DIRECTING
Williams Street Repertory
2024- Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias
2018 - Bomber's Moon by Deborah Yarchun (World Premiere)
2016 - Art by Yasmina Reza
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
2014--Much Ado About Nothing (touring production)
Harlem Shakespeare Leaders Program-Aquila Theatre
(all student casts at Frederick Douglass High School in Harlem, NYC)
2014 - The Tempest
2013 - Twelfth Night
2008 - Romeo & Juliet
Shakespeare Anyone?
2009-2012: Director with Generous Company's Shakespeare Anyone?
bringing the works of Shakespeare into non-traditional performance spaces
(in residence at the Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC)
NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT
TheatreSquared -Arkansas New Play Festival
2022 -Ashes of a Great Fire by Tony Meneses
WildWIND Performance Laboratory
2018 - Rita Tambien Rita by Tony Meneses
Williams Street Rep - NEW PLAY Reading Series
2019- Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven by REINA HARDY
2017- Another Girl by JOHN YEARLEY
2016- Bosons by K. FITHJOF PETERSON
2015-Technicolor Life by JAMI BRANDLI
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
2007--2012:
guest artist and director in New York University's Department of Dramatic Writing.
directed readings for the NYU Grad Marathon, Marathon of New Works, and the Steinberg Playwright's Laboratory.
Notable plays include...
2011
"How I Learned to Relax and Love the Porn" by Bailey Williams.
(semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Conference)
2010
director in NYU's Graduate Collaboration Laboratory with Austin Pendleton.
2009
"Now I Am Finally Awake" by Julia Holleman', NYU's Festival of New Works.
Wordbridge Playwrights Laboratory
2007--2013:
director, guest artist, and directing/acting mentor at Generous Company's
Notable plays include...
-Adam Pasen's " Badfic Love" (WordBRIDGE 2012)
premiered at Strange Bedfellows Theatre in Chicago (April 2015)
- Jami Brandli's " Technicolor Life" (WordBRIDGE 2010).
Winner of the 2010 John Gassner Memorial Playwright Award
Winning play at the 2010 Ashland New Plays Festival
Finalist for the 2010 Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship.
Finalist for the 2011 O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.
GUMBO: new works festival, Baltimore
2012 & 2013:
director & performer with Generous Company’s staged reading series
incorporating visual art, music, and live performance
at the Baltimore Theatre Project.
JAN 2012
"STRANGE PLAYTHINGS: a cautionary tale for inner children"
Generous Company's GUMBO at Baltimore's Theatre Project,
a play she wrote in collaboration with fellow Generous Company members
James Knight Bobby Harris, and Will Manning.
PLAYWRIGHT TESTIMONIALS
"BADFIC LOVE", WordBRIDGE 2012
"Over our two weeks of rehearsals, Michele helped me discover the emotional core of my story, ultimately transforming the piece from a series of comedic vignettes to an actual play with conflict, stakes, and emotional resonance...
I found both Michele's insight into human motivations and relationships invaluable. More than anything else, however, I appreciated her ability as a director to both push me and give me space in my role as a playwright. I COULD NOT have achieved what I feel I was able to with my play without Michele, and this is coming from a guy who thinks "collaboration" is a four-letter word."
ANNIE JUMP and the LIBRARY OF HEAVEN, WSRep Reading Series, 2019
"This is a wonderful reading series, low stress but high impact. The directorial and dramaturgical guidance provided by Michele shed new light on some issues I've been trying to solve with this play. I’d recommend it to any playwright."
"TECHNICOLOR LIFE", WordBRIDGE 2010
"As a 2010 WordBRIDGE Fellow, I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and insightful director while I worked on my play, Technicolor Life. In the rehearsal room, Michele created an encouraging environment where I felt safe to take the necessary risks with my play. During our private chats, she asked all the right questions, which directly led to me making some major breakthroughs, and when I say major, I mean MAJOR.
In short, I am one lucky playwright to have worked with Michele, and “Technicolor Life” has more than benefited due to her involvement. I hope (and pray) I get to work with her again in the near future.”