Our Distinguished Faculty
The faculty of the Department of Theatre Arts is made up of professional theatre artists and educators whose shared passion for excellence encourages collaboration on the highest level. They are performers, designers, directors, choreographers, and writers who continue to work and teach in their fields of expertise.

Mentoring is central. Our faculty works closely with graduate students, guiding them in the disciplines of Western dramatic history and literature, Asian theatre and drama, performance theory and criticism, literary management, playwriting, teaching, and production. They nurture and challenge aspiring artistic directors, literary managers, dramaturgs, and educators while continuing to expand their professional theatrical horizons.

The Department of Theatre Arts is proud of its ability to attract guest faculty such as playwright Theresa Rebeck, theorist Herbert Blau, director Gene Terruso, dramaturgs Susan Jonas and Lynn Thompson, and historian Maxine Kern.

Our Graduate Students are treated as valued colleagues in the department, and as alumni continue to share their work with us throughout their careers.

Phillip Baldwin, Associate Professor
M.F.A. 1987, Yale University School of Drama
Scenographer and designer Phillip Baldwin's scenic designs for theatre and New Media installations have been seen all over the world. He is a New York City-based designer and digital media and events artist who has received many national and international grants such as two Japan Foundation Awards, Korea Foundation Award, The Rome Prize, and NYSCA. Baldwin was a co-director of the New York Center of Media Arts and he has recently returned from Korea after completing many projects in telecommunications and the arts under a Korean National Industrial Development grant. He is devoted to the means and methods of developing global cultural collaborations. Baldwin is a firm believer in mentoring and constant exposure of students to the collaborative practice of project forming, financing, and realizing.
(631) 632-4322, Phillip.Baldwin@stonybrook.edu

David M. Barnett, Technical Director and Instructor
B.A. 1985, Stony Brook University
David M. Barnett is a working professional in technical theatre, film, and television. He is a regular crew member at Nassau Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum and Jones Beach Theatre, and he provides technical support for many well-known New York theatre venues. Barnett is the resident technical theatre instructor and he is responsible for the technical needs of the Department of Theatre Arts’ productions. Under his tutelage, many students have entered the professional theatre as stage managers, designers, technical directors, and crew members.
(631) 632-7284, David.Barnett@stonybrook.edu



Elizabeth Bojsza
MFA 2004, Stony Brook University
Director of Education, Lecturer
As the department of Theatre Arts' Director of Education, Ms. Bojsza mentors and supervises graduate students in their teaching practice. She also teaches public speaking, screenwriting, performing and performance, and co-teaches Prevention Through the Arts with Kathleen Flynn-Bisson. She is also assistant head of graduate studies for the department. While a student at SBU, Ms. Bojsza was the 2002-2003 executive producer of the graduate-run Cabaret, artistic director of the 2003 Long Island Play Project, and directed and dramaturged several shows. Directing credits include Betty's Summer Vacation , The Pitchfork Disney , and the Vagina Monologues . Dramaturgy credits include The Rover , Quadrophenia , and Two Rooms . Ms. Bojsza was recently employed at Manhattan Ensemble Theater and received the John Gassner Award for Dramaturgy in 2004. In 2006 she worked in Camden County , Georgia as the assistant-director on a community-based performance project titled “Crooked Rivers, Sisters Three.”

