PROFESSIONAL CV
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 1991. Theatre History and Criticism Program, The University of Texas at Austin
Masks, Pierrots, and Puppet Shows: Commedia dell'arte and Experimentation on the Early Twentieth Century Russian Stage. Dissertation. Director: Oscar G. Brockett
M.A. 1987. Theatre History and Criticism Program, The University of Texas at Austin
Dramatists Prefer Blondes: Marilyn Monroe as Dramatic Character. Thesis. Director: Oscar G. Brockett
B.A. 1986 with Distinction. Drama/English. University of Virginia
“The Play is Memory:" Theatre as the Union of Past and Present in the Drama of Tennessee Williams. Undergraduate Thesis. Director: Sharon Davie
PUBLICATIONS
BOOKS, CHAPTERS, ARTICLES, REVIEWS
Books
The Dramatic Works of Catherine the Great: Theatre and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Russia. Aldershot: Ashgate Press, 2006. 227 pp.
Two Comedies by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia: Oh, These Times! and The Siberian Shaman. My English translations of two plays, including a critical introduction and illustrations. Press: Russian Theatre Archive, Gordon and Breach/Harwood Academic Publishers. 1998. 80 pp.
Book Sections
“Catherine the Great's ‘Rage aux Proverbes.’” Eighteenth-Century Russia: Society, Culture, Economy Papers from the VII International Conference of the Study Group on Eighteenth-Century Russia, Wittenberg 2004, ed. by Roger Bartlett and Gabriela Lehmann-Carli Münster: LIT-Verlag, 2007: 91-101.
“Russian Drama in the Eighteenth Century.” Western Drama Through the Ages: A Student Reference Guide. Ed. Kimball King. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2007. I: 239-242.
“Signs from Empresses and Actresses: Women and Theatre in the Eighteenth Century.” Women in Eighteenth-Century Russian Culture and Society. Eds. Wendy Rosslyn and Alessandra Tosi. NY: Palgrave, 2007: 9-23.
“Babblers and Dabblers: Language and Access to Power in Catherine the Great's Comedy A Prominent Nobleman's Entrance Hall.” Invited chapter contribution. Catherine II and Her Time. A Modern Outlook. Eds. Tatiana Artemieva and Mikhail Mikeshin. The Philosophical Age Almanac 11. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Center for History of Ideas, 1999. 97-112.
“Masks of the Empress: Polyphony of Personae in Catherine the Great's Oh, These Times!” A Subtler Music: Essays on the Drama and Opera of Enlightenment Europe. Ed. Luis Gamez. Stanford: Paul Watkins Publishing, 1997. 65-85.
“Nikolai Nikolaevich Evreinov”; “Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov”; “Ruben Nikolaevich Simonov.” Theatrical Directors: A Biographical Dictionary. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994: 125-126, 251-252, 369.
Articles in Refereed Journals
“‘Why I Wrote the Phyllis Wheatley Pageant-Play’: Mary Church Terrell’s Bicentennial Activism.” Theatre History Studies 37 (2018): 225-256.
“Du Bois, the Witch of Endor, and the Crisis of the George Washington Bicentenary.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. 41.4 (Winter 2016): 32-54.
“Spirits in Black and White: Ethiopia as the Black Columbia in African American Pageantry” Text & Presentation 2015 (March 2016): 131-153.
“Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s Hawaiian Idyll as Hawaiian Imaginary.” Comparative Drama 47.1 (2013): 1-30.
“Princess Ekaterina Dashkova: Not a Weak-Willed Playwright.” Study Group on Eighteenth-Century Russia 36 (2008): 47-60.
“Catherine the Great's Woeful Knight: A Slanted Parody.” Theatre History Studies 21 (2001) 11-26.
“Fools in the Mirror in Catherine the Great's Imianiny Gospozhi Vorchalkinoi.”Canadian-American Slavic Studies 34.4 (2000): 409-426.
“From Fat Falstaff to Francophile Fop: Russian Nationalism in Catherine the Great's Merry Wives.” Comparative Drama 33.3 (1999): 365-389.
“How Great Was Catherine? Checkpoints at the Border of Russian Theatre.” Slavic and East European Journal 43.1 (1999): 33-48.
