Curriculum Vitae

Fields of Interest and Specialization

Dramaturgy, Performance History and Aesthetics; French Post-War Avant-Garde Theatre, African Avant-Garde, Contemporary North American Avant-Garde, Queer and Postcolonial Performance Theory, Shakespearean Clowns, Puppet Theatre, Language and Movement for the Visually Impaired

Education

Program in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Yale School of Drama, Visiting Student, 1996

Ph.D. English Literature, University of California, Berkeley
(The Public Share: Shakespearean Dramas and National Histories. Director: Paul J. Alpers), 1992

Swarthmore College, Comparative Literature. Shakespeare in French Translation. Degree with High Honors, 1984

Employment

Assistant Professor, 2000-2010
     Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama/University College Drama Program, University of Toronto

Assistant Professor, 1992-2000
     Department of English, Amherst College

Funding: Internal Research

University of Toronto

Individual Awards and Grants

Trans-Atlantic Theatre and Media Research Grant, to view new archival material at Donnell Media Library, 2003

McGraw-Hill Ryerson Teaching Technology Integration Fund, 2003

Harcourt Brown Travel Fellowship, University of Toronto

Connaught Start-Up Grant, University of Toronto, 2000-02

Institutional Grants and Contracts

Human Cultural Security Project, with Pia Kleber and faculty research team, for Berlin Conference on Human Security; November 11-14, 2005 ($10,000 CAN)

Ethnocultural Academic Initiatives Fund, with Meera Sethi (UTSC, Cultural Pluralism in the Arts), to support a production of Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart, March 26-30, 2003($20,000 CAN)

Ethnocultural Academic Initiatives Fund, with David Clandfield (New College) and Pia Kleber (University College) for Visiting Scholar Program, March 10, 2002 - April 30, 2002 (two salaried positions)

SSHRC Occasional Research Conferences and International Conference Grant with Domenico Pietrapaolo, for Pre-, Post-, and Neo-Colonialisms Conference, October 26-28, 2001 ($10,000 CAN)

Amherst College

Individual Awards and Grants

Faculty Research Grant, Amherst College, to conduct research at the British Museum and regional archives, 1994

Funding: External Research

Awards and Grants

Project with Rick Mitchell: Text Not a Script, 2001

American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, 1995

Postgraduate Research Scholarships

Humanities Graduate Research Grant, University of California, Berkeley, to conduct research at the Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York City, 1991

Mellon Dissertation-Year Award, 1990

Fulbright, to study braille and its implications for the tactile reception of language at the Institution Nationale des Aveugles, Paris, 1988

Maude Fife Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley, 1985

Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities, 1984

Academic Activities

Administration and Service

University of Toronto

Chair:

Theatres Committee, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, 2001-2003

Committee Memberships:

Academic Committee, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, 2001-present

University College Drama Program, Faculty Committee, 2000-present

Sexual Diversity Studies Award Committee; University College, 2004-present

SSHRC Humanities Selection Committee, University of Toronto, fall 2006

School of Graduate Studies Drama Search Committee, Selection Committee, Director of Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, spring 2002

Laidlaw Library Committee, University College,2000-02

Amherst College

Committee Memberships:

Fellowship Committee, 1997-99

Selection Committee, position in African-American Literature, Fall 1994-Spring 1995

Campus Security Committee, 1993-95

Conferences, Readings, Workshops, and Round Tables

Workshop Series on Creative Restraint, with guest lecturers on bondage, corset construction, and home-made pervertibles, University of Toronto, September-December, 2006

Human Cultural Security Conference, Canadian Embassy, Berlin, co-coordinator with Pia Kleber, 2005

Dramaturgy in the Development of Devised and Image-Based Work, with Bruce Barton (UTM), Chuck Mike (Performance Studio Workshop), and Judith Rudakoff, York University, at the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, March 10, 2003

Reading of Al Purdys Poetry by University College Drama Program students, with introductory remarks by Sam Solecki, Department of English; organized through the Laidlaw Library Committee, University of Toronto, February 4, 2003

Round Table on African Canadian Theatre Aesthetics in cooperation with theAfriCanadian Playwrights Festival and Obsidian Theatre, April 20, 2002; Co-organizer with Djanet Sears

Pre-, Post-, and Neo-Imperialisms: Wole Soyinka and Contemporary Theatre Conference, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, Faculty Coordinator, October 2001

Simultaneous Translator and Moderator for Michael Gaumnitz, Visual Art in the Digital Age, University College Drama Program, November 2000

Refereeing

Article Reports

The Quasi-Magical World of the Alarinjo and the Stanislavski Influence

Constantin Stanislasvki and the Quest for Relevance-A Retrospective and Prospective Discourse-Showcasing the Nigerian Academy for Anna Migliarisi, University of Toronto Press,2007

Canadian Theatre Research, 2004

Modern Drama, 2002

Publications

Sexual Performance, a study of gender, sexuality, and performance in the work of Jean Genet, submitted to Verso Press, New York [under review]

