GINA KAUFMANN
DIRECTOR
Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
Theater Department, UMass Amherst, 112 Fine Arts Center, 151 President’s Drive, Ofc. 2, Amherst, MA, 01003-9331
(413) 577-1385
gina@theater.umass.edu
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
Shakespeare & Company Summer Intensive with Tina Packer, June, 2003; Teacher Trainee
with Dennis Krausnick, January, 2004 & June, 2004
Saratoga International Theatre Institute Summer Intensive with Anne Bogart, 2002
The University of Texas at Austin MFA Directing 1999
Boris Segal Directing Fellowship, Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1998
The University of Iowa BA Theatre 1989
American Conservatory Theatre Summer Acting Intensive, 1985
CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION
Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and American Alliance for Theatre and
Education (AATE) combined conference New York, August, 2009
Chair: “Staging Together: Director/Choreographer Collaboration on Non-Musical Work”
Panel Member: “Innovative Approaches to Commissioning and Developing Plays For and With
Young People”
Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Denver, August, 2008
Director: The Unveiling by Ellen Sullivan, New Play Development
NYU/Steinhardt Shakespeare Forum: Page, Stage, Engage New York, April, 2008
Director: Act III, Scene ii from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Panel and Scene Moderator: “Romeo and Julieta: Shakespeare in Spanish” and “Romeo and
Juliet: Deconstructing Shakespeare on Stage”
Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) Chicago, August, 2006
Panel Member: “Directing New Work: Developing Helpful Strategies for Creating and
Collaborating on New Scripts”
Panel Member: “Director Training: Varied Approaches to Directing Pedagogy”
Chair: “Physical Approaches to Acting: How Different Physical Training Techniques
Relate to Text”
South Eastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Memphis, April, 2002
Workshop Leader: “Using Status as an Acting Tool”
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Assistant Professor
• Graduate Text Analysis Fall 2009, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst
This required course for first year MFA students in directing, design, and dramaturgy used a variety of
methods to analyze dramatic form and structure in ways that are directly applicable to work as a theatre
practitioner.
• Graduate Seminar in Theatrical Production Spring 2004 and Fall 2005, Sacramento State
University
The focus of this graduate seminar was on theorists who were (or are) also theatre practitioners. Through
discussion, presentations, and performance projects, we examined some of the most influential designers,
directors, and actors, and theorists of the past 200 years, including Stanislavski, Brecht, Boal, Tadashi
Suzuki, Anne Bogart, and Anna Deveare-Smith.
• Graduate Directing Studio Spring 2008, Spring 2009 and Spring 2010, The University of
Massachusetts at Amherst
This is a required course each semester for the MFA Directing students, the anchor for the Master of Fine
Arts program in Directing, and includes a balance of theoretical and practical work, with a specific semesterlong focus based on the needs of our students. My approach has been to work closely with the
undergraduate Ensemble Acting class so that both learning communities have their needs met while
supporting one another. In 2008, our focus was on directing Shakespeare and our culminating project was
an outdoor performance of scenes at the Shakespeare Festival at The Renaissance Center on campus. In
2009, our Directing Studio was subtitled: “Offshoots of Stanislavski and American Realism”. We focused on
the influence the great Russian theorist/director has had on American Theater over the past seventy years.
Our focus in 2010 is on the specific challenges of directing musical theatre.
• Directing I Fall 2007 and Fall 2008, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Fall 2003, Fall
2004, Fall 2005, Spring 2006, and Fall 2006, Sacramento State University
This is a required course for senior theatre majors. The focus was on the tools of the director, with particular
emphasis placed on text analysis, creating a unified approach, dynamics, storytelling through staging, and
collaboration with actors and designers. The culminating project was a 10-minute scene, performed three
times, with extensive feedback after each showing.
• Advanced Directing Spring 2009, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Spring 2004,
Spring 2005, and Spring 2006, Sacramento State University
This course is intended to build on the directorial concepts and tools explored in Directing I by putting these
tools into practice in performance projects. The environmental theatre project focuses primarily on
dynamics, architecture, and spatial relationships. The scripted project focuses on text analysis, research,
collaboration with actors, spatial relationships, character journeys, dynamics, action, and storytelling through
images. The performance projects are supported by reading, research, and discussion.
• Playwright as Artist: Moliere Fall 2008, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst
This performance area course examined the significant dramatic and artistic contributions of playwright
Moliere in depth, including major plays, the context in which he worked, theatrical innovation, and
performance. We also explored physical tools for performing his comedies today. This course worked in
conjunction with our departmental production of The Imaginary Invalid.
• Playwright as Artist: Arthur Miller Fall 2006, Sacramento State University
This course fulfilled a literature requirement for theatre majors. It was an in-depth exploration of seven of
Arthur Miller’s plays as well as relevant essays and biographical information in relationship to the historical
context in which the plays were originally written and performed. This course worked in conjunction with our
departmental production of The Crucible.