“Catherine the Great's Operatic Splendor at Court:The Beginning of Oleg's Reign.” Essays in Theatre 17.1 (1998): 33-52. Also published online and on CD-ROM by SIRS Mandarin, Inc.
“Masks of the Empress: Polyphony of Personae in Catherine the Great's Oh, These Times!. Comparative Drama 31.1 (Spring 1997): 65-85.
“The Monarch and the Mystic: Catherine the Great's Strategy of Audience Enlightenment in The Siberian Shaman.” Slavic and East European Journal, 41.2 (Summer 1997): 224-242.
“An Inspector Calls: Director Mark Weil's Journey from Tashkent to Honolulu.” Slavic and East European Performance. 15.2 (1995):53-58.
“Russian Dramatist Mikhail Kuzmin and the Sexual Ambiguity of the Commedia Mask.” Modern Drama 37.4 (1994): 613-625.
“From Censorship to Openness, From Subsidies to Sponsors: Restructuring in the Recent Moscow Repertory.” Theatre Perspectives International 1.2 (1994).
“Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears: The Return of Russia's Comic Heritage.” On-Stage Studies 17 (1994): 1-21.
“When I Created, I Saw Before My Eyes Only Pushkin. (The Marriage) Moscow Theatre na Krasnoi Presne.” On-Stage Studies (1993): 90-94.
Other Articles
“Seen and Unseen Women of Moscow Theatre.” Literary Studies East and West 12 (1996): 292-303.
“Developing a Hypertext History of World Theatre.” Report on the 1995-96 Instructional Development Projects. Co-authors James Brandon and Robert Petersen. October 1996: 1-11.
“Using Structured Controversies.” Teaching and Learning 6.1 (1992):2-3.
Syllabi for “THEA 412: World Theatre IV,” “THEA 617: Russian and Soviet Theatre and Drama,” and “THEA 494: New British and American Drama”, published in Syllabus Exchange 1992: Theatre History and Introduction to Theatre, published by the Theatre History Focus Group of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, 1992.
Book Reviews
Review of Bewitching Russian Opera: The Tsarina from State to Stage by Inna Naroditskaya. Russian Review 71.4 (2012): 679.
Review of A History of Russian Theatre, eds. Robert Leach and Victor Borovsky. Teatr 1 (2000): 179-181.
Review of The Russian Theatre after Stalin by Anatoly Smeliansky. Essays in Theatre 18.2 (2000): 185-187.
Review of The Recurrence of Fate by Spencer Golub. Modern Drama. 32.3 (1996): 375-377.
Review of Silence's Roar: The Life and Drama of Nikolai Erdman by John Freedman. Theatre Journal 47.2 (May 1995): 327-328.
Review of Aspects of Dramatic Communication: Action, Non-Action, Interaction: (A.P. Cechov, A. Blok, D. Charms) by Jenny Stelleman. Slavic and East European Journal 38.3 (Fall 1994): 510-511.
Review of The Theatre of Yesterday and Tomorrow: Commedia dell'Arte on the Modern Stage by James Fisher. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 8.2 (1994): 235-237.
Review of Vsevolod Meyerhold by Robert Leach. Essays in Theatre 12.1 (1993): 99-101.
Review of Modernism to Realism on the Soviet Stage and The Theater of Yuri Lyubimov. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 5.2 (1991): 217-221.
PRESENTATIONS
CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIA
Invited Presentations
“The Dramatic Writings of Catherine the Great.” Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens. Feb. 4, 2009
“Babblers and Dabblers: Language and Access to Power in A Prominent Nobleman's Anteroom.” Catherine the Great: Life and Legacy. CERES (the Consortium for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies of Southern California). October 1997, Los Angeles, CA.
“Catherine the Great: Empress/Playwright.” Behind the Mirror, Over the Centuries, Across the Atlantic: A Symposium on Catherine the Great. Youngstown State University, Youngstown, May 12-14, 1995.
Plenary Addresses
“Catherine the Great's 'Rage aux Proverbes'“ VII International Conference of the Study Group on Eighteenth-Century Russia in July 2004, Wittenberg, Germany.
“How Great Was Catherine?: Checkpoints at the Borders of Russia.” A plenary session address. American Society for Theatre Research in November 1996, Pasadena, CA.
