EUGENE O’NEILL

THEATER CENTER
305 Great Neck Road
Waterford, CT 06385

N A T I O N A L
T H E A T E R
I N s T I T U T E

Jeff Janisheski
Artistic Director

Jean Routt
Executive Administrator

Helga Twomey
Administrative Assistant

860.443.7139 PH
860.444.1212 FAX

NTI@theoneill.org

www.theoneill.org/NTI
 o’neill alumni NTI was a life-changing experience and an invaluable supplement to
my ‘traditional’ education that I will never forget. It gave me the
tools to embark on a career in theater and attack the New York scene
Tributes from alumni of NTI and the O’Neill’s celebrated summer conferences with confidence and passion. The lessons I learned continue to inform
the way I work with people, the art I create, and the life I live.

Brian Hashimoto, NTI Spring ‘06

I love the O'Neill.
Every time I go up NTI was the most transformative
there - and I've been experience of my life.
up a lot, as a student
at NTI, an instructor
Jennifer Garner, NTI Fall ‘93
Emmy-nominated and
At NTI you have one semester – fourteen weeks – to delve deeply into
and conference playwright Golden Globe-winning actress
the craft of theater. Seven days a week, from sun up to sun down, you
- I meet amazing theater
folks, learn something train with working professionals who challenge you on every level to
important, and see The O’Neill is one
something impossible of the most important develop your instrument, expand your artistic horizons, and  be a
to forget. places in my theater
Adam Bock, NTI Fall ‘84, history. It was a malleable artist that is truly present and pliable in the moment. With
Playwright really uplifting
experience, seeing an the ensemble of fellow students you create a community that has only
organization that was
not-for-profit but with
one goal: to make bold, new theater.
the highest regard for
the individual voice.
It is such an important
experience to anybody
Theater is about action. So join us and embrace the challenges that
who has been here. NTI will throw your way. Put yourself into action at NTI: into acting,
Wendy Wasserstein, Playwright
directing, writing, designing, moving and creating – now!

Over many years The O’Neill Theater Center has been an incredible
theatrical home for me. Both as a student and teacher at NTI, I’ve
watched the program grow into one of the most inventive, rigorous, and
inclusive options out there. I would highly recommend it to any student
interested in a deep immersion in every aspect of the theater. It’s a
life-changing and life-enriching opportunity not to be missed!
Rebecca Taichman, Director, NTI Fall ‘92
24
Ultimately, NTI was a lesson in persistence, risk and getting it
done. Towards the end of the program, we put up fifteen full plays
in one week, including two musicals. It was unbelievable how much
we learned to pack into each hour we were given.
Chris Ashworth, NTI Fall ‘00
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training affiliated colleges & universities