• Graduate Acting Fall 2000, The University of Louisville
This acting class was for a combined group of second and third year graduate acting students. We worked
with detailed text analysis in conjunction with scene study. The focus was on combining an action-based
approach to acting with other approaches. My goal was to provide them with tools for approaching a role
outside of a classroom environment. We are also worked intensely on audition monologues and on
developing self-created work through the use the Autodrama Exercise (based on the work of Mel Shapiro).
• Ensemble Acting Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009 and Fall 2010, The University of
Massachusetts at Amherst
While many acting courses focus on monologues or two-person scenes, Ensemble Acting focuses on larger
group scenes or chorus work. Each semester has a specific subtitle and works in collaboration with the
MFA Directing Studio. In 2007, we focused on the playwrights who were being produced as a part of our
departmental season, including Giraudeaux, McDonaugh, Wilde, and Moraga. In 2008, the focus was on
Shakespeare and our culminating project was an outdoor performance of scenes at the Shakespeare
Festival at The Renaissance Center on campus. In 2009, our focus was on American Realism, working with
playwrights such as Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and Lorraine Hansberry. In 2010, our focus is on
musical theatre, with an emphasis on choral and small-group scenes, songs, and choreography, tying into
our departmental production of Little Shop of Horrors.
• Acting Styles: Shakespeare Spring 2005, Sacramento State University
This course was developed thanks to a Pedagogy Enhancement Grant from the Center for Teaching and
Learning at California State University, Sacramento. The techniques of Tina Packer and Shakespeare &
Company were adapted for a liberal arts university environment. Emphasis was on personal connection to
the text, Linklater voice work, and understanding rhetoric, key words, and verse analysis.
• Acting III (for BFA and BA Theatre Majors) Fall 2000, The University of Louisville
This advanced acting class used scene work and exercises to further develop the tools acting, including
listening and responding in the moment, scoring a script, using actions and obstacles, incorporating given
circumstances, using the self and real-life experiences, physical approaches to acting, and voice
fundamentals. This course was designed for undergraduate BFA and BA students who have completed
Acting I and Acting II and who are interested in acting as a career.
• Acting II (for Theatre Majors) Spring 2001 and Spring 2002, The University of Louisville;
Spring 2004 and Spring 2006, Sacramento State University
Building on the work I began in Acting I, this class re-emphasizes an action-based approach to acting, while
using other approaches to emphasize character goals, space and relating to others in space, responding to
what is actually going on with others, making positive choices, spontaneity, and listening/receiving. With
these learning outcomes in mind, I have developed a course with sections using Viewpoints, Status, and
Meisner, in addition to having the students work on two scripted scenes.
• Acting I (for Theatre Majors) Spring 2008 and Fall 2009 The University of Massachusetts at
Amherst; Fall 2000 and Fall 2001, The University of Louisville; Fall 2003, Fall 2004, Fall 2005 and
Fall 2006, Sacramento State University
This class uses exercises, neutral scenes, and improvisation to give beginning acting students the building
blocks to approach a role. The emphasis is on: ensemble building, listening and responding, being present
in the moment, working with actions and obstacles, and understanding given circumstances. This course is
designed for undergraduate students interested in exploring acting as a career possibility.
• Appreciation of Acting Spring 2004, Sacramento State University
This course is designed to introduce non-majors to the process of acting: the role of the actor, the demands
and training involved, and the relationship of an actor to the text and to the theatre as a whole.
• Graduate Performance Theory Fall 2001, The University of Louisville
This is a class for second and third year graduate students. Using both historical and contemporary
perspectives, the goal is to explore, both intellectually and kinesthetically, a variety of disparate performance
theories, from Stanislavski to Brecht to Anna Deveare Smith.
• Graduate Pedagogy Spring 2001 and Spring 2002, The University of Louisville
This is a class for the first year graduate students. The goal is to prepare them to teach the Non-Majors
Acting classes, which they will be doing in the fall. The department was concerned about the quality and
training of their Teaching Assistants and asked me to develop this course. I created a syllabus-outline for
teaching a non-majors class, with descriptions of possible exercise that fit into each unit. Half of each
pedagogy class is spent going over exercises and talking about how each of them relates to acting, while
the other half of the class is spent with an assigned student acting as the teacher, teaching his/her students
a prepared class, then getting feedback from his/her peers.
• Playscript Analysis Spring 2001 and Spring 2002,The University of Louisville
This is an undergraduate script analysis class, required for theatre majors. My goal is to provide the
students with a variety of tools and perspectives from which to examine a dramatic text. Discussion and
written work is designed to encourage them to think both imaginatively and analytically about dramatic form
and structure in ways that are useful to them as a theatre artists.
