skidmore theater living newsletter
Faculty Spotlight: Will Bond
Megan Muratore interviews and celebrates faculty member Will Bond as he prepares to leave Skidmore Theater after fifteen years.
Visiting Artist Spotlight: Joe Diebes and “oyster”
Co-editors of STLN Kallan Dana ’19 and Philip Merrick ’19 interview Joe Diebes, creator of “oyster” about his production, his process, and Alan Lomax’s Cantometrics.
Faculty Spotlight: Marie Glotzbach
Staff writer Joe Newman-Getzler ’21 sits down with director and acting teacher Marie Glotzbach to discuss her career path, artistic values, and inspirations.
Alumni Spotlight: Sam Garwood
Olivia Bagg ’19 sits down with alumna costume designer, Sam Garwood, to talk about her background and work on “We Used To Wear Bonnets & Get High All The Time”.
Faculty Spotlight: Lisa Jackson-Schebetta
STLN Co-Editor Philip Merrick ’19 interviews new professor of theater history and theory, Lisa Jackson-Schebetta about what led up to her coming to Skidmore.
Faculty Spotlight: Len Jenkin
STLN co-Editor-in-Chief sits down with guest artist and playwright, Len Jenkin, to talk about theatre, art, literature, and learning as you go.
Faculty Spotlight: John Michael DiResta
STLN Editor-in-Chief sits down with Skidmore Theater’s newest Artist-In-Residence, John Michael Diresta.
Guest Artist Spotlight: Marcus Dean Fuller
“For the past two weekends, eight fortunate, young actors got the opportunity to work closely with Shakespearean actor, director and producer Marcus Dean Fuller. In this upperclassmen intensive, sophomores, juniors, and seniors spent their Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays with Fuller focusing on the intrinsic nature of Shakespeare’s unparalleled text and the ways in which it begs to be heard, spoken, and ultimately performed.”
Guest Director Spotlight: Phil Soltanoff
Guest Director of Balm in Gilead, Phil Soltanoff, talks about his journey from teaching at Skidmore to following his professional career around the world, and returning back again to direct this semester’s Mainstage.
A Conversation with “The Orphan Sea” Director Eunice S. Ferreira
The Orphan Sea director and faculty member Eunice Ferreira talks to staff writer Laura McCullagh ’17 about language, home, and the timeliness of this production.
Faculty Spotlight: Julia May Jonas
By Sarah Rabinowitz ’17 Skidmore Theater’s newest lecturer Julia May Jonas planned on being an actor when she began her undergraduate studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In her second year in the acting program, however, Jonas realized that she wanted to have a larger hand in all aspects of making […]
A Mind Onstage: Guest Director Rebecca Marzalek-Kelly
By Caity Cook ’18 When I meet with Rebecca Marzalek-Kelly, she is emerging from a production meeting with a mischievous smile on her face. “We were working on some magic,” she says coyly. Marzalek-Kelly, who graduated from Skidmore in ‘02, has returned to the JKB this fall to direct the mainstage production Who Will Carry […]
DNAWorks’ HaMapah and Questions of Identity
By Nina Slowinski ’19 It can be difficult to establish an identity, both for others and for oneself. It can be especially difficult when one comes from many diverse backgrounds— such as African American, Native American and Jewish cultures—that are not thought to “traditionally” go together. The question of identity concerns not only our current […]
Rebel Director: Ian Belton’s Nomadic Journey
BY: CAITY COOK ’18 Late afternoon in the JKB: Actors are running lines, electrics crew members are calling to each other from the catwalks in the Mainstage, and “wet paint” signs adorn doors everywhere. When I finally spot Ian Belton, he’s emerging from a huddle with his stage management team. Sporting a black t-shirt and jeans, ruffled […]
Faculty Spotlight: Sue Kessler
Theater Manager Sue Kessler talks to Staff Writer Zoe Dartley ’16 about her journey from being a Skidmore student to founding Brooklyn’s “Bushwick Starr,” and how she’s been drawn back to the Skidmore Theater.
Video Interview with “Macbeth” Puppet Designer Jessica Lorence ’08
Macbeth, directed by Holly L. Derr, runs through December 6th. Purchase tickets here: http://tiny.cc/8wwu5x Check out Jess’s puppet theater company, Little Did Productions, HERE. Filmed and Edited by Aaron Ardisson ’16 Produced by The Skidmore Theater Living Newsletter
OBIE Award-Winning Actor John Douglas Thompson Gives Talk, Master Class in JKB
A Place In This World By: ZACHARY COHN ’16 The familiar red curtain of the JKB thrust stage theater descends behind two chairs and a blazing ghost light as the Friday company meeting begins. Professor Opitz, chair of the department, delivers an introduction. A crowd of murmurs dissipates as a man steps forward, commanding attention. […]
Second City’s Rachael Mason Teaches Improv Comedy Workshop
Living on the Pulse of Satire By: GABE COHN ’16 Rachael Mason—Head of Advanced Improvisation at Chicago’s Second City—stands in the JKB design studio with the faces of twenty-one students peering back at her, her curly brown hair, purple glasses, and a blue sweatshirt perfectly complementing her confident devil-may-care attitude. On the front of her sweatshirt […]
STLN STAFF 2022-2023
Editor-in-Chief: Reyn Ricafort ’25
Founding Editor: Gabe Cohn ’16