William Burford, Lecturer
William Burford teaches directing this semester at Stony Brook's Department of Theatre Arts. He is the General Manager of the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor , New York , and has served as its CFO and Producer since 2001. He directed 'proof' for LIPP and the senior project 'The Family of Mann' at Stony Brook. He has taught at SBU as guest lecturer on acting, bunraku puppetry, and play development. He produced Martin McDonagh's The Lonesome West at The Stephen Talkhouse for Quack Theatrics. As producer he helped establish ACT ONE, a theatre company on the New Hampshire coast inheriting the tradition of the Hampton Playhouse. He directed the Ross Institute's music education conference at Shanghai 's Conservatory of Music with advanced composition students from China , Sweden and New York . He served as Dean of Performing Arts at the Ross School in East Hampton , New York . Bill was executive director for the Strand Street Theatre in Galveston 's historic district, serving as its artistic and administrative head during a three-year rebirth of its operations. He revived the theatre program at Galveston College .
Trained as a stage director, he has produced, directed, designed or written for performances extensively in both professional and educational settings. He has helped establish or restructure production and arts education programs in California , Texas and New York . Bill has taught theatre skills and interdisciplinary creative process for 30 years, and designs curriculum and arts programming for schools and training programs. He teaches playwsriting and acting at the Bay Street Theatre. His MFA is in Directing under Francis Hodge at the University of Texas at Austin , where he also earned honors in philosophy as an undergraduate. He served for the last three years on the Theatre Panel for the New York State Council on the Arts.

Frank Cardillo, Lecturer
MFA Stony Brook University 2004
With over 75 productions under his belt, Frank has spanned the theatre as an Actor/Director/Stage Manager/Playwright, reveling in all of them. While pursuing his MFA, he directed five productions including Eric Bogosian's 'subUrbia' as part of the 2nd Annual Long Island Play Project and his own one man adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'An Enemy of the People'. Frank has worked creatively at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, with Shakesperience Productions and Macy's Herald Square , and for the last seven seasons as a performer/director at the Sterling Renaissance Festival, under the guidance of Improvisation/Interactive Theatre guru Gary Izzo ('TheArt of Play'). Recently, Frank has served as the Script Doctor for Blind Dog Entertainment's latest project, a three episode serial planning to be pitched for television, in which he also appears as an actor. Blind Dog's previous film, 'The Lost Princess' was represented at the Santa Fe Film Festival, the Gloria International Film Festival in Salt Lake City , and the Stratford Upon Avon Digital Film Festival in England . A winner of the John Gassner Award in Dramaturgy at SBU and the Departmental Award at NCC for Excellence and Dedication, Frank is currently broadening his horizons as Lenny Burrows, solo and as one half of the "Thievin' Elizabethan" comedy team Lenny & Lemna, with past appearances including Turning Stone Casino and The People's Improv Theater.

Shaun Fillion, Lecturer
Resident lighting designer
Shaun Fillion designs lighting and video for the stage, which have earned him critical acclaim on both coasts. His designs have garnered him the Princess Grace Award, as well as nominations for the Ovation Awards in Los Angeles . He holds a B.F.A. from Tisch School of the Arts, and an M.F.A. in Lighting Design with a dual major with Integrated Media from CalArts. Mr. Fillion is actively designing on both coasts, recent venues include Taper/P.L.A.Y, REDCAT, Boston Court , and PS-122. www.shaunfillion.com

Lydia Franco-Hodges, Lecturer, Acting
M.F.A. 2005, Stony Brook University
Lydia Franco-Hodges has been teaching Acting at Stony Brook University for the past few years and is also currently teaching Performing and Performance. She served as Artistic Director for the Wang Center 's production of Ephemera , winner of the John Gassner New Play Festival, Artistic Director of the 2003-2004 Cabaret and Artistic Director of the 2004 Long Island Play Project. Lydia Franco-Hodges created, directed and choreographed Condemned and is the creator, producer and director of Fresh .

Joe E. Jeffreys, Adjunct Professor
M.F.A. 1989, Stony Brook University
Ph.D. 1996, New York University
Since 1996 Joe Jeffreys has taught a range of theatre history, dramatic literature, and dramaturgy courses in the Department of Theatre Arts, and has been honored with a President’s Award for Excellence in Part-Time Teaching. He has also worked as an adjunct at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts Undergraduate Department of Drama for the past five years, leading lesbian and gay performance studies and dramatic literature and theatre history courses. Jeffreys has published in a range of anthologies, encyclopedias, and journals, from The Drama Review to Theatre History Studies, Women and Performance, and The Journal of New York Folklore; and written book reviews and author profiles for trade publications worldwide from The Village Voice to Dutch and blue. He has worked in dramaturgical capacities for productions at BAM’s Next Wave Festival, PS122, and for SALT Theater, as well as serving as a judge for the NYC Fringe Festival for many years.
(631) 632-7300, Joe.Jeffreys@stonybrook.edu