The National Theater Institute has developed relationships with many
college theater departments. Students of the following colleges and universities are
24/7 Training: among those who have attended NTI programs as an enhancement to their studies.
NTI welcomes all applicants from colleges in the U.S. and abroad.
This fully accredited, fourteen-week study away program is
offered twice a year, in the fall and spring, at the O’Neill’s
American University Juilliard
Waterford, CT campus. Classes are held seven days a week Amherst Kenyon
from 9AM to 10PM with a 7:30AM warm-up six days a Bard Lehigh
week. This   rigorous, conservatory - based   approach   to Barnard Loyola Marymount
Baylor Luther
theater training exposes students to a broad range of Boston College Macalester
theater styles and techniques. Boston University Manhattanville
Bowdoin Marquette
Brandeis Marymount Manhattan
Two Weeks Abroad: Brown Messiah College
Bryn Mawr Middlebury The New School
Two weeks of the semester are spent abroad: either in California Institute of the Arts MIT Trinity College
England  or in Russia.  In the past,  students  have worked Carnegie Mellon Mount Holyoke Trinity
Case Western Reserve Northwestern Tufts
with members of two  world-renowned  theater  companies in Colgate NYU Tisch School of the Arts Tulane
England; the Royal Shakespeare Company or Complicite College of William and Mary NYU/Gallatin School UCLA
(whose award-winning productions of classics and group- College of Wooster Oberlin U of Arizona
Columbia Occidental U of Chicago
devised   pieces   tour   Europe,  Asia  and  the United  States).   Connecticut College Ohio State U of Connecticut
Students   have   also   trained   at  one  of Russia’s most elite Cornell Ohio U of Florida
theater   schools,  the St. Petersburg  State   Theatre Arts Dartmouth Ohio Wesleyan U of Georgia
Denison Pace U of Hartford U of Rochester
Academy. In each of these cities, students study with master Dickinson Pennsylvania State U of Southern California
U of Illinois Chicago
teachers and also see a wide range  of theater and  visit Dillard Point Park U of Maine U of Southern Mississippi
museums and cultural sites. Drake Princeton UMass, Amherst U of Vermont
Drew Rice University UMass, Boston U of Virginia
Emerson Rutgers U of Michigan Ann Arbor U of Washington
Accreditation: Emory Sarah Lawrence U of Minnesota Twin Cities U of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Fordham Simons Rock of Bard Vanderbilt
20 credit hours or 5 course credits NTI gave me the opportunity George Washington Simpson
U of Missouri
Vassar
U of New Mexico
to realize my full potential Georgetown Skidmore U of North Carolina Chapel Hill Villanova
as a total theater artist. I Goucher Smith U of Northern Colorado Washington & Lee
Application: discovered passions and Grinnell Stanford U of Notre Dame Washington University
Harvard SUNY Purchase U of Pennsylvania Wellesley
Fall Semester: March 20 deadline talents I did not know I had. Hofstra Swarthmore U of Pittsburgh Wesleyan
Indiana University Sweet Briar U of Puget Sound Wheaton
Spring Semester: October 20 deadline Ithaca Syracuse
Teresa Bayer, NTI Fall ‘08 U of Rhode Island Williams
Johns Hopkins The Boston Conservatory Yale
6 U of Richmond
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KATHLEEN BAUM BIOMECHANICS
A professional actress and teacher at Syracuse University. Studied with
Gennadi Bogdanov, one of Russia’s leading inheritors of the legacy of
Meyerhold’s Biomechanics.
ADAM BOCK PLAYWRIGHTS WEEK
Award-winning published playwright and teacher. In NYC: The Receptionist
at Manhattan Theatre Club and The Drunken City at Playwrights Horizons.
Resident playwright at Encores Theater in NYC. Member of the MCC Playwrights’
Coalition and the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. NTI Alum.
PER BRAHE MASK
World-renowned mask teacher and master teacher of Michael Chekhov
technique. Workshops at the Stella Adler Academy, the International Michael
Chekhov Conference and the Actors Center. Faculty member at The Yale
School of Drama and NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
ELAINE BROMKA ACTING WITH THE CAMERA
Extensive film, TV, Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater work. The mom
in Uncle Buck, Emmy award winner for Catch a Rainbow. NTI Alum.
MICHAEL CADMAN VISITING ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
A Graduate of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and before that a leading
member of Britain’s National Youth Theatre, Michael Cadman has enjoyed a
long career in British theater, television and film. After five years with the Royal
Shakespeare Company , he began teaching at NTI in 1994 and was NTI’s
Artistic Director from 2006-2008.
DAVID CHANDLER TAI CHI AND STAGE COMBAT
Teaching credits include: Ensemble Studio Theater, INTAR Theater, Omega
Institute and Connecticut College. Fight choreographer for Yale Shakespeare
Club and Wellesley Shakespeare Club. Director, Eagle’s Quest Tai Chi Center.
JEREMY B. COHEN DIRECTING
Associate Artistic Director, Hartford Stage. Award winning Off-Broadway and
regional directing credits include 15 years with Chicago’s Naked Eye Theater
Company. NTI Alum.
PEG DENITHORNE ACTING/DIRECTING
Director and teacher for over 20 years. Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep
LAB, Juilliard in NYC; Theater J, Rep Stage in DC. Has taught in MFA Acting/
Directing programs at Rutgers and Catholic University. Artistic Director: New
York State Summer School of the Arts.
DONNA DINOVELLI PLAYWRITING
Writer for musical theater, stage and radio. MTC Fellow, Richard Rogers Award
finalist. Faculty, Graduate Music Theater Writing at Tisch. Work performed at:
New York City Opera, Joseph Papp Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Guthrie
Theater and broadcast by the BBC.
COLMAN DOMINGO ACTING & AUDITIONING
Broadway: Passing Strange (the musical), originating roles. Off-Broadway credits:
The Public Theater, MCC, NYSF and the Summer Play Festival. Regional credits:
A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, The Guthrie, Huntington and San Jose Rep.
Due to professional obligations, faculty may vary each semester.
WENDY C. GOLDBERG DIRECTING
Artistic Director of the O’Neill’s National Playwrights Conference. Directing
credits: Actors Theater of Louisville, Denver Center, Florida Stage, Mark Taper
Forum, New Dramatists, Playwrights Horizons and Woolly Mammoth.
RACHEL JETT DROZNIN RUSSIAN MOVEMENT
Former member, Stanislavsky Theatre Studio, Washington, DC. Trained at the
Schukin College of Theater Arts, Vakhtangov Theatre, Russia. Movement
protegé to Andrei Droznin. NTI and MATS Alum.
GILLIAN LANE-PLESCIA SPEECH AND DIALECT
Dialect coach for Guthrie, Yale Rep, McCarter, CenterStage, Hartford Stage,
Actors Theatre of Louisville, Long Wharf, Seattle Rep among others. Faculty
member at Juilliard. Creator of a leading series of self-teaching dialect CDs.
G.W. MERCIER SCENE DESIGN
Tony Award nominee and two time Drama Desk nominee. Broadway credits
include Juan Darien, A Carnival Mass by Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal,
and Ballad of Little Jo.
ELIZABETH ROTHAN ACTING/VOICE
New York City acting credits include The Pulse Ensemble, Cymbeline and Top
Girls. Regional credits: Circle Theatre, Theater Three, Dallas Theater Center
and Undermain Theater.
ERICA SCHMIDT DIRECTING
Directing credits include: Shakespeare at The Public Theater; new works at
Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Play Company; musicals and Chekhov at
Paper Mill Playhouse, Bard SummerScape. NTI Alum.
REBECCA B. TAICHMAN DIRECTING
Creator/Director The People vs. ‘The God of Vengeance’, Yale School of
Drama. OBIE winner, Menopausal Gentleman. Production work with Anna
Deveare Smith. Drama League Fellow, NTI Alum.
ANNE TOFFLEMIRE SINGING
Backstage Bistro award winning Cabaret and stage performer, with notable
performances from DC to San Francisco and London’s West End.
MARYA URSIN YOGA AND MASK MAKING
Artistic Director, writer, performer: Mystic Paper Beasts; Director, the Dragon’s
Egg. Currently a dancer in the NYC based company SITU. Trained and taught
at Merce Cunningham Studio; L’Ecole de Mime Marceau, Paris. Licensed
massage therapist and yoga instructor.
PRESTON WHITEWAY PRODUCING FOR THEATER
Serves as the Executive Director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center,
overseeing its programs and directing strategic planning and fundraising
efforts. He received a BA in Economics from Duke University.
DERRON M. WOOD DIRECTING
Executive Artistic Director, Flock Theatre; Associate Artist, National Puppetry
Conference. Twenty years directing, New England region and Off-Broadway.
Recipient, Connecticut Master Teaching Artist. Studied under Morris Carnovsky.
NTI Alum.
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-