Associate Instructor
• Acting II for Theatre Majors Spring 1999, The University of Texas at Austin
This class was built on the principles of acting begun in Acting I and taught through exercises and scene
work. The focus was on: being present in the moment, playing actions and objectives, understanding and
incorporating given circumstances, physical tools for the actor derived from Laban exercises, status tools
based on Keith Johnstone's improvisation work, voice fundamentals based on Linklater and Lessac, and
tools for analyzing performance text from an acting perspective. This course was designed for
undergraduate students who had completed Acting I and who were interested in acting as a career.
• Acting I for Theatre Majors Fall 1998, The University of Texas at Austin
This class used exercises, neutral scenes, and improvisation to give students the building blocks to
approach a role. The focus was on: listening and responding, being present in the moment, stakes, conflict,
working with objectives and obstacles, understanding given circumstances, and understanding beats. This
course was designed for undergraduate students interested in exploring acting as a career possibility.
• Basic Acting Spring 1998, and Spring 1999, The University of Texas at Austin
This class was designed to introduce students to the process of acting: the role of the actor, the demands
and training involved, and the relationship of the actor to the text and to the theatre as a whole. We
addressed this through exercises, readings, discussions, neutral scenes, improvisation, and by attending a
variety of live performances. The class culminated in five-minute scene presentations. This course was
designed for undergraduate students who were not interested in acting as a career, but who wanted to gain
a hands-on understanding of the process of acting.
• Training the Speaking Voice Fall 1998, The University of Texas at Austin
Although there was some focus on public speaking, this class was primarily intended to address the vocal
issues of: articulation, forward placement, breath, connection with the audience, and communication of
meaning. We worked with breath exercises (Linklater), forward placement exercises (Lessac), and
articulation exercises (Skinner). These exercises were utilized in performing personal poems, prose texts,
and eulogies. This course was intended for undergraduate students in diverse areas of study with a desire
to improve their vocal communication skills.
Teaching Assistant
• BFA Voice and Speech Fall 1997, and Spring 1998, The University of Texas at Austin
Instructor: Natalie Stewart
This year-long course integrated Linklater's voice work with Skinner's speech work, including dialect work
and learning the IPA. The students were members of the BFA Junior and Senior Acting class.
• MFA II Voice and Speech Spring 1997, The University of Texas at Austin
Instructor: Natalie Stewart
This course focused primarily on dialect work: Edith Skinner's exercises, practical usage of the IPA, scene
work in British, Irish, Scottish, and Southern dialects, dialect research, and life studies. The students were
members of the second year Graduate MFA Acting class.
• Introduction to Theatre Fall 1997, The University of Texas at Austin
Instructor: James Harley
Primarily in a lecture format (400 students), this class gave non-theatre majors an overview of Western
theatre history and the elements of theatre today. As a Teaching Assistant, I gave lectures and quizzes and
was responsible for the grading of eighty students' production response papers throughout the semester.
Teacher
• Using Status as an Acting Tool Summer 2000, and Summer 2001, Williamstown Theatre
Festival
This is a two-week intensive acting class for the members of the Apprentice Company at Williamstown
Theatre Festival. I was hired as a Master-Acting Teacher by the Workshop Director, Ted Sluberski, who
was familiar with my work from my 1998 summer at Williamstown. The class focuses on the improvisation
work of Keith Johnstone.
• Movement for the Actor Spring 2000, ACTeen at Weist Barron Studios, New York
This intensive three week course was designed to expose young acting students (15 to 18) to various
physical approaches to acting as well as to give them a daily physical warm-up and an opportunity to
increase awareness of the body.
• Acting and Directing for Youth Stagedoor Manor, Summer 1999, in upstate New York
My students were age 8 to 18. I taught two sessions of three weeks each, while simultaneously directing
one production each session.
• Summer Acting Workshop for Interns Summer, 1997, SoHo Rep in New York City
(students age 17 - 23)
The focus of this workshop was to explore improvisation from the perspective of status by using
Keith Johnstone's beginning status exercises.
DIRECTING EXPERIENCE
1905, Director, a collaboration between The Misa Table Dance Theatre Collective and
The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2010)
Supported by a $10,000 grant from Triptych Theatre, a College of Humanities and Fine Arts Visioning Grant,
a UMass Arts Council Grant and a grant from The Missouri State University College of Arts and Letters, this
multi-media performance project brought together professional collaborators from New York, San Francisco,
Chicago, Mexico, Missouri, and Vermont with University of Massachusetts, Amherst students and faculty in
Theater, Dance, and Music for two residences, the first in August, 2009, and the second January, 2010.
The collaboratively-developed performance explored the coming together of an immigrant community in
Nebraska in 1905, at a time when the world of technology and the meaning of community seemed to be
changing with incredible speed. Through the lens of another time and place, the challenges of fracturing and
reforming communication and relationships in our own time could be seen in a new light. Workshops with
Springfield students and UMass students by the artists supported the outreach goals of the project.
