““...and what really mattered, what should matter most to you, is the rare and gorgeous experience of reaching out through your work and your actions and connecting to others...We get people home; we let them know that we’re here for them. This is what art can do. Art should be the arm and the shoulder and the kind eyes—all of which let others know you deserve to live and to be loved. That is what matters, baby. Bringing people home.””
Colleen is a director and teacher, mostly in the NYC area. She is currently on the Theater faculty in the College of Performing Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California.
She has also been on the faculty at American University, Gettysburg College, Manhattanville College, guest taught at Sarah Lawrence College, traveled to the UK to Cambridge University where she designed and taught a short course in acting and ensemble theater. For two years she toured her company’s production of a 2-man Antony & Cleopatra from The Brick in NY, to the UK in Cambridge and London, to Athens, Greece, and across the eastern United States. Colleen's artistic focus is devising physical theater, actor training, ensemble theater, directing Shakespeare, and directing new plays in development.
She is a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, works whenever she can with Ensemble Studio Theater in NYC on new plays, has worked and/or trained with LaMaMa International Directors Symposium in Umbria Italy, Patsy Rodenburg in Shakespeare's Heightened Language, David Neumann, SITI company, Frantic Assembly, Elevator Repair Service, DAH Theatre, and completed her MFA in Theater from Sarah Lawrence College and her MLitt in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin College. She co-founded Make Trouble actor training intensive in Shakespeare, Ensemble Theater making and was the first Artistic Director and architect of the Shakespeare Academy at Stratford’s curriculum, pedagogical practice and performance approach. Complete Artistic resume and Academic CV here.
BIO
““We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts.” ”
DIRECTING
If I had to describe my process, I would say it is primarily following my curiosity—following it like a kid where the only possible outcome is some great adventure. Some great adventure we’re going to share together. And that’s contagious. The energy in the rehearsal room thrives on that belief, the optimistic anticipation that curiosity will lead to something. Something bigger than ourselves. Something we’ve never seen or felt before. Something born of truth.
I listen. A lot. To the words. To the play. To the actors. To the space. To the world. To the energy in the room.
My fellow theater-makers and I are truly, genuinely a team. The love of, for, with the team is everything.
I don't just crank out work. I'm picky about what I work on but never predetermine precisely how I will work, how all my fellow collaborators will work together. My responsibility as a director is to inspire others to do more--to learn more, to play more, to dream more, to become more. More is more.
I think theater can be one of the most profound, gut-wrenching, intellectually invigorating, entertaining, beautiful, mysterious, hopeful things in the world. And I love how impossible it seems - seems - to make that kind of theater.
“As a director, my biggest contribution to a production, and the only real gift I can offer to an actor, is my attention.”
TEACHING
I have been teaching theater for a while. I am fortunate to have an intrinsic love for teaching that has motivated me and made the hard work one of the great joys of my life. Perhaps the best way to express my teaching philosophy is to share what I share with my students on the first day of class or rehearsal. It goes something like this:
I see my role as a teacher and theater artist primarily as trying to figure people out. Together, we will become students of humanity. Humans are complicated. Let’s not deny that. We are Mysterious. There is no checklist. I am providing the open space. Also some tools, raw materials, and the opportunity for conversation and collaboration. You are providing the open heart, open mind, creative energy, and inner motivation. Together, I believe we can produce an adventurous learning experience that is all our own. I can’t wait to see where we go.
Ok, sure. Sounds good. But I also believe that teaching philosophies are only as good as the practice that they inspire. So, I practice.
Because we value creativity in our open space, I must practice Patience. I must know when my input is needed, and when it is not. I must provide ample time for students’ ideas to incubate. I must recognize the difference between showing and telling. When to push what buttons, and when to, sometimes, simply wait (wait, wait) for them to come up with something. And, because creativity ultimately comes from knowledge, I must expose them to as many perspectives and viewpoints as possible, so that they may build a deep, diverse, creative toolbox. Across cultures, eras, genres, philosophies, and theatrical practices.
Because we value self-direction, I must practice Adaptability. When a student has a question that takes us on a tangent, I’m going to say “Yes!” When a student has an idea far off our rehearsal trajectory, my response is “Let’s try it!” And, ultimately, I must balance this adaptability with the assurance that saying “Yes” is worth the risk. We might just make a mistake, we might fail. We might also make a really cool discovery. It's worth the risk. Worth the adventure. And then we adapt and move forward. Relentlessly.
Because we value dialogue and collaboration, I must practice Engagement. I must, first and foremost, be there for them—live and virtually; in the moment and long after the course or play is over; as a teacher, fellow artist, and mentor. I must practice the same levels of engagement, contribution, and responsibility that I expect from my students.
Finally, there is another important guiding principle that I share with my students on the first day: “It’s not about You.” They are often confused, so I explain: I’d like you to leave this class seeing your world differently, grappling to try to understand people and situations, unravelling the human spirit on a scale of magnificent proportions. I want you to realize that, yes, theater is everything—story telling, culture, politics, religion, science, problem solving & etc — but the heart of theater is human connection. And everyone is invited to the party. I want you to listen. To look each other in the eye, with curiosity, empathy, and be as honest as you can.
Ok, it is, kind of, about you. But it’s not only about you. Or you always first.
It’s about you + EVERYTHING ELSE
“Experimentation is the very foundation of creativity in science and in art. Unless you are like Mozart and have a direct line to God, making art of any kind is a process of trying things out, playing with them for a while and then throwing away most of what you found. Unlike Mozart, Beethoven needed to try over and over before arriving at his final melodic choices. The sketches Picasso made before painting “Guernica” are a great tribute to the joys of experimentation.”
PHOTOGRAPHY
Photography inspires me deeply as a director. I take pictures with my Rolleiflex TLR and my Nikon D90. Henri Cartier-Bresson is one of my heroes. Not only has he inspired my photography, but has changed the way I direct. Shooting with just one lens, the 50mm, has taught me to understand composition on the stage in a new way, to see organic lines of a space, to appreciate geometry. I've learned patience. To be unobtrusive. To look for where the pulse beats. To allow the mysteries of humans and nature to reveal themselves.
““You just have to live and life will give you pictures.””
CV
“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty Yes to your adventure.”