Selected Plays of Sony Labou Tansi, including four full-length plays and critical introduction, submitted to CARAF Series, University Press of Virginia [under review]

I, the undersigned cardiac case, by Sony Labou Tansi, translation printed in The Brooklyn Rail,Summer 2002

Articles in Journals

"Jean Genet: 'Une Solitude Mortelle'", Raritan, Fall 1996

"The Merry Wives of Windsor: Sharing the Queens Holiday" Representations 51, 1995

"The Puppets Calling", with Kenneth Gross, Raritan, Summer 1995

"Pinokio", a puppet review with Kenneth Gross, South African Theatre Journal, Spring 1995

"Julius the Snoozer: Independence Day in Blackface",Theatre History Studies, Spring 1993 (nominated for Young Scholars Award, 1994

"Flesh of his Flesh: Amputation in Moby Dick and Silas Weir Mitchell's Medical Papers", Genders 4, 1989

Chapters in Books

"Rehearsing the Weird Sisters: The Word as Fetish in Macbeth", in Shakespeare without Class, eds. Don Hedricks and Brian Reynolds, St. Martin's Press, 2000

Blogs

Sanctorum 2012, www.dagblog.com, March 2012

Johnny Hacktotum, 1955-2011, www.dagblog.com, October 2011

Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching heels!, www.dagblog.com, September 2011

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: A Liberal Anthem for Our Time, www.dagblog.com, May 2011

Interviews

Maria Irene Fornes, for web-posting on the official Fornes site and UCDP programme notes, Fefu and her Friends; dir. Maja Ardall; Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2004

Carlos Camarillo, for programme notes, Mistero Buffo, dir. Maja Ardall, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2003

Jean-Jacques Lemetre, for programme notes, Bacchae, dir. Daniel Brooks, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2002

Paolo Consiglio, with Joerg Bochow, for programme notes, Bacchae, dir. Daniel Brooks, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 2002

Tony Kushner, for faculty audience, Amherst College, 2000

Conference Papers, Academic Panels, Seminars, Workshops &c.

Public Presentation: Cabaret of work by undergraduates, Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, University of Toronto. 2009

Public Presentation: Sexual Performance, an evening of original scenes and adaptations from Genet, Strindberg, Middleton, and Kane, Robert Gill Theater, University of Toronto, 2006

Festival Presentation: "Galley of Fools" and "Sacrifice", an evening of plays and performances with origins in my graduate seminars, Festival of Original Theatre, University of Toronto, 2006

Conference Presentation: "The Challenge of Joining Culture and Politics", a multi-media interactive lecture-performance with John Greyson, Human Cultural Security Conference, Canadian Embassy, Berlin, 2005

Seminar Presentation: "AIDS and Theatrical Activism: Reading between the lines of Reza Abdohs Law of Remains", Graduate Seminar in 20'th Century Avant-Garde Drama; Slavic Department; University of Toronto, 2005

Workshop Presentation: "Cocteau's Poetic Theatre and Poetry of Movement", for cast and crew of Paid on Both Sides, directed by Michael Sidnell, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, University of Toronto, 2004

Research Presentation: "Genet and the Ballet", Graduate Colloquium, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, University of Toronto, 2004

Paper Presentation: "Engagement Cru: Sony's Avant Garde Politics", Performing Africa Conference, University of Leeds, 2004

Panel Presentation: "The Disappearing Narrator: Dramatic Interludes in Genets Querelle", Conference for Language and Literature, SUNY Cortland, 2003

Panel Presentation: "Flesh, bone, and brassieres: Hatred of Capitalism as Embodied Practice", Conference for Language and Literature, SUNY Cortland, 2003

Research Presentation: "Revolutionary Festivities", University of Toronto, Drama Centre Colloquium, 2002

Panel Presentaiton: "Sony Labou Tansi and the Reckless Intellectual", ACTR Conference, Lavale, Quebec

Paper Presentation: "Adame Miroir: Dance of the Despised", Senior Common Lecture Series, 2001

Research Presentation: "'La vie vue de dehors de la vie': Sony Labou Tansi and a new view of the postcolony", Drama Centre Colloquium, 2000

Paper Presentation: "Anti-States in the plays of Sony Labou Tansi and Jean Genet", Northwestern University, 1999

Invited Workshop: "Horror and Pity: Oedipus the King and tragic masking", Hunter College, CUNY, 1998

Paper Presentation: "La Farce Sublimee in Les Fourberies de Scapin", Seminar with Jacques Guicharnaud, French Department, Yale University, 1996

Paper Presentation: "The Unhoused Voice in King Lear", Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1996

Panel Presentation: Voicing Robert Armins Quips Upon Questions, Panel on Orality and Literacy, Modern Language Association, Chicago, 1995

Invited Workshop: King Lear, staging the storm scene, University of Rochester, 1995

Panel Presentation: "You Must Allow Vox, Conference on Expanding the Renaissance Canon, McMasters University, 1994

Invited Workshop: Puppetry and writing, Seminar with Paulo Valesio, Italian Department, Yale University, 1994