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/netradio/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1603
Marta the Divine (premiere adaptation/translation), Director, The University of
Massachusetts at Amherst and The Siglo de Oro Spanish Theatre Festival at Chamizal
National Memorial (2009 and 2010)
This 1615 Spanish Golden Age comedy by Tirso de Molina had never before been translated into English
before collaborator Harley Erdman did so for this production. Harley and I chose this play in part for its
female central character, a young woman with very little power who finds a way, through deception,
disguise, and outrageous behavior, to take control of her romantic situation at a time when it would
otherwise be impossible. Besides being a part of our season at UMass Amherst in November, 2009, the
production was accepted as part of the 35th Annual Siglo do Oro festlval in El Paso in March 2010 and
Harley and I have been asked to speak about the production at the Out of the Wings Spanish Golden Age
Theatre Conference in Oxford, England, also in March, 2010.
Hamlet in Rehearsal (premiere – staged reading), Director, Shakespeare & Company
(2009)
Extensive pre-production collaboration with playwright Donald Freed was a key part of my work, as well as
working with a cast of Equity actors for a performance in The Founders Theatre.
Othello, Assistant Director to Tony Simotes, Shakespeare & Company (2009)
Staged in The Founder’s Theatre with an Equity cast, this was Tony Simotes’s first production as the new
Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company. Besides being a second pair of eyes for Tony, my role was to
work on smaller scenes, mostly with Othello and Desdemona, while Tony focused on the larger group
scenes. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/theater/reviews/09shake.html
The Dancer, Director, The Gateway Project for Chester Theater Company (2009)
Part of a festival for young playwrights, this was a new piece with professional actors and extensive
playwright collaboration.
All’s Well That Ends Well, Assistant Director to Tina Packer, Shakespeare & Company
(2008)
Shakespeare & Company’s Founding Artistic Director, Tina Packer, staged this re-envisioning of All’s Well
with original music in The Founder’s Theatre. I worked closely with Ms. Packer on actor coaching, staging,
music, and technical issues.
http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/07/05/problems_resolved_alls_well_ends_well/
Ondine, Director, The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (2008)
Directed Dan O’Brien’s new adaptation of Giraudoux’s large-scale fantasy, Ondine, as a part of our
departmental production season with a cast of 32 actors and dancers. I collaborated with choreographer
Paul Dennis of the UMass Music and Dance Department and member of José Limon’s dance company, as
well as with Obie-award winning sound designer Rob Kaplowitz and Bessie-award winning lighting designer
Jane Cox. Our department received grants from the UMass Arts Council and the UMass Alumni Association
to bring playwright Dan O’Brien to campus for two collaborative sessions with the creative team, so I was
able to work extensively with the playwright, both in person and over the phone.
Private Lives, Director, Sacramento Theatre Company (2007)
This Equity production of Noel Coward’s mannered (yet at times crazy) comedy had a six-week run as part
of the season at Sacramento Theatre Company
The Crucible, Director, Sacramento State University (2006)
This drama by Arthur Miller opened the Sacramento State University Theatre Department’s 50th Anniversary
Season. It was the first play the department produced, back in 1956, and the cast of the 2006 production
included both students and alumni. Although performed in a large proscenium theatre, the production began
in a claustrophobic space, illustrating the insular quality of the town, which later exploded into the courtroom
as the people of Salem were torn apart by the trials.
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=232797
The Tempest, Director, Sacramento State University (2006)
Staged in the round, this production emphasized some of the darker aspects of Shakespeare’s “romance”.
Original music was written for the production and performed live by Ariel and his gang of spirits. The
complex physical sequences were created in close collaboration with choreographer Paul Besaw.
Tartuffe, Director, Sacramento Theatre Company (2005)
This Equity production of Moliére’s classic political farce had a six-week run in a large proscenium theatre as
a part of the season at Sacramento Theatre Company. The production melded contemporary and period
costumes and architecture, allowing for biting contemporary political satire to work in tandem with more
farcical elements. http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=33656
Tea, Co-Director with Peggy Shannon, International City Theatre at Long Beach (2005)
This was an Equity production in a large semi-thrust theatre of Velina Hasu Houston’s drama about
Japanese war brides. Scenes alternate between choral group sections and realistic scenes of sharing tea
after the suicide of one of the women.
The Comedy of Errors, Director, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival at Sand Harbor (2004)
This commedia dell’arte-influenced production featured mask work and strong physical characters. It was
the festival’s 2004 Young Shakespeare production, performed in a 1000-seat outdoor theatre on Lake
Tahoe.
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Director, Sacramento State University
(2004)
This contemporary comedy by Ann Marie MacDonald is written in a mixture of prose and verse, with portions
of scenes takes directly from Shakespeare’s plays. The production was extremely physical, with complex
rapier/dagger fights and staged in three-quarter round
Temptation, Director, Sacramento State University (2003)
This large-cast play by Vaclav Havel, based on the Faust story, deals with humans as rats-in-a-maze, with
what it means to live inside a beaurocracy. The rehearsal process included the creation of rituals and
repetition, both inside the Scientific Institute and at the Witches’ Sabbath.
Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same, Director, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre,
Toronto, Canada (2003)
For my third collaboration with playwright Madeleine Olnek, I directed her absurdist comedy about the
search for love. Performed in a cabaret space with a cast of eight, the play demands physical and vocal
precision, lightening quick scene changes (and character changes), and absolute honesty.
The Tempest, Director, York University, Toronto, Canada (2002)
In this production, performed by graduate and undergraduate York students, a female Prospero seeks to
justify her intense drive for revenge. The cast and I wrote original music for the production, sung by Ariel
and the other slaves and accompanied by Ariel on guitar. The production explored the issues of hierarchy
and dominance, so the slavery or subjugation of Ariel, Caliban, and Miranda was key.
Machinal, Director, Pleiades Theatre at Kentucky Center for the Arts (2002)
I was a Guest Director for Pleiades (a women’s theatre collective) for this 1920’s Expressionist drama,
performed in the 200-seat thrust space at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. It was an extremely physical,
ensemble production in which the actors created the mechanized world that trapped the young woman.
The Threepenny Opera, Director, The University of Louisville (2001)
As a part of The University of Louisville’s Mainstage season, Threepenny was slotted to be performed in a
space that is normally a 400-seat proscenium theatre. To create an intimate cabaret environment, we
unscrewed the seats and built little cabaret tables and several small performance areas (The Whorehouse,
Mr. Peachum’s shop, etc.). In keeping with Brecht’s idea that actor and character are NOT one and the
same, I cast the best ensemble of ten actor/singers available and had them play multiple roles, sometimes
of the opposite gender. With makeup table and costume racks in the house, audience members playing
beggars, wandering “cigarette girl” style barkers selling refreshments, and follow spot operators in nests built
above the audience, confronting the truth and intensity of Brecht’s ideas and characters was both theatrical
and present-tense.
Othello, Adaptor/Director, The University of Louisville (2001)
I was asked by my students to take on an extra project. I chose Othello because The Fortunes of the Moor,
an Afro-centric sequel to Othello, was being done in the mainstage season. Additionally, there was one
graduate student who did not yet have a thesis role, so I agreed to work with him on the role of Iago. We
had no budget, and I was proud of the way the students pulled together to help make this an Event. Othello
inspired a real surge of support from students and other community members and we ended up having to
turn away as many people as we were able to seat each nigh
Polaroid Stories, Director, The University of Louisville (2000)
As a part of The University of Louisville’s Mainstage season, I directed Naomi Iizuka’s adaptation of Ovid’s
Metamorphosis, in which the characters are contemporary street kids. The production was hit with the
students, but there was much controversy and outrage among subscribers because of the play’s themes,
language, and intensity, which we did not shy away from. The cast was a combination of graduate and
undergraduate students. Although we did a great deal of research and our approach to the characters was
action-based, it was also an extremely physical production.
Scott and Zelda (premiere), Director, Wings Theatre in New York (2000)
I directed this new musical by Dave Bates (about the Fitzgeralds) with a cast of 16 actors and a jazz band.
The Music Director was Jack Aaronson. In addition to the interactive characters, the play contains seven
historical figures, such as Ernest Hemingway and Sarah Murphy, who act solely as narrators. I solved this
staging issue by having each narrator character in a free-hanging picture frame, creating a living gallery on
the sides of the audience. We had a six-week run to sold-out houses in a 125-seat theatre.
Armchair America (premiere), Director, Dixon Place in New York (2000)
This new play, a mock-umentary by Tom Bondi and Mark Holt, was a two-actor tour-de-force, in which each
actor plays seven characters. We had a three-week run at Dixon Place, a 120-seat thrust space.
The Ice Wolf, Director, Nebraska Theatre Caravan (Tour) (1999)
The Ice Wolf is a serious children’s play about alienation and forgiveness by Joanna Halpert Kraus. Our
production toured schools and theatres in the Midwest in the fall of 1999 and the spring of 2000. Before
rehearsals began, I did extensive research on Inuit myths and culture. I decided that it would be potentially
offensive for us to pretend that we were Inuit, so the set designer and I set up the beginning of the play like a
museum exhibit. The actors, during the prologue, gradually put on the displayed costumes and picked up
the displayed props. Huge, above-the-head masks were created for the animal characters. I wrote original
vocal music for the production, which was accompanied by an Inuit drum and other percussion.
Stagedoor Manor, Director (Summer, 1999)
At Stagedoor Manor, in addition to teaching six classes per session, I directed two productions, using
student actors and professional Designers, Choreographers, and Music Directors.