faculty
anatoly smeliansky
Dean, Moscow Art Theater School
Teacher of Russian Theater History
Russia’s foremost biographer of Stanislavsky and a leading writer, scholar and
critic of Russian theater, Dr. Smeliansky is the Associate Artistic Director of the
Moscow Art Theater and the Dean of the Moscow Art Theater School (MATS).
He is Editor-in-Chief of Complete Works by Stanislavsky and The Moscow
Art Theater: 100 Years. His books include Is Comrade Bulgakov Dead? and
Russian Theater after Stalin. Dr. Smeliansky has lectured on Russian theater in the United States at Columbia, Carnegie
Mellon, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton and Yale, as well as at the Sorbonne in France and at Cambridge and Oxford
in England. He is one of the  founders of  the MFA program in acting and dramaturgy at Harvard University’s Institute
for Advanced Theater Training and their Moscow Art Theater School USA.
GALINA AKSENOVA HISTORY OF CINEMA eleonora maklakova design
Theater and film historian, critic, author and producer; studied at the Institute MATS Professor, Department of Production Design Technology. Developed
of Theater, Music and Cinematography in St. Petersburg and received her costume design program for MATS. A leading designer for the Novaya
PhD at Moscow’s State Institute of Theater Art. Associate Professor of Cinema Opera.
at MATS.
Vladimir Petrov ACTING
Larisa Dmitrieva DANCE MATS Faculty and theater director. Has directed many productions at MATS
Bolshoi Ballet prima ballerina. MATS Professor of Dance. Has performed on and at theaters in Russian and abroad.
every major ballet stage in the world.

EVGENY PISAREV ACTING

Andrei Droznin MOVEMENT MATS Faculty and director of several successful MXAT shows; Associate
One of Russia’s most distinguished movement teachers. His unique system Director on Declan Donnellan’s productions.
of training, which combines Meyerhold’s Biomechanics and Stanislavsky’s
Method, has become an essential part of theater training programs throughout Alexander Rezalin ACTING
the world. Head of Movement for Harvard’s Institute for Advanced Theater Actor of Russian TV and cinema.
Training.
victor rishakov acting
natalia fedorova movement MATS Faculty.
Studied at the Vakhtangov Theatre with Andrei Droznin. Movement teacher
at MATS; choreographer for many Russian theaters. Workshops draw on the Vladimir Sazhin MOVEMENT
traditions of Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Vakhtangov. MATS Faculty. Actor of Stanislavsky theater, director of plastic performances.

ALEXANDER KUZNEZOV ACTING Marina Smirnova SINGING

Graduate of Vakhtangov School; fifteen years of experience teaching in Los MATS Faculty. A leading teacher of voice and singing for more than 20 years.
Angeles and other cities in the U.S.

Elena LIsina RUSSIAN LANGUAGE Sergei Zemstov ACTING

MATS Faculty, teaching Russian language for foreign students. Dean of the MATS Acting Department. Has taught acting in Paris at L’Ecole du
Passage, and has performed throughout Russia.

Mikhail Lobanov ACTING

MATS Professor. His class focuses on technique aimed at awakening the Igor Zolotovitsky ACTING
actor’s imagination, emotional memory and stage awareness. Combines MATS Faculty. Has taught acting in Paris, Italy, Spain. Actor at the Moscow Art
Stanislavsky System with Michael Chekhov research. Theater and of Russian TV and cinema.

Due to professional obligations, faculty may vary each semester. 15