Drama League Announces Directors Project Class of 2011

The Drama League Directors Project (Roger T. Danforth, Artistic Director) is pleased to announce its "Class of 2011," a group of nine distinguished individuals who have been selected as this year's Drama League Directing Fellows. Now in its 27th year, The Directors Project features six distinct programs designed to address the needs of directors at various stages of their careers.

The Drama League Directors Project provides an unparalleled training program for emerging theatre artists by encouraging and training young talents, while providing much-needed exposure and essential connections to the professional theatrical community.

"This has been an incredible year, as we received a remarkable total of 140 applicants for The Directors Project," said Artistic Director Roger T. Danforth. "The process of selecting this year's Directing Fellows proved to be quite an undertaking, given the breadth of exceptionally talented applicants we had to choose from. Each of our directing programs had its own separate panels of evaluators, who read all the applications blind [without names] and interviewed 45 finalists before arriving at the final nine. In addition, we're pleased to announce that this year - our 27th year - marks the launch of a new Classical Fellowship for Directors of Color in collaboration with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego."

The Fellows of The Directors Project Class of 2011 will come together in New York City for Professionals Week, May 17 - 23. They will spend a week in meetings, seminars, workshops, etc., attending theater in the evening and meeting the people who are creating that work during the day. It is an immersion in the New York theatre, both nonprofit and commercial. Following this they will then move on to their respective programs which begin between now and August.

MUSICAL DIRECTING PROGRAM
One Fellow - Shakina Nayfack

June 21 - August 27, 2011 at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA

Shakina Nayfack is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Epic Megalopolis Productions (EpicMegaPro), a Los Angeles based company devoted to showcasing new work for the stage. His most notable directing project to date is JUNK: A Rock Opera, written by the Swedish band Brainpool and currently in development with EpicMegaPro. Shakina holds a BA in Community Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Theatre Arts from the University of California Santa Cruz, as well as an MFA in Experimental Choreography and a PhD in Critical Dance Studies, both from UC Riverside.

HANGAR RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Three Fellows - Laura Braza, Kristopher Lencowski, Chantal Pavageaux

May 23 - Sept 3, 2011 at Hangar Theater in Ithaca, NY

Laura Braza proudly hails from Mequon, WI, and received her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She serves as the Artistic Director of The Attic Theater Company. Favorite directing credits include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The Importance of Being Earnest, and her work at Manhattan Theater Source and Atlantic Theater Company's Stage II with ATC students as well as Attic shows Moonchildren, Dark Rapture and Wonderful World. Laura has assistant directed several critically acclaimed productions, including Love Child and a one-night revival of The Good Thief with Carl Forsman, as well as The Temperamentals and The Dining Room with Jonathan Silverstein.

Kristopher Lencowski graduated with a BA from the University of Minnesota, and is a recent graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Program in Directing where he directed Much Ado About Nothing, Shepard'sCowboy Mouth and Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré, as well as Phoenix Lights and ...And Joy for Brown's Writing is Live Festival. Previously, he performed with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, the Jungle Theater, Commonweal and Minnesota Shakespeare in Minneapolis. For more, go to KristopherLencowski.com

Chantal Pavageaux is a director, playwright and multi-media artist whose work has been presented in NYC, Minneapolis, Chicago, Dallas, Memphis and at international festivals across the globe. She received her BFA in Theatre at NYU, and served as the assistant director for Target Margin Theatre, Witness Relocation, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune. She is co-founder of the installation/performance art duo Royal Lace Paper Works and was recently a Resident Artist at Mabou Mines.

NEW YORK FALL DIRECTING PROGRAM
Four Fellows - Desdemona Chiang, Amanda Friou, Lily Whitsitt, Dawn Monique Williams

August 19 - December 14, 2011 in NYC (and at selected regional theatres).

Desdemona Chiang is a director based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, where she is the Associate Artistic Director of Impact Theatre (Berkeley) and co-Founder of Azeotrope (Seattle). Recent and upcoming directing credits include Disassembly by Steven Yockey, Exit, Pursued by a Bear by Lauren Gunderson and Crevice by Lauren D. Yee. Desdemona was most recently at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a FAIR Assistant Dramaturg on Measure for Measure, directed by Bill Rauch. She holds an MFA in Directing from University of Washington, is a proud alumni of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and an Associate Member of SDC.

Amanda Friou is a New York based director and multidisciplinary artist primarily focused on developing organic and innovative new work for the theatre. Originally from Sauk City, Wisconsin, Amada's diverse background ranges from directing a site specific production of Martha Boesing's Pimp at the former Wonderland Collective in Queens to building puppets for Basil Twist. Most recently, she served as the AD on the new musicals Limelight at La Jolla Playhouse and The Blue Flower at The American Repertory Theatre. She is a proud graduate of Macalester College.

Lily Whitsitt is a theater director and interdisciplinary artist who creates live performance events and excavates classics. Recent projects include an operatic blues-inspired production of Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights and Mikhail Bulgkov's rarely performed Adam & Eve (CalArts). She is a select artist of Feldstärke (2009), an initiative between the CENTQUATRE (Paris), the PACT Zollverein (Essen), and CalArts (Los Angeles). Whitsitt received her Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. She is a recipient of the 2009 Princess Grace Award/Grace LeVine Theater Award.

Dawn Monique Williams (MFA UMass Amherst, BA CSU Hayward) grew up in Berkeley and Oakland, California. She has a passion for the classics and language rich plays, which is reflected in her international directing creditsScapin the Cheat, Anna Bella Eema, and The Tempest. Dawn has worked at the San Francisco Young Playwrights Festival, California Conservatory Theatre, Chester Theatre and has assisted at Hartford Stage (Hartford, CT), TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA), and California Shakespeare (Berkeley, CA)

NEW PROGRAM: CLASSICAL FELLOWSHIP FOR DIRECTORS OF COLOR
One Fellow - Snehal Desai

April 18 -August 16 at Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, CA

Snehal Desai is the inaugural recipient of the Drama League's Classical Directing Fellowship. He has worked at theaters across the country including the Public, Ars Nova, the Lark, Dad's Garage, the Alliance, Theatre Rhinoceros, and the Old Vic in London. As a writer and performer, Snehal has nationally toured his solo show, Finding Ways to Prove You're Not an Al-Qaeda Terrorist When You're Brown. Snehal is a recipient of the prestigious Soros Fellowship and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

In addition to Drama League Directors Roger T. Danforth and Gabriel Shanks, the Directors Project interview panels included actress Kathleen Chalfant; Artistic Directors Carl Forsman (Keen Company), Julianne Boyd (Barrington Stage Company) and Jesse Berger (Red Bull); Executive Producer Louis Spisto (Old Globe); Associate Artistic Directors Stephanie Yankwitt (Hangar Theatre) and Laura Kepley (Cleveland Play House); Artistic Associates Daniela Varon (Shakespeare and Company) and Jaime Castaneda (Atlantic); designers Michael Krass and Jess Goldstein; and Dramatists Guild Executive Director Gary Garrison.

To learn more about The Drama League Directors Project, visit www.DramaLeague.org.