Music of the Night
During the first session, I directed this revue of Andrew Lloyd Weber songs, with a cast of twenty. Despite
the challenges of a revue format, we were able to create a consistent theatrical world, with evolving
characters and themes.
The Enchanted
For the second session, I directed a production of Jean Giradeaux’s The Enchanted, with a cast of fifteen.
The Cryptogram and The Old Neighborhood, Assistant Director to Michael Bloom, The
Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles (1998)
During Christmas break of my final year in grad school, I went to L.A. to assist my directing teacher, Michael
Bloom, on these two David Mamet plays, starring Robin Bartlett and Ed Begley Jr, at the Geffen Playhouse.
Williamstown Theatre Festival, Boris Segal Fellow (Summer, 1998)
The Rainmaker, Assistant Director
I was the Assistant Director for the mainstage production of The Rainmaker, directed by Scott Ellis and
starring Jayne Atkinson and Chris Maloney. A year later, this production went on to have a Broadway run at
The Roundabout Theatre.
Bluebeard, Director
This was a Non-Equity Company production of Charles Ludlam’s farce. It was a large-cast, incredibly
campy production with original music.
Anne Frank/Harvey Milk, Director
This was an intimate, one-person show that I’d first produced at The Unusual Cabaret. In order to work, this
play has to be done as simply and honestly as possible.
Help! Police! (premiere), Director, SoHo Rep in New York (1997)
Madeleine Olnek, whose play How to Write While You Sleep I had directed in 1995 at Brown University,
asked me to direct the first production of her new comedy, Help! Police! at SoHo Rep in New York, the
summer after my first year of graduate school.
A Life in the Theatre, Director, Wellfleet Harbor Actors’ Theatre (1997)
For my second production at W.H.A.T., the Artistic Directors asked me to direct David Mamet’s early play, A
Life in the Theatre. This project was also during the summer after my first year of graduate school.
The University of Texas at Austin, Graduate Director, MFA 1999 (1996 – 1999)
The Wall of Water, Director (1999)
Playwright Sherry Kramer was in guest residency at The University of Texas during my final year there and I
had the opportunity to work with her on her farce, The Wall of Water. For the second time, I was given the
B. Iden Payne Theatre as my space, a 500+ seat proscenium house. One challenge is that the action
occurs in four rooms simultaneously, so there are incredibly delicate timing issues to deal with.
Help! I’m Being Eaten By a Wolf! Director and Writer (1998)
This was a cast-generated piece based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood with three characters (Red
Riding Hood, The Grandmother, and The Wolf) which explored multiple perspectives of the same event. We
used guided improvisation to create material for me to write from and chose to perform the piece in our
Movement Classroom because we wanted the intimacy of a non-theatre space.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Director (1998)
With Midsummer, I was the first student director to be given a show in the B. Iden Payne Theatre, a 500+
seat proscenium house. I had a cast of 30 actors, both graduate and undergraduate. The cast was this size
because I wanted a chorus of thirteen earth/spider fairies, both male and female. The set (Molly Reynolds)
featured fourteen-foot platforms, accessible by climbing up or sliding down poles, huge white panels made
of lycra strips, which looked solid, but which the fairies were able to go through, and white petals raining
from the sky. Original music was written for the fairies to sing, with electronic accompaniment. During the
first two weeks of the rehearsal process, we focused exclusively on language, although it was also an
extremely physical production. (Fight Director: Allen Suddeth.) My favorite moment was the very end, when
Puck broke through the fourth wall and stepped off the stage, stepping through the house from armrest to
armrest, while white petals rained down on the audience.
Medea, Twilight Ending (premiere), Director (1997)
This was a new play by Jamaican playwright Carlia Francis Blackchild, a graduate playwright at The
University of Texas. It was performed in the Lab Theatre, which is normally a proscenium space, but we
reconfigured it by removing everything from the stage and wing space. The audience then sat in a circle on
the stage. We were still able to seat about 100, but had to turn people away each performance. The
choreographer was faculty-member Jeffrey Bullock. The cast and I wrote original music for the production.
The women were accompanied by three African drummers as well as by percussion that they played
themselves.
The Pains of Youth, Director (1997)
This three-act play by Ferdinand Bruckner was performed in the Lab Theatre (a 150-seat proscenium space)
with a cast of both graduate and undergraduate actors. I made the set each night out of rolls of brown
paper, which was gradually ripped and torn down during the course of each performance.
Animal Magnetism, Assistant Director (1996)
My first semester at The University of Texas at Austin, Mabou Mines was in residency and I was the
Assistant Director to Terry O’Reilly. The two lead actors, Joanna Adler and John McAdams, were guest
artists from New York. Also, there was a chorus of University of Texas students, which I assisted in casting
and rehearsing. I collaborated closely with the choreographer, David Neuman.
Time Traveler (premiere), Director, Chicago Production (1996)
This is a cast-developed musical that I’d co-written, directed, and produced at The Unusual Cabaret in 1992.