Theresa Kim, Associate Professor
Ph.D. 1988, New York University
Theresa ki-ja Kim is a Fulbright Scholar of the Shamanic origins of Theatre. She is renowned internationally for her theory of the transformation of the actor within the scope of Korean Shamanistic Cosmology. Kim has produced, directed, and acted while studying Shakespearean and Jacobean Drama in England and while learning about Stanislavsky training methods in the U.S. She is a pioneer in cross-cultural collaborations, having translated many Asian plays to English and visa versa. She is a master teacher of Asian actor training methods, having conducted master classes in the U.S., Canada, and Asia. Kim incorporated the Japanese Suzuki Actor Training method in her production of Euripides’ Bacchae. Her actors train in the techniques of breathing, movement, and action simultaneously. She is a passionate advocate of the theatre arts, a place where artists create beauty on stage and move audiences. Within the U.S. theatrical and academic communities, Kim is one of the few scholar/practitioners that researches in three Far Eastern languages: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Kim inspires her students, the future of American theatre, to strive for excellence.
(631) 632-4106, Theresa.Kim@stonybrook.edu

Valeri Lantz-Gefroh, Director of Acting
M.F.A. 2002, Stony Brook University
Valeri Lantz-Gefroh has been a theatre professional for the past 20 years. After graduating from NC School of the Arts, she spent the first decade of her career working as a professional actor, working largely in classical repertory. Theatre credits include American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, NC Shakespeare Festival, The Court Theatre, American Inside Theatre, The Body Politic, among others. Her focus shifted to education following an offer to teach acting here at Stony Brook. She completed her MFA in Stony Brook's dramaturgy program in 2003, and has been working here as a teacher and director since 2000. Valeri teaches Acting I, II, III, Shakespeare for the Acstor and Senior Seminar. Directing credits at Stony Brook include Spike Heels , Stop Kiss , Under Pressure , Omnium Gatherum and this season's The Importance of Being Earnest . She served as the Artistic Director for the Inaugural season of the Long Island Play Project and is a founding member of Asylum Theatre Company
(631) 632-7300, valantz@optonline.com

Jonathan Levy, Distinguished Teaching Professor
Ph.D. 1966, Columbia University
Distinguished Professor Jonathan Levy is a Distinguished Bibliographer at Arizona State University, a member of the Advisory Committee for the Office for the Arts at Harvard, and consultant to the Humane Creativity project at Harvard’s Project Zero. In addition to Stony Brook, he has taught at Columbia College, The Julliard School of Music, and Harvard’s School of Education. He is the author of many plays for adults and children, with and without music, as well as several works of scholarship and criticism. Levy chaired the development of the Theatre Arts curriculum for the International Baccalaureate and is now the member for North America of the International Baccalaureates Academic Advisory Committee. In 1996 he was named the outstanding teacher of theatre in American higher education. He has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, the Chorpenning Cup for playwriting for children, and the Award for Scholarly Research in Theatre for Children.
(631) 632-7292, Jonathan.Levy@stonybrook.edu

John Lutterbie, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Ph.D. 1983, University of Washington
John Lutterbie teaches theory, history, and criticism, and directs. In addition to being a member of the Theatre Arts Faculty, he is an affiliate member of the Department of Art. His primary research area is in Performance Theory, where he examines the intersection of phenomenology and the neuroscience of emotion and consciousness, and of culture and intersubjectivity. The University of Michigan Press recently published his book, Hearing Voices: Modern Drama and the Problem of Subjectivity. In addition, he has published in numerous journals including Theatre Journal, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Performance Research, The Journal of Psychiatry and the Humanities, and Modern Drama. His recent directing credits include: Macbeth, Happy Days, Angels in America: Perestroika, and Blood Wedding. He is a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, the Modern Language Association, the American Society of Theatre Research, and Performance International.
(631) 632-4596, John.Lutterbie@stonybrook.edu