Juried Conference Presentations
"Spirits in Black and White: Ethiopia, Columbia, and the Witch of Endor." Comparative Drama Conference. March 26-28, 2015. Baltimore, MD.
“Du Bois, the Witch of Endor, and the Crisis of the George Washington Bicentenary.” International Federation for Theatre Research. July 22-26, 2013. Barcelona, Spain.
"Alice Dunbar-Nelson's Hawaiian Idyll: School Play as Cultural Exploration." Association for Theatre in Higher Education. August 2-5, 2012. Washington, D.C.
Paper presentation, “Happy Birthday, Mr. President: Mary Church Terrell Makes a Scene,” for panel ““Celebrating Feminist/Activist Legacies: Performing Political Engagement.” Women and Theatre Conference, Aug. 1, 2012, Washington, D.C.
“An African-American Vision of Hawai’i as Lost Paradise: Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s Hawaiian Idyll.” International Federation for Theatre Research. August 8-12, 2011. Osaka, Japan.
“‘Greatness Has No Boundaries’: May Miller’s Plays of the African Diaspora.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education. August 3-6, 2010. New York, NY. Also panel organizer.
“Offstage Lynchings, Onstage Passing: African-American Women Playwrights Risk Visibility.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education. August 8-11, 2009. New York, NY. Also panel organizer.
“Princess Ekaterina Dashkova: Not a Weak-Willed Playwright.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education. July 27-30, 2007. New Orleans, LA. Also panel organizer.
“Catherine the Great as Citizen-Playwright: Dangerous Dissent in Family and Court.” International Federation for Theatre Research. June 26-July1, 2005. College Park, MD.
“Empress Fantasies: Catherine the Great’s Comic Operas.” Eleventh International Congress on the Enlightenment, August 2003, Los Angeles, CA
“Catherine the Great's Woeful Knight: A Slanted Parody.” Tenth International Congress on the Enlightenment, July 1999, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
“Catherine the Great's Comedies: On the Harmfulness of Intrigue.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies conference in September 1998, Boca Raton, FL. [not presented due to hurricane]
“Grave Faults, Flashes of Wit: New Perspectives on Catherine the Great's Plays.” American Association of Teachers of Slavic and Eastern European Languages in December 1996, Washington, DC.
“'Alas, Poor Riurik': Catherine the Great's Shakespearean-Style History Plays.” American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies conference 1995.
“Superstitious Wives and Widows: Catherine the Great's Satirical Weaponry.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference 1995.
“Into the Mystic: The Anti-Masonic Plays of Catherine the Great.” American Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Tuscon, 1995.
“Muscovite Experiments: Today's Avant-Garde Emerges.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference 1994.
“Playwright Petrushevskaia and her Three Girls in Mourning/In Blue.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference 1992.
“Openness and the New Soviet Repertory.” American Society for Theatre Research Seminar: Theatre after the Cold War. American Society for Theatre Research conference 1991.
“The Russian Director and the Eternal Commedia Triangle.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference 1991.
“Harlequinades on the Russian Stage: The Drama of Mikhail Kuzmin.” Popular Culture Association Conference 1991.
Other Conference Activities
Participant, Research Group on Feminist Theatre History, American Society for Theatre Research, November 2003, Los Angeles, CA
“'I Consider All of my Writings to be Trifles': Catherine the Great as Playwright.” Chair and staged readings coordinator, special session at Modern Language Association in December 1996, Washington, DC.
“Catherine the Great's Splendor at Court: Operas by an Empress.” Seminar on Baroque Theatre. American Society for Theatre Research conference 1995.
“Seen and Unseen Women of Moscow Theatre.” Constructions and Confrontations: Changing Representations of Women and Feminisms, East and West. Symposium, Honolulu, 1994.
“The Commedia dell'arte and Meyerhold's Search for Space: The Influence of The Puppet Show.” Accepted for American Society for Theatre Research Seminar: Design as Interpretation. American Society for Theatre Research conference 1992. (unable to attend)
Discussion moderator. Women and Theatre Conference 1992.
Panel Participant. “The Director as Shaman: Ancient Mysteries Reclaimed.” Association for Theatre in Higher Education Conference 1991.