Jemma Alix Levy Associate Professor of Theater

Jemma Alix Levy

Lenfest 308
540-458-8005
levyj@wlu.edu
Website - Curriculum Vitae

In over twenty years as a professional director, Professor Levy started and ran Runamuck Theatre Company in Austin, Texas; was an Artistic Associate with Kings County Shakespeare Company in Brooklyn, NY; and was the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Muse of Fire Theatre Company in Evanston, IL, which successfully ran for 10 years before closing its doors in 2018.  She has directed critically-acclaimed productions all over the country and made her international directing debut in Prague in 2019. She has also taught theatre in Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia and New York.  In addition to her artistic work as a director, Professor Levy has also written reviews, scholarly articles, and a few plays.

Education

M.F.A. Shakespeare in Performance, Mary Baldwin University in association with The American Shakespeare Center

M.A. Humanities, University of Chicago

Andrew W. Mellon Directing Fellowship, The Juilliard School

B.A. Theatre and Dance, Amherst College

Research

Professor Levy is interested in the intersection of scholarship and performance. She delights in the ways her academic inquiries can affect her artistic work, and the ways her productions can spark new academic inquiries.  She is particularly interested in the relationship between audience and performer, and often uses direct address in her productions to explore this.  As a director, her work runs the gamut, from new work to musicals to modern classics to ancient Greek texts, but Shakespeare's plays remain her greatest passion.

Teaching

  • WRIT 100, Scum and Villainy
  • WRIT 100, Acting and Identity
  • MRST 386/ENGL 392, Romeo and Juliet and Its Aftermath
  • THTR 141, Acting 1
  • THTR 211, History of Theater and Drama II
  • THTR 227/HIST 227, Discover Scotland: History and Culture through Theatre (a spring term abroad class)
  • THTR 241, Acting 2
  • THTR 245, Talk To Us: How to Make Friends and Influence People
  • THTR 341, Acting 3: Shakespeare and Devised Work
  • THTR 361, Directing 1

Selected Publications

“A Piece of Work: A machine-made Hamlet by Annie Dorsen” (review), Shakespeare Bulletin (2014).
 
“Competing Heights in Shakespeare’s As You Like It.” Shakespeare Embodied: Page, Stage, and Classroom in Shakespeare and His Contemporaries. Ed. Kathryn Moncrief & Kathryn McPherson. New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2013.
 
“The Merchant of Venice” (review), Shakespeare Bulletin 31.1 (2013).
 
“Directing Mary Baldwin College’s King John.” The Playhouse Insider 4 (2013).

PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTIONS

Recent or upcoming productions:

  • Cymbeline, by Shakespeare, online production, Shakespeare Company India
  • Miss Holmes, by Christopher M. Walsh, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
  • Tartuffe, by Moliere, trans. by Ranjit Bolt, Prague Shakespeare Company
  • Richard III, by Shakespeare, Muse of Fire Theatre Company
  • The Merchant of Venice, by Shakespeare, Notre Dame Shakespeare Company, Touring Company
  • The Taming of the Shrew, by Shakespeare, American Shakespeare Center Wicked Folly Tour
  • Macbeth, by Shakespeare, Quill Theatre
  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona, by Shakespeare, American Shakespeare Center Hungry Hearts Tour

ACADEMIC PRODUCTIONS

For Washington and Lee:

  • The Moors, by Jen Silverman (upcoming)
  • Thumbelina, a kamishibai adaptation by Natsu Onoda Power from Hans Christian Andersen (upcoming)
  • Burn, by Deborah Gearing
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare
  • The Cherry Orchard, by Anton Chekhov, trans. by Robert Brustein
  • Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare
  • Dracula, adapted by Steven Dietz
  • Love's Labors Lost, by Shakespeare
  • Spamalot, book and lyrics by Eric Idle, music by John du Prez and Eric Idle

For other schools:

  • Henry VI, part 1, by Shakespeare, The Brearley School, New York
  • Found a Peanut, by Donald Margulies, The Brearley School, New York
  • King John, by Shakespeare, Mary Baldwin University
  • Faire Playe, by Belinda Bremner, Chicago College for the Performing Arts, Roosevelt University
  • The Comedy of Errors, by Shakespeare, Wabash College