Laura L. Tesman
Assistant Professor
Theater
Location: 314 Whitehead Hall
Phone: 718.951.5000 x2762
Fax: 718.951.4606
Email:
Laura Tesman is a director, actor, dramaturg and sometime playwright. She is a recent transplant from Colorado, where she taught at the University of Colorado (Colorado Springs) and was a member of Curious Theatre Company in Denver and THEATREWORKS in Colorado Springs. She has worked on nearly 40 creative projects of varying scope and description over the past 10 years and has received numerous grants and awards for her work.
Education:
Ph.D., University of Colorado - Boulder - 2001 (Theater)
M.A. in English and European Renaissance Drama, University of Warwick, England, Centre for the Study of the Renaissance - 1994 (Shakespeare, Women in the Renaissance)
Areas of Expertise:
Laura Tesman's research and teaching interests include female playwrights (both historical and contemporary), women's history, Shakespeare and his contemporaries, devising and collaborative creation (including ensemble and movement work), theater as social engagement, acting technique and directing.
Creative Work
Director, Volupté. World Wide Lab: A Director's Feast. Irondale Center for the Arts. Brooklyn, N.Y., August. 2012
Director/Dramaturg/Producer, Nocturnal: Portrait of a New York Night in Nine Movements. New York International Fringe Festival. New Ohio Theatre. New York, August. 2012
Director/Producer, Anna Christie. Spleen Theatre. Waterfront Museum's Lehigh Valley Barge #79. Brooklyn, N.Y., September. 2012
Director, Nocturnal. Created by Pangaea Performance Ensemble. Brooklyn College. March. 2011
Director, Twelfth Night. Pangaea Performance Ensemble. Brooklyn College. December. 2011
Director/Playwright, Bound. Spleen Theatre. New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theatre. New York, June. 2011
Director, Peas in a Pod and Stolen Car. Staged readings to benefit new play development. Abingdon Theatre Company. New York, February. 2010
Director, The Appearance of Desire (staged reading). The Actor's Playground Theater, Theaterlab. New York, December. 2010
Director, Ti-Jean and His Brothers, by Derek Walcott. Brooklyn College. April. 2010
Director, Ti-Jean and His Brothers. Pangaea Performance Ensemble. Czech Consulate's National Bohemian Hall. New York, June. 2010
Director, Revolutions, by Elaine Romero. Manhattan Theater Source. New York, September/October. 2009
Director, The Learned Ladies, by Molière. Brooklyn College. February/March. 2009
Director/Dramaturg, Majestic County, by Elaine Romero. Development and Staged Reading. The Orchard Project. Hunter, N.Y., June. 2009
Director, Carrying the Torch, by Dee Covington. Curious Theatre Company's Denver Stories. Denver, May. 2008
Director, Playboy of the Western World, by J.M. Synge. THEATREWORKS. Colorado Springs, Colo., April/May. 2008
Co-director, 365 DAYS/365 PLAYS, by Suzan-Lori Parks. Week 10. THEATREWORKS. Colorado Springs, Colo., January. 2007
Director, Caucasian Chalk Circle, by Bertolt Brecht. THEATREWORKS. Colorado Springs, Colo., April. 2007
Playwright, Gaga Galleria. Curious Theatre Company's Denver Stories. Denver, May. 2007
Actor, Christine in Dancing at Lughnasa, by Brian Friel; directed by Kelly Walters. Starbar Players, Lon Chaney Theatre. Colorado Springs, Colo., April/May. 2006
Assistant director/movement coach/dramaturg, I Am My Own Wife, by Doug Wright. Directed by Christy Montour-Larsen. Curious Theatre Company. Denver, September/October. 2006
Director, Metamorphoses, by Mary Zimmerman. THEATREWORKS. Colorado Springs, Colo., April. Nominated for PAPAA's Best Theatre Production/Best Director Award. 2006
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
PSC-CUNY Grant, to support "WORLD WIDE LAB: A Director's Feast." August. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Residency at Irondale Center for the Arts, New York. World Wide Lab: A Director's Feast. August. (Grants and Fellowships) 2012
Diversity Projects Development Fund grant, for the ensemble development of the original play Nocturnal. (Grants and Fellowships) 2011
Member, Lincoln Center Directors Lab. (Awards and Honors) 2010
New Faculty Fund Grant, for rehearsal space to continue the development of "Bound." (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
PSC-CUNY Grant, for "Bound: Continued Support Towards Production." (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Diversity Projects Development Fund grant, to develop an original piece of theater with an ensemble of artists, "Exploring Diversity Through Devised Performance." (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
New Faculty Fund grant, for the purchase of research materials and rental of rehearsal space for "Pandora Bound: Research Toward an Original Script/Adaptation." (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
PSC-CUNY Grant, for "Pandora Bound: Devising & Producing an Original Script/Adaptation." (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
Awarded Alliance for Colorado Theatre Higher Education Educator of the Year 2007. Presented at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, Sept. 7. (Awards and Honors) 2007
Research Activities
Director, Anna Christie, by Eugene O'Neill. Spleen Theatre. Explorations and fundraising toward a summer 2014 remount production on the Lehigh Valley Barge #79 as a part of its centennial year celebration series. 2013
Director, Life is a Dream, by Calderón de la Barca. Research, development and rehearsals toward a fall 2013 production for Spleen Theatre. 2013
Director/Adaptor, "The Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin. Research and development of an adaptation of the short story for World Wide Lab: A Directors Feast. August. 2013
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Improvising and Collaboration in the Classroom" workshop. Center for Teaching, Brooklyn College. Nov. 30. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"Letting the Right Brain In: Pathways to Creative Thinking Through Improvisation and Collaboration" panel. Faculty Day. Brooklyn College. May 20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Rooted in Yoga: Risking the Self in Writing and Performance" workshop. Association for Theatre in Higher Education. New York, Aug. 10. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Teaching and Artistic Collaboration" roundtable. Association for Theatre in Higher Education. New York, Aug. 9. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
Professional Leadership
Artistic director, Pangaea Performance Ensemble. An ensemble of professional and student artists at Brooklyn College dedicated to collaborative, intercultural, interdisciplinary performance. 2009-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2012
Brooklyn College representative to the CUNY-wide collaboration with the Theater Development Fund (TDF) Bridging Education and Theater (BEAT) Program. Mentoring and Internship committees. 2011-present. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Chairwoman, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, Department of Theater, 2008-12. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Deputy chairwoman, Undergraduate Studies, Department of Theater, 2008-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2012
Member, City University of New York Office of Academic Affairs Academic Advisement Study Group. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Program head, B.A. in Theater, 2008-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2012
Co-artistic Director, Spleen Theatre, a professional company dedicated to producing vital, blood- pumping theatre. 2011-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Member Director/Planning Committee, WorldWideLab: A Directors Feast. Research, planning and proposal writing (space residencies and grants) for the inaugural international event in summer 2012 at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. 2011-Present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Other Professional Activities
Residency, Watermill Center. Members of WorldWideLab, an international director's collective, were invited to the Watermill Center to develop plans for an annual international Directors Feast. October. 2011