Steve Marsh, Literary Manager and Lecturer
B.F.A. 1981, New York University; M.F.A. 1999, Stony Brook University
Steve Marsh is a professional actor (AEA, SAG, AFTRA), who has trained with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, and John Styx in New York City. He has worked in film, television, and on the professional stage and is a founding member of the Asylum Theatre Company, bringing professional Equity theatre productions to Long Island. Marsh directed the first production of the Stony Brook Cabaret, Out of the Kitchen by Franz Xaver Kroetz, and has helped to support the ongoing efforts of the Cabaret as faculty advisor and occasional director. Since 1999 Marsh has been putting dramaturgy into action as co-instructor and theatrical director of the award-winning alcohol-and-other-drug prevention program, Swallow This.
Marsh is a member of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and while serving as Department Literary Manager at Stony Brook, helped to establish the John Gassner New Play Festival. Marsh supports the idea of the dramaturg being both archeologist and architect, who has the ability to delve into historic and hidden elements of the playwright’s work, while also being a creative force in the theatre.
(631) 632-4291, smarsh@marshmedialtd.com

Deborah Mayo, Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies
M.F.A. 1973, Yale University, School of Drama
Two decades ago, Deborah Mayo was a performing guest artist in the Stony Brook Summer Playhouse; soon thereafter she was invited to be an instructor at Stony Brook University. In 1997 she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts, where she has taught voice, all levels of acting, improvisation, public speaking, and auditioning for careers. She has directed five mainstage productions and more than ten original productions of Performance Workshop (the department’s educational outreach program). Professionally, Mayo recently appeared on Broadway in the Tony-nominated Dinner at Eight, off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club, regionally at American Stage ( St. Petersburg), and locally at Asylum Theatre Company, of which she’s a founding member. Her previous acting work has taken her to theatres all over the country, including Yale Rep, Playwrights Horizons, The Folger, Syracuse Stage, Virginia Stage Company, and Walnut Street Theatre, to name a few. Mayo is a working voice-over artist and the Artistic Director of Acting Up! (a youth theatre in Brookhaven). She’s also a member of AEA and SAG.
(631) 632-9969, Deborah.Mayo@stonybrook.edu

Joan Hawley McClain, Lecturer
BA New York University 2001
MFA Stony Brook University 2004
Joan has taught courses which include play analysis, understanding theatre, theatre history and is the resident department web designer and caretaker. Her professional experiences include positions at La Jolla Playhouse, Abingdon Theater Company and The Women's Project. As an undergraduate, Joan directed her own work and was awarded the Goldstone Playwriting Prize. As a graduate student, Joan worked as Literary Manager for the Cabaret and continued directing her own work. As a second year dramaturgy candidate she worked on the Bernard Shaw play Arms and the Man, which sparked an ongoing interest in Irish dramatists. Upon graduating in 2004, Joan received the Richard Hartzell Award for career promise in dramaturgy.

Peggy Morin, Director of Production and Lecturer
M.F.A. 1999, Stony Brook University
Peggy Morin received her undergraduate degree from Brown University, her law degree from University of California-Hastings, and her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy from Stony Brook University. She teaches in the costume/technical theatre area, designs costumes and sets for the department, and serves as Director of Production. Recent designs include Arms and the Man (costume and set), The Rover (costumes and set), Prelude to a Kiss (costumes and set), Pterodactyls (costumes and set), and Stop Kiss (costumes and set). For the Stony Brook Opera Ensemble, her recent work includes Handel’s Coronation of Poppea and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. She is also presently a guest Design Teaching Artist for American Ballet Theater.
(631) 632-7276, Margaret.Morin@stonybrook.edu

