welcome

I am currently finishing my master’s in Educational Theatre at 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.  For the past thirteen summers, I have directed at French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, where I’ve worked on more than 40 productions with campers ages 6-18.  

Along with directing the shows listed on my resume, I have taught a number of classes with the campers, including facilitating the Improv Troupe with our oldest students.  In Improv Troupe, we focus on bringing the principles of long form scene work to short form improv games. Using the philosophies of the UCB Improv Theater, Magnet Theater and the PIT, along with the work of Chicago-based improvisers TJ & Dave, we place an emphasis on creating grounded scenes that allow actors to patiently and organically explore the "moment" in order to find the “game” of a scene.  Another popular class I’ve taught is “Plays of the Week”, in which we read works by a large variety of contemporary playwrights.  Some of our texts in recent years included The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and Defacing Michael Jackson by Aurin Squire. 

In addition to my work at French Woods, I have directed at Random Farms Kids Theater, and have taught at the Atlantic Acting School, New York City Center, Inside Broadway, Leap, The Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Play On Studios, Curtain Up Kids, Child's Play NY, P.S. 87 Afterschool, and Actors Technique NY.  I also do private coaching with my own students and founded Playgrounded, an improv program for kids and teens in NYC. 

Working with passionate young performers has taught me to create safe spaces born out of supportive communities in which students are connected around the common pursuit of bravely stepping out of their comfort zones, taking risks, and owning their work. As a director I revel in finding real and honest connection between actors onstage—to me it is thrilling to experience an actual conversation between two performers. I love when actors bring their whole selves to a character—the parts they love and the parts they hate. I encourage actors to be completely honest about who they are and remind them that each character they play is just as human as they are. I find it fascinating to work together with actors to discover the story we will share and to explore how to tell that story as honestly as possible. I often find that a cast can teach me more about a play than I could ever figure out on my own. From my training as an actor, where I spent a lot of time studying Practical Aesthetics, I bring an acute understanding of script analysis to my work. I use this understanding to activate actors, pushing them beyond what they believe they are capable of in order to help them commit to truthful performances, driven by love, that seek to both unify by creating actual connection with other actors and to disrupt by creating change within those same people.

I love working with kids and I am looking for an opportunity to expand my work. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please feel free to check out the rest of my website. If you’d like to get in touch, don’t hesitate to visit the Contact Me page!