For the Chicago production, the cast and I first spent about six weeks in writing/improvisation sessions
before we began regular rehearsals. The musical was performed at The Ivanhoe Theatre.
Hot ‘N’ Throbbing at Wellfleet Harbor Actors’ Theatre (1995)
Paula Vogel, who knew my work well from my time as a Guest Director at Brown University, asked me to
direct her controversial play, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing at W.H.A.T., a 190-seat proscenium theatre known for
producing new work. The play deals with issues of pornography and violence, and includes some incredibly
violent and sexual scenes.
Brown University, Guest Director (1994, 1995, and 1996)
I was hired by Paula Vogel for three consecutive years as a Guest Director for the annual Brown
University New Plays Festival, in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Each year, I first worked with a graduate playwright
(two playwrights in 1994) on script development. Together, the playwright and I then cast her/his play from
a pool of primarily undergraduate actors. In addition, I was assigned two or three undergraduate assistants
(Assistant Directors, Stage Managers, and Choreographers) as part of a mentoring program.
In 1994, my position was made possible through an NEA Grant. In 1996, the festival was coproduced by Trinity Rep and my position was made possible through a grant from the Steinburg Foundation.
The Plays:
Boxed
The Secret Plays
Toys
How to Write While You Sleep
Jen Hofer
Rob Handel
Julie Regan
Madeleine Olnek
1994
1994
1995
1996
Artistic Director of The Unusual Cabaret (1990 – 1993)
In 1990, at age 25, I started my own business: a restaurant, cabaret and theatre in Maine called
The Unusual Cabaret. My business partner was a chef from the area. My goal was to present high quality,
innovative theatre with a balance between challenge and accessibility in a casual, intimate environment. I
wanted to bridge the gap between “high art” and “low art” and to narrow the gap between spectator and
performer. At the same time, I wanted to run a financially successful business.
We rented a very cute space that seated approximately 90 people in Bar Harbor, Maine. I painted
it, decorated it, built a stage, went to auctions for mismatched tables, chairs, dishes, etc., and hired a group
of singers, actors, playwrights, and composers from among those I had most enjoyed working with at The
University of Iowa.
The restaurant served home-made pasta in tandem with the local seafood. Everyone who worked
at The Unusual Cabaret was a performer of some kind, so, throughout dinner, various waiters or cooks
would step onto the stage and take part in a musical number. This was what I called our “Cabaret Dinner
Show”, which had a casual feel and no set order. Then, at 9:00 Tuesdays through Sundays, our theatre
series began. This was not a “dinner theatre”. Patrons, though welcome to purchase tickets and stay
through from dinner, were primarily people who came solely for the theatre.
As Artistic Director, Owner, and Front-of-House Manager, my responsibilities included: choosing
the season, hiring artists for the entire season as well as Guest Artists for single productions, creating
menus and advertising, planning various promotional events, hosting in the restaurant six to seven nights a
week, hosting Open Mike Night on Mondays, directing the Cabaret Dinner Show, training wait staff, training
bartenders, and performing and directing in the theatre series.
The following is a list of our productions at The Unusual Cabaret for the four years that I was the
owner and Artistic Director.
1990 Theatre Season
Escape From Eldorado (Premiere)
By Playwright-in-Residence Jeff Goode
Music by Composer-in Residence Jonathan Price
Choreography by Allison Job
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
Dead Poets: The Story of Walt, Em, and Eddie on the Road (Premiere)
By Playwright-in-Residence Jeff Goode
Music by Composer-in Residence Jonathan Price
Directed and Choreographed by Gina Kaufmann
The Beggar’s Opera
By John Gay
Adapted for a three-woman cast by Gina Kaufmann
Musical Direction by Larrance Fingerhut
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
1991 Theatre Season
Hamlet: The Anti-Musical
Adapted and directed by Mark Milbauer and David Becker (Guest Artists from Yale University)
Choreography by Lisa Gunn
Musical Direction by Larrance Fingerhut
(Note: Gina Kaufmann played the role of “Gertrude”)
Time Traveler (Premiere)
Cast-generated script, developed through structured improvisations designed by the director
Music by Composer-in-Residence Larrance Fingerhut
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
Who Killed Cock Robin? (Premiere)
By Playwright-in-Residence Jeff Goode
Music by Composer-in-Residence Larrance Fingerhut
Directed by Jeff Goode
(Note: Gina Kaufmann played the role of “Ms. Dove”)
Orphée
By Jean Cocteau
Costumes and Masks designed by Cherie Bowers
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
1992 Theatre Season
The Threepenny Opera
By Bertolt Brecht
Music by Kurt Weill
Musical Direction by Larrance Fingerhut
Designed by Cherie Bowers
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
Narcissus & Echo (Premiere)
By Playwright-in-Residence Jeff Goode
Music by Composer-in-Residence Larrance Fingerhut
Designed by Cherie Bowers
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
Voices of Comfort: Two Original One-Act Plays about Discrimination
What You Eat (Premiere)
By Company Member John Kaufmann
And Anne Frank/Harvey Milk (Premiere)
`
By Company Member Michael Graziano
Directed by Gina Kaufmann and Michael Graziano
1993 Theatre Season
La Bête
By David Hirson
Designed by Cherie Bowers
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
Reverse Psychology
By Charles Ludlam
Original music for the production by Larrance Fingerhut
Directed by Guest Artist Mark Hollman
Alchemist: The Musical (Premiere)
By John Kaufmann
Music composed by Guest Artist Mark Hollman
Directed by Gina Kaufmann
(Note: Gina Kaufmann also stepped into the role of “Doll” later in the run)
The Beggar’s Opera, Adaptor/Director, Public Trust Theatre, Chicago (1993)
For this production, I used the adaptation of The Beggar’s Opera, for a three-woman cast, which I had
created at The Unusual Cabaret. Each woman plays one male and one female role. In the final scene, all
six characters have to be on stage at once. Besides having fun, my aim was to create as harsh a
commentary on gender issues as Gay had created on issues of class. We performed in a 75-seat
proscenium space.
