Vivienne Benesch is a theatre director and former artistic director of the Chautauqua Theatre who is currently artistic director at North Carolina's PlayMakers Repertory Company, a position she has held since 2016.[1] As part of her work at PlayMakers, Benesch focuses on amplifying the work of women playwrights through their @PLAY program.[2]
Benesch trained as an actor and received her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts and has been on the faculty of Juilliard.[3][4] As an actor, Benesch won an Obie Award in 2005 for her role in Lee Blessing's Going to St. Ives and played opposite Dame Maggie Smith in a 2007 London production of The Lady from Dubuque.[5] In film, she appeared in the 2007 comedy horror Teeth as Kim, the mother of the protagonist. In 2017, she received the Zelda Fichandler Award.[6]
In 2019, she made her Washington, D.C. directorial debut with the Folger Theatre production of Love's Labor Lost.[6] In 2022, she directed Noah Haidle's Birthday Candles, starring NYU classmate Debra Messing.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ "Vivienne Benesch Named New Artistic Director at PlayMakers". 2015-10-28. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Gunter, Savannah (2021-03-17). "PlayMakers @PLAY residency initiative highlights women's representation in theater". Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Cooper, Jackson (2016-01-27). "Vivienne Benesch Is Looking for Transformation". Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Woods, Byron (2015-12-16). "Vivienne Benesch, the new artistic director of PlayMakers, wants to break down its reclusive reputation". Retrieved 2021-12-22.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ Menconi, David (2018-04-28). "Vivienne Benesch's new era at PlayMakers". News & Observer. Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ a b Mackay, Barbara (2019-04-25). "'Love's Labor's Lost' Director Vivienne Benesch Finds Inspiration in Folger Reading Room". Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Banov, Jessica (2019-11-05). "Debra Messing to star in Broadway play Birthday Candles". Raleigh News & Observer. Archived from the original on 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ "PlayMakers' Vivienne Benesch is Broadway bound, will direct Debra Messing in "Birthday Candles"". UNC-Chapel Hill. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2021-12-22.