Great Barrington Public Theater Names Judy Braha Associate Artistic Director

GBPT Artistic Director Jim Frangione and Executive Director Deann Simmons Halper have announced the appointment of Judy Braha to the newly created position, Associate Artistic Director. In that capacity she will play an integral role choosing and creatively programming future productions and developing new work.

She has been affiliated with the company for some time, most recently directing 2021's hit Mr. Fullerton and 2022's Things I Know to Be True, and is currently working with Anne Undeland on her newest one-woman show, Mozart's Wife, The Lacrymosa on the slate for the 2024 season. There will be a first-time developmental reading of that play on June 28th, at the Liebowitz black box theater, Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon's Rock.

 

“We've been fortunate to have had Judy working closely with us for the last few years,” Frangione says, pointing out that, “Judy masterfully directed two of our most popular titles during the uncertainty of the pandemic, calmly taking on the countless challenges of auditioning and rehearsing actors and production teams remotely, and still brought to stage two beautiful productions that our audiences loved. We can't say enough about the value of having her sharp eye and steady hand helping us build the company's future.”

 

Ms. Braha comes aboard with an impressive portfolio of credits and accomplishments. She has been a career director, actor, teacher and artist for social justice for over four decades. She headed up the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater and has directorial credits in theaters and universities throughout New England. Judy's work frequently takes on issues of human rights, with titles including To Kill A Mockingbird; Emilie; La Marquise du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight; Othello; The Exonerated; Our Country's Good; I Am Lear, a devised piece on aging; and Golda's Balcony.  This summer, in a partnership with GBPT and Edith Wharton's home, The Mount, Judy brings three performances of Representation and How to Get It, a new solo piece based on the life and aspirations writing of poet, feminist, suffragist, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe to The Mount, in Lenox, MA.  Among her credits, she also is a longtime member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers, and a founding board member of Stage Source, a New England theater resource committed to connecting theaters, artists and their communities.

 

“Judy has the strength of commitment, leadership and passion for theater and how it affects communities that fit hand-in-glove with our founding mission and core beliefs,” Deann Simmons Halper explains. “Her artistic integrity, sense of stage esthetic and ability to make important choices that craft life from the script is a great asset to our company and growth.”

 

Great Barrington Public is in performance June 15-August 13 in the Liebowitz black box and McConnell mainstage theaters, Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon's Rock, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230. More information can be found on the GBPT website and on Facebook. Tickets to performances are affordable to all, between $25 and $50, and are available on the website and by phone 413-372-1980, or GBPTboxoffice@gmail.com.

 

Judy Braha has been a director, actor, teacher and activist for social justice for over four decades. She was long-time head of the M.F.A. Directing Program at Boston University's School of Theater, with credits including theaters and universities throughout New England. With a commitment to the arts as activism, Judy collaborates with Andre de Quadros in the BU College of Fine Arts Prison Arts Initiative, teaching incarcerated students in Massachusetts' prisons and jails. They also worked together within the BU community, teaching the Collaborative Arts Incubator and the groundbreaking series Race, Prison, Justice, Arts. Judy was honored by the Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE) with the 2022 Oscar Brocket Award for Excellence in Theater Teaching.

As a director, Judy's work often has concern for human rights at its center: To Kill A Mockingbird  (Gloucester Stage Company), Emilie, La Marquise du Chatelet, Defends Her Life Tonight (Central Square Theater), Othello,  I Am Lear, a devised piece on aging (Actor's Shakespeare Project), The Oil Thief + Deported, a dream play (Boston Playwrights Theater), Golda's Balcony (NEW REP), Our Class, Our Country's Good and The Exonerated at BU/School Of Theater, the new work Mr. Fullerton, Between the Sheets (Great Barrington Public Theater and Gloucester Stage Company) and the East Coast premiere of Things I Know To Be True (GBPT).   Currently, Representation and How to Get It,  a new solo work about the feminist, suffragist, abolitionist Julia Ward Howe, for Great Barrington Public Theater at The Mount and Revolutionary Spaces in Boston, MA.   A longtime member of the Society of Directors and Choreographers, AEA and SAG-AFTRA, Judy is also proud to have been a founding board member of Stage Source, New England Theater's service organization committed to connecting theaters, artists and their communities.   
https://judybraha.squarespace.com/

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