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Home My Public Portal AboutGay Smith Resume 2019RESUME GAY SMITH Theatre Historian and Dramaturg Professor Emerita of Theatre, Wesleyan University 860 685 1065 (c) gsmith@wesleyan.edu PUBLICATIONS Books: Gay Smith, Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House, Palgrave-Macmillan February 2010. Nominated for the Jacques Barzun Cultural History Award, the Bernard Hewitt Award, and the American Theatre and Drama Society Award, 2011. Gay Smith, Editor and Introduction, Plays by Phil Bosakowski, New York: Broadway Play Publishing, 2000. Gay Manifold, George Sand's Gabriel, Adaptation and Translation, Introduction, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1992. Gay Manifold, George Sand's Theatre Career, Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press, 1985. Choice Magazine's Book Award: "Outstanding Academic Book," 1986. Selected Articles, Essays and Reviews: “Shakespearean Tragedy in the Nineteenth-Century United States: The Case of Julius Caesar" in The Oxford Handbook of Shakespearean Tragedy, 2016. “Histories,” Theatre Topics, Dramaturgy Special Issue. Vol 13, Number 1, March 2003. Review of The Royalty of Negro Vaudeville, by Nadine George-Graves, Theatre Journal, 2001. "Ode to the Heroine: Marguerite Yourcenar's Dramatic Voice" (Women in French Studies, vol 1, 1993, reprinted 2000. 5000 word entry on George Sand, Dictionary of Literary Biography 192: French Dramatists, 1789-1914; 1994. “In Majorca with George Sand and Robert Graves," Review Article, George Sand Studies XIII, 1&2, Spring 1994. "Philanthropist and Misanthrope," Dramaturg Essay, Long Wharf Theatre Program, January 1992. "Babbitt at the Mark Taper Forum," Theatre Journal, Spring 1988. "George Sand: Dramatist for a People's Theatre," New Theatre Quarterly, London, August 1986. "Arthur Miller's American Clock," Theatre Journal, March 1985. "Mother of Realism," George Sand Studies, Hofstra University, Spring, 1984/85. "George Sand et l'acteur," "Scenarios et pièces du Théâtre de Nohant," (two articles); Présence de George Sand, Grenoble, February 1984. PROFESSIONAL DRAMATURG EXPERIENCE Currently adapting an Ivan Doig novel into a play to workshop in Montana and Washington, 2019. New Play Development, Seven Devils, McCall, Idaho; June workshops: 2005-2019. University of Connecticut, Storrs, dramaturg for three new plays 2008, 2006, 2003. Primary Stages, New York City; sponsor of annual playwrights award 1995-2005. National Playwrights Conference, O'Neill Theatre Center, Waterford CT and NYC: 1990-2002; Selection Committee 1993-1997. Dramaturg for Artistic Director Lloyd Richards, 1990- 2000, James Houghton 2002. National Theatre Institute, O'Neill Theatre Center, Waterford, CT; dramaturgy workshops, 1992-98. Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven; 1996, 1992. Denver Center Theatre 's USTheatre Fest; Spring, 1993, 1992. Playwrights Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; June 1991. Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles; Pre-show lectures for five seasons of productions; 1984-88. Paris/London Theatre Lecturer and Guide; student and alumnae groups; 1982, 1984, 1987. Padua Hills Playwrights' Festival, producer/administrator, 1980-84. ACADEMIC CAREER Professor Emerita, Theatre, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. Wesleyan Institute for Lifelong Learning: Workshop Short Courses on “Camille” spring 2014, “King Lear” fall 2012, "Shakespeare's Cleopatra" fall 2011, "Hamlet's Soliloquies" fall 2010. Professor of Theater, Wesleyan University, 1989-2017, Department Chair (2006-2007, 2005, 1997). Production Work: Director: Shakespeare’s As You Like and Macbeth, Tom Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, Moliere’s Don Juan, Countess Three: Translated, adapted and directed three Beaumarchais plays abridged to three acts; with full orchestra, music and arias from Rossini’s Barber of Seville (Act One), Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro (Act Two) and Darius Milhaud’s La Mere Coupable or The Guilty Mother (Act Three). Producer and