Carrie Lee O'Dell
B.A. Rhodes College, 1996
M.F.A. Stony Brook University, 2006
Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies, Stony Brook University, 2006
In 2006, Carrie completed work on her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and her graduate certificate in Women’s Studies at Stony Brook University, where she received the John Gassner Award in Dramaturgy. She has taught courses in understanding theatre, play analysis, and expository writing. She maintains close ties with SBU’s Department of Writing and Rhetoric and teaches in the writing program at Rutgers University in addition to her teaching duties at SBU. Her fields of interest include avant-garde performance, Yiddish theatre, performance art, gender studies, pop culture, and food writing.
While a student at Stony Brook, Carrie served as dramaturg for Omnium Gatherum, Medea: Again, The Butterfly Collection and Asylum Theatre’s 2003 March Madness Play Reading Festival. Her plays, Breakfast with Hank and Learning to Pray were produced in the SBU Cabaret and her stage adaptation of Chekhov’s short story Anna on the Neck was presented at Stony Brook’s “Chekhov: The Second Century” Symposium in April of 2005. In 2004, she presented her paper “Who’s the Ugly Duckling Here? The Sexual Politics of Orlan’s Surgical Performances and Fox Television’s The Swan” at Northampton University’s “Interdisciplinary Landscapes: Postfeminist Practices in the Arts” conference in the UK. During the 2005-06 school year, she had the honor of working with acclaimed director and composer Elizabeth Swados on her production of The Dybbuk at NYU. This summer, she served as dramaturg for the Phaedra update La Femme Est Morte with Shalimar Productions at the 2006 NYC Fringe Festival. Prior to starting work on her graduate degree, Carrie was a professional stage manager and properties designer in Chicago. She has worked with The Women’s Project and Productions, Terrapin Theatre, Dolphinback Theatre Company, Defiant Theatre, Redmoon Puppet and Spectacle Theatre and greasy joan & co. She currently serves as a script reader for the Public Theater.

Norm Prusslin, Adjunct Professor and Director, WUSB Radio
B.A. 1973, Stony Brook University
Norm Prusslin is Director of the Media Minor, Director of the Living Learning Center for Media/Douglass College, and Student Media Advisor. A member of the Stony Brook University professional staff since 1973, Prusslin has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Theatre Department since 1982. He is responsible for teaching THR 117 Media Analysis and Culture, THR 277 The Media Industry, THR 298/Student Media Leadership, and other Media Minor elective offerings. He coordinates Media Minor project courses and internship assignments. Prusslin serves as President of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, the nation’s oldest and largest school/college radio station educational/non-profit membership organization. He is a member of the Press Club of Long Island/Society of Professional Journalists Board of Directors. Prusslin is an active member of the Broadcast Education Association, College Media Advisers, Radio-TV News Directors Association, and Public Relations Society of Long Island. Prusslin’s professional activities include serving as co-founder/media editor/writer of The New Manhattan Review/Collage Inc., a New York City bi-weekly newspaper (1976-1988), co-founder/president of CRI Records Inc. (1977-1983), and co-founder/president of JAMEDIA Inc., a public relations agency (1984-1989).
(631) 632-6823, Norman.Prusslin@stonybrook.edu

Carol Rosen, Professor
Ph.D. 1975, Columbia University
Carol Rosen, Professor of English at Stony Brook University, previously served as Director of the Graduate Programs in Theatre Arts and Dramaturgy. She has also taught at Princeton and Columbia, and her dramatic criticism has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is the author of Plays of Impasse (Princeton University Press), Sam Shepard: A Poetic Radio (Palgrave/Macmillan), “The Ghost Lights of Our Theaters: The Fate of Contemporary American Dramaturgs” in What is Dramaturgy? (Peter Lang), and of numerous articles which have appeared in a variety of periodicals including Applause, Comparative Drama, The Drama Review, Modern Drama, Performing Arts Journal, Shakespeare Quarterly, Salmagundi, Theatre Week, and The Village Voice. She is now working on a study of contemporary responses to tragedy.

