91ɬ��

As a scholar, teacher, and theatre-maker, I am most interested in performance that critically engages audiences in contemporary political and social ideas and issues. My research and teaching interests include: community-based performance, politically-engaged theatrical practices, feminist performance criticism, contemporary American female playwrights, documentary performance, and Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed techniques.

I am a community-based performance scholar and practitioner. I have created numerous collaborative performance projects with students and local community organizations.  I teach and facilitate Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed techniques, and my scholarly writing about the application of his work has been published in various journals. I investigate the potential of theatrical performance to catalyze community dialogue and participate in struggles for social justice. For many years, my practice-based research explored ways in which theatre and performance can participate in bullying prevention efforts at the middle and high school level.

My current research investigates efforts for gender parity and representational equity in American theatre and specifically examines the work of contemporary female playwrights. My creative practice includes documentary theatre and my play, “Teaching and Learning in Pandemic Times,” was developed during a residency supported by the Eugene O’Neill Foundation. At 91ɬ�� I have directed many shows including: The Great God Pan by Amy Herzog, Sonia Flew by Melinda Lopez, Facing Our Truth (by various writers), Love of the Nightingale by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Nine Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo, and participated in the Climate Change Theatre Action with an evening of plays by various writers. 

Interdisciplinarity is at the heart of my work as a teacher and a scholar. I have had the privilege to participate in interdisciplinary faculty development trips to Russia and Cuba. I have been part of the team teaching the Humanities course, Connections and Conflicts (HUM 103-104) since 2020. Community-engaged pedagogy is integrated into several of my courses, and in 2026-2027 I will serve as one of the Community-Engaged Faculty Fellows. In 2023, I was the recipient of the Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award.  

My recent publications include:

• “Staging the Limits of Consent: Liliana Padilla’s How to Defend Yourself on campus and beyond,” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. 39.2 (spring 2025): 105-113.
• “Community-engaged learning in the theatre studies classroom.” Part of a special section titled, “The Pedagogy of Now.” Theatre Topics, 35.1 (March 2025), 63-79.
• “Jill Dolan’s Keywords: Feminist Pedagogy.” Co-written with Erin Hurley. Theatre Journal, 77.1 (March 2025): E-17-18.
• Performance Review, Here There Are Blueberries, by Tectonic Theatre Company, performed at New York Theatre Workshop, June 2024. Theatre Journal, 77.1 (March 2025): 126-128.
• “Quantifying Equity in the American Theatre: Student research at the intersection of performance and data analysis,” Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research 7.1 (2023): 71.
• “Pandemic Pedagogy: Snapshots from a year of COVID-impacted teaching in three artifacts," Performance Matters 8.2 (2023): 123-131. (Open access journal).
• “Maternal Agency and Reproductive Justice in Lisa Loomer’s Roe.” Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Plays by Women: The early twenty-first century, edited by Penny Farfan and Leslie Ferris. University of Michigan Press, 2021. 

Teaching

• THE 101 Introduction to Theatre Arts
• THE 242 Women’s Work: 21st Century Female Playwrights
• THE 245 Acting 1
• THE 285 Politics and Performance in the 20th Century
• THE 325 Production Dramaturgy
• THE 362 Community-Based Performance for Social Justice
• THE 371 World Theatre History
• THE 383 Contemporary Theatre and Performance
• THE 499 Honors thesis