I am a theatre practitioner and arts activist based in Chicago, Illinois. I am a Jeff Award winning director, and my Chicago credits include devising, directing and assistant directing for DIY, storefront, and large theatre companies.  I also produce, curate, and project manage productions, concerts, performance art galleries, salons, and community building spaces. In instruct courses and direct productions at colleges and universities in Chicago and internationally.

I am a trained and trauma informed Intimacy Director for Live Performance. I hold an MFA in Theatre Directing and am co-founder of Global Hive Laboratories, a collective of international practitioners working toward a global theatre. I am an alumna of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Multicultural Fellowship, and serve as a member of artEquity’s diverse cadre of facilitators who support equity-based initiatives nationwide.

2022 Joseph Jefferson Awards
Somewhere Over the Border by Brian Quijada
BEST ENSEMBLE, BEST PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL (Midsize), BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL (Midsize) (Denise Yvette Serna)

 

Aimed towards instructors of undergraduate theatre, Toward a Just Pedagogy of Performance, published by Routledge, is a compendium of resources largely by and for artists and scholars interested in engaging in conversation of justice, diversity, and historiography in the fields of theatre and performance studies. I am featured as a panel member in two chapters of this book: "The Alternative Canon: A Collaborative Discussion Panel One: A Look at the Past" and "The Alternative Canon: A Collaborative Discussion Panel Two: Practices of the Present."

In this interview, I talk with River Coello about the journey to theatre, experiences creating and devising work with people across the world and work within the Global Hive Laboratories.

Backstage of a theatrical lab
GLOBAL HIVE LABORATORIES Piacenza, February 2019 LAB with international ensemble

Global Hive Labs is creating Global Theatre Practice, Community Collaboration & Art Education.

photo by Joel Maisonet