREE Participated as a director for THE 24 HOUR PLAYS NATIONAL directing this brand new (written overnight!) work by Cátia Cunha.
◊ DAD ISLAND Directed by Evan Allgood for Ugly Rhino's TinyRhino in the Tropics!
◊ YOU LOOKED HOT WORKING AT THAT UP AND COMING COOKIE PLACE IN BROOKLYN Speedily directed this short written overnight by Catherine Weingarten for The Dirty Blondes' Freak Show: A Summer Play in a Day Festival.
PLAY x PLAY
» THE UNIVERSE IS GIVING GIFTS Directed a staged reading by Sofya Weitz for our July edition at Chinatown Soup.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» WHO WE LET IN We returned to Jimmy's No. 43 with work-in-progress reading and discussion of this play with writer Charly Evon Simpson in attendance.
» GLORIA We read and discussed this fantastic and important work by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
SPRING 2016
◊ ANTLIA PNEUMATICA Assisted director Ken Rus Schmoll on the world premiere of this new play by Anne Washburn at Playwrights Horizons.
◊ ALTHEA Directed a staged reading of playwright Edessa Tailo's graduate thesis for the Dramatic Writing Department at NYU's Tisch School for the Arts.
◊ ON LOSS AND MICE AND MONSTERS AND LOVE Directed the first reading of Emily Zemba's new play for Exquisite Corpse Company's Drinks & Drama staged reading series.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» CONSTELLATIONS We read + discussed this play by Nick Payne - especially the relationship between the form and the content of the play.
» LEAR Had a fantastic time reading and discussing this play by Young Jean Lee, examining the relationship between children and fathers.
» SKIN LIKE MILK Read and discussed a work-in-progress draft with playwright Ryan Fogarty of this play which imagines the underground life of gay men during the rise of the Nazi party.
WINTER 2016/2017
◊ MALEFACTIONS Developed and directed the first full production of Matthew Minnicino's play in the basement of Chinatown Soup. •• The production sold out the run's original first two weeks and also the one week extension.
◊ F#CK THAT MOUNTAIN, COURAGEOUS LESTER MCGRATH !! OR, THE EXEGESIS Developed and directed a crazy sock-puppet filled reading of T. Adamson's new play for Exquisite Corpse Company's Drinks & Drama series.
◊ AMBITION: THE FEMALE AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER MUSICAL Developed and directed a workshop of Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin's new musical imagining the lives of historical female serial killers at Dixon Place.
DRINKING PLAYS & READING WINE
» IT PROBABLY DOESN'T MATTER We read and discussed a work-in-progress of this new, in-your-face, one-act with playwright, A.P. Andrews.