Amy Yopp Sullivan, Associate Professor, Director of Dance Minor
M.F.A. 1980, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Amy Yopp Sullivan finds delight playing in the fields of the arts. She is most curious about how human beings perform, revealing not only the physical prowess, but also the critical thinking that expands our unique and complex experiences. Her work investigates the multidimensional focus as well as the intrinsic nature of human activity and performance. As an active choreographer, Sullivan has participated on the international, national, regional, and local levels. Her work has been shown at such diverse venues as the T. Schrieber Studio in New York City, at American College Dance Festival Galas, Mather Museum, Teatro de la Danza/Mexico City, Guild Hall, Gallery 200, Teatro Estudio Yerbabruja, Brown Theatre in Macomb, Illinois (summer stock musical theatre), the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook, NEH music symposiums at Dartmouth, and numerous site-specific works produced in regional venues. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards and was honored as Woman of the Year in the Arts (from the Town of Brookhaven, New York) for her educational and creative work in the community. In 1999, she was awarded the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from Stony Brook University, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching from the State University of New York.
(631) 632-7392, aysullivan@notes.cc.sunysb.edu

Randy Thomas, Assistant Professor
Randy's current position is that of Assistant Director for Senior Advising for the Academic & Pre-Professional Advising Center. Prior to his current position, Randy was an Assistant Professor of Dance in the Theatre Arts Department, 1990—1996. During his tenure within the Theatre Arts Department, Randy taught beginning, intermediate and advanced Jazz Dance technique classes and beginning and intermediate Ballet technique. In addition Randy served as the Director for the Stony Brook Dance Ensemble. He also served as Faculty Director for the Living and Learning Center, Interdisciplinary Arts program and Director for the Shirley Strum Kenny Student Arts Festival. Randy received his Masters of Arts in Dance from The Ohio State University.

Michael X. Zelenak, Associate Professor and Chair
M.F.A. 1983, D.F.A. 1990, Yale University, School of Drama
Michael Zelenak has written 15 plays; translated plays from Greek, Latin, French, and Norwegian; and directed more than 50 productions. He has worked as a dramaturg at Center Stage, the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theatre, the Pittsburgh Playhouse, and Yale Repertory Theatre. He worked with Martin Scorsese as dramaturg on Age of Innocence (Columbia Pictures, 1993). He was founder and artistic director of Theatre Libre (1970, now the Scranton Public Theatre), the American Ibsen Theatre (1983), and founding dramaturg of Theatre Southeast (1996). He served on the faculty of Carnegie-Mellon University, Yale University, and Florida State University before coming to Stony Brook. His critical work has appeared in American Theatre, Comparative Drama, Performing Arts Journal, Theatre, Theatre Research International, Theatre Three, and Theatre Topics. His full-length book Gender and Politics in Greek Tragedy was recently published by Peter Lang.
(631) 632-7280, Michael.Zelenak@stonybrook.edu

Maxine Kern, Adjunct in Theatre History
M.F.A. 1991, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Maxine Kern is a freelance dramaturg working with several theatres and individual artists in New York City. She was dramaturgical resident at New Dramatists in New York City and dramaturgical consultant for the Frederick Douglas Cultural Arts Playwriting Center. She has been Artistic Director for Company One Theater in Hartford, Connecticut; Literary Manager for New Georges Theater, New York City, and the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey; and Producing Associate for the McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey. Some of her play dramaturgy includes: Burnt Piano by Justin Fleming at HB Studios; The O’Neill Playwright Conference; New Work Now and Three Seconds in the Key by Deb Margolin at the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Public Theater; Staged Readings in Translation sponsored by The Czech Center at the New York Theater Workshop; and a reading of Little Pitfalls by Marketa Blahova at The Immigrant Theater Project.
MKern@nyc.rr.com

The Graduate School | Degree Programs | Stony Brook University Home Page