Invited Workshop: Macbeth and Renissance staging of witches, Graduate Seminar, University of Rochester, 1994

Invited Workshop: Cymbeline, storytelling, and Renaissance stagecraft. The Shakespeare Society, Wellesley College, 1993

Panel Presentation: "Disrupting Performance:The Intrusion of Robin Hood Games into 1 Henry IV", Little Three Colloquium, Williams College, 1993

Teaching

University of Toronto

Graduate Courses

Postcolonial Drama: Engaging History, Unearthing Magic, 2008-10

Performance Research: Acting and Disorder 2006S; Sexual Performance, 2006-8

Comparative Dramaturgies: Sacrifice, 2005

Production Dramaturgy: 2004-08

Dramaturgy 2001-03

Postcolonial Drama: Ritual Theatres of Healing, 2001

Postcolonial Drama: Dramaturgy and the Postcolony, 2001

Undergraduate Courses

Drama:Form and Style2000-01, 2003-10

New Approaches to Theatre History: The North-American Avant-Garde 2002

New Approaches to Theatre History: Queer Perspectives, 2001-02

Studies in Dramaturgy and Performance History: Ibsen, Inc.2003-04

Studies in Dramaturgy and Performance History: Mistero Buffo, 2002-03

Studies in Dramaturgy and Performance History: Bacchae, 2001-02

Studies in Dramaturgy and Performance History: Pericles, 2000-01

Directed Reading Courses

Radical Theatre: Ngugi Wa Thion and Femi Osofisan, 2002-03

North American Avant-Garde:Directors and Playwrights, 2002-03

Issues in Production-Support Dramaturgy, 2000-01

Amherst College

Senior Honors Seminars

American Shakespeare Parody

Shakespeares Stage Geography

Theatricality

Undergraduate Courses

Amusing the Muse (with Wendy Woodson)

Art of Letter Writing

Jean Genet and James Baldwin

Poetic and Play Translation

Reading, Writing, and Teaching

Shakespeare (lecture survey course)

Theatres of the Dead, Parts I & II

Tudor-Stuart Drama

Graduate Student Supervision

University of Toronto

Supervisory Committees (Ph.D)

Christopher Jackman (Drama Centre):2008-

Aktina Stathaki (Drama Centre): 2006-

Mladen Ovadija (Drama Centre):2005-9

Milija Gluhovic (Drama Centre): 2004-05

Eszter Jagica (Drama Centre): 2004-

Wole Olaiya (Drama Centre), 2003-07

Kim Solga (Drama Centre), 2001-04

Faculty Advisor to Student Productions

The Grotesque Farce of Mr. Punch, November 2003

Crave, dir. Sam Stedman, May 2002

Madmen and Specialists, dir. Tony Adah, October 2001

Video: Consultancy, Editing, Production

Teacher's Pet, screenplay analyst and script editor, for Andrew Kelm (feature film), 2011

What's Down with Halina, producer (interview series), 2011-2012

Through a Bagel Darkly, producer and creative consultant, with dir. Andrew Kelm (short), 2012

Dramaturgical and Theatre-Making Activities

University of Toronto

True Tragedy of Richard III, Boulevard of the Brave, Home and Away, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, supervised and edited expanded programmes, 2007-08

Shakespeare Shorts, Production Dramaturg, University College Drama Program, directed by Katka Schroth, 2006

Splendids; Dramaturgical Consultant; University College Drama Program, directed by Paul Cegys; 2004-05

Fefu and her Friends, Production Dramaturg, University College Drama Program, directed by Maja Ardal, 2003-04

Mistero Buffo, Production Dramaturg, University College Drama Program, directed by Maja Ardal, 2003

The Bacchae, Production Dramaturg, University College Drama Program, directed by Daniel Brooks, 2002

Pericles, Production Dramaturg, University College Drama Program, directed by Kate Lynch, 2001

Yale School of Drama

Bloody Poetry, Production Dramaturg, 1996

Amherst College

The Screens, Director, 2000

Wait for me at the Bottom of the Pool,a performance project based on the work of Jack Smith, Director, 2000

Prince, an original parody of Hamlet, Director,1994

Extra-curricular

Manifestoes Project,Dramaturgical Consultant; Drake Hotel, directed by Daniel Brooks, May 2005

One of the Deaf Lions by Chima Osakwe, Developmental Dramaturg, African Theatre Ensemble, June 2003

Song of Lawino and Ocol, adapted from Okot pBitek, Song of Lawino; Song of Ocol by Rhoma Spencer, Developmental Dramaturg, African Canadian Playwrights Festival, April 2003

The Balcony, Director, ARTspace, New Haven, May 1995

Urban Renewal, Production Dramaturg, Norwalk Community College, May 1993

Postgraduate

Sarita, Assistant Director, University of California, Berkeley, 1991

Medea Material and Ohio Impromptu, Director, University of California, Berkeley, 1990

Professional References

Languages

Latin, French, and American Braille (My vision is not impaired)

Updated, 3 April 2012