Stage Left, Chicago, Company Member (1992)
In 1992, during the off-season of The Unusual Cabaret, I was a company member of Stage Left Theatre, a
small politically-oriented theatre in Chicago. I was an Assistant Director for two productions and I helped
with box office and publicity.
Machinal, Director, Shattered Globe Theatre, Chicago (1992)
I wanted to direct Machinal, by Sophie Treadwell, and found an Artistic Director who was interested in
producing it. It was an extremely physical, ensemble production in which the actors created the mechanized
world that trapped the young woman. We had a six-week run.
3am (premiere), Director, at HOME in New York (1990)
Immediately after finishing my BA, I moved to New York and began working on 3am again, this time for a
New York premiere at HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art. My set designer and one of the actors
were brought in from the Iowa production. The Artistic Director of the theatre, Randy Rollison, played one of
the lead roles. We had a six-week run.
The University of Iowa in Iowa City, BA 1989 (1984 –1989)
I started college as a vocal music major, then switched to acting after participating in the intensive
summer training program at ACT in San Francisco. In 1987, to assist a former professor in his Freshman
Production class, I directed my first play: Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. Next, I was the Assistant Director for
a mainstage production, Romeo and Juliet, directed by Michael Quinn. For this production, I got to direct
the understudies in the roles of “Romeo”, “Juliet”, and “the Nurse”, who went on for the matinee
performances. I then directed The Conduct of Life, by Maria Irene Fornes, and directed and produced a
gender-role cabaret that toured throughout the state – which I called The Unusual Cabaret. I also
performed in various productions, including Sweeney Todd, As Is, and The Wizard of AIDS (I was part of
the original cast for this cast-developed project that is still running in Chicago and which became the basis
for Healthworks Theatre Company in Chicago). I also acted in various new plays, most importantly a new
musical called Walt, which was a part of the American College Theatre Festival in 1988. At the end of that
year, I received an award and one-year full scholarship for Outstanding Junior Theatre Major.
For my final semester, I was allowed into the graduate directing class and was partnered with a
graduate playwright, Heather McCutchen, for the Playwrights’ Festival. I directed her play, 3am. One of the
New York guests at the festival, Randy Rollison, Artistic Director of HOME for Contemporary Theatre and
Art (since expanded into an art gallery and performance space called HERE) asked me to direct 3am at his
theatre in New York the following year. For my work on 3am, I received the departmental IRAM Award for
Best Director in 1989.
CASTING EXPERIENCE
Paramount Pictures feature film, “Hardball”, Casting Assistant (2000)
Marci Liroff was the Casting Director and she is based in Los Angeles. I was her New York Casting
Assistant for “Hardball”, directed by Brian Robbins and starring Kianu Reeves.
The Talbot’s Catalogue, Co-Casting Director (2000)
Because Laura Barnett had other commitments and couldn’t be there, she asked me to be the Co-Casting
Director for this print advertising project in New York.
Gentle Treatment Hair Products, Casting Assistant (2000)
Laura Barnett was the Casting Director and I was her assistant for this print ad campaign in New York.
Charles Schwab, Casting Assistant (2000)
Laura Barnett was the Casting Director and I was her assistant for this print ad campaign in New York, in
charge of the 100+ extras.
“The Band of Brothers”, Casting Assistant (1999)
Deborah Brown was the New York Casting Director for this T.V. mini-series, directed by Stephen Spielberg,
and I was her assistant.
The Green Bird, Casting Assistant (1999) Deborah Brown was the Casting Director for this Broadway
play, directed by Julie Taymor, and I was her assistant.