Bio
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Alan is a dramaturg and librarian in the DC area. He works for theaters big and small on plays old and new. He founded the Dramaturgy Option with Dr. Michael Chemers at Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama, now thriving and producing more dramaturgs every year. There he worked on cross-cultural collaborations, contributing to a live telecast version of Nathan the Wise sponsored by the Emir of Qatar, along with a live post-show discussion with students from Doha. Alan delved deeply into the Western canon through his coursework, researching the conflation of Jews and Muslims in medieval theater and studying Ibsen under Dr. Brian Johnston, the most innovative and lauded Ibsen scholar of the 20th century. He pioneered the first iterations of Carnegie Mellon's Theatre Lab, developing new plays with MFA playwrights. He also wrote plays for Pittsburgh Playwright's Theater, interned with the Literary Department at City Theater of Pittsburgh, and learned trades in set-building, audience services management, and in design. In his capstone project, Alan collaborated with CMU's German department to bring previously untranslated source material for Büchner's Woyzeck to the stage in an MFA adaptation by Dan Rigazzi.
After graduating, Alan moved to the DC area to expand his education with a degree in Theater History and Criticism, and he immediately began to make contributions to playhouses of all sizes in the region. Working consistently in audience services, Alan began to engage in deeper dramaturgical practice as his connections, research methods, and experience grew. He took a job at the Folger Shakespeare Library, where he utilizes his theater history expertise, customer service knowledge and library experience as a cohesive whole, constantly striving to deepen the connection between scholarship in the library and the living work of the theater. Demonstrating this connection, Alan's MA thesis work culminated in a paper on the dramaturgical techniques of the Federal Theater Project, examining the children's musical Revolt of the Beavers to see how plays became more politically radicalized by the project, leading to the condemnation of the Federal Theater Project by Congress. He now has experience working on the gamut of plays expected for the contemporary dramaturg: ancient plays and their adaptation, contemporary practice in Early Modern English plays, the diverse dramaturgical needs of modern classics, and the developmental work of new plays. Alan is now a freelance dramaturg in the DC area, working for playwrights and theaters on the entire life-cycle of plays: from early development in workshops to useful research in production dramaturgy to the outreach work of educating and inspiring audiences. Most recently, Alan has been writing theater criticism for Broadway World DC and DC Theatre Scene. Not only does he review plays, opera, musicals, theatrical events, and dining experiences, but he also interviews prominent figures in DC cultural scene. Alan works as a Social Media Consultant for DC Theatre Scene as well. Check out the "Writing Samples" link from the "About" hover dropdown menu above to see what he has to say about what is going on. |
Education |
Master of Arts Theater History and Criticism
The Catholic University of America, May, 2011 Bachelor of Fine Arts Dramaturgy Option Carnegie Mellon University, May 2008 |
Skills |
Languages: Attic Greek, Latin, Spanish, some German and Old English
Software:
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