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9. Aimée K. Michel

Aimée K. Michel

Areas of Specialization

• Directing
• Playwriting
• Theater history
• Viewpoints training
• Dramatic literature
• Producing
• Shakespeare

Interests

Research Interests: Shakespeare, feminist theater, playwriting (particularly by women), relationship between theater and film, actor training, political theater

Teaching Interests: Viewpoints training, ensemble work/devising, playwriting, teaching directing, Shakespeare, teaching designer/director relationship

Other Interests: Musical theater, theater design, theater as activism

Favorite/Regular Courses Offered

• Viewpoints I and II
• Shakespearean Scene Study for Actors and Directors
• Playwriting
• Directing
• Directors and Designers in Collaboration

Biography

MFA, Tulane University
BA with honors, Louisiana State University

Ms. Michel’s interest in theater is inherently political and her work as a theater director has always focused on the sociological and political roles that theater plays in a community. Before coming to Simon’s Rock, Ms. Michel was the artistic director of the Shakespeare Festival at Tulane (SFT), a professional theater in New Orleans, for ten years. At SFT she directed over 14 of Shakespeare’s plays. She also directed and produced new plays by Louisiana playwrights. At SFT she launched a three-part educational initiative, “Shakespeare Alive,” which exposed over 100,000 Louisiana schoolchildren to professional productions of Shakespeare’s work over ten years. She also developed training institutes for LA middle and high school teachers to support better teaching of Shakespeare’s plays. Before SFT, she was the artistic director of the Directors Project in New York City, where she ran an extensive directing program for early career directors. She has been teaching at Simon’s Rock since 2006.

Highlights

Directing

• As a freelance director, Ms. Michel has directed in theaters all over the country including Capital Repertory Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Hangar Theatre, the Actors Theater of Louisville, and Williamstown Theatre Festival.
• Finalist and participant in the Drama League of New York’s Directors Project
• Curator director with the New York Theatre Workshop
• Participant in the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab
• Artistic director of the Directors Project in New York City, where she ran an extensive directing program for early career directors

Awards

• Boris Segal Fellowship at Williamstown Theatre Festival
• Directors Project Fall Program Fellow
• CODOFIL Scholarships for study in both Quebec, Canada, and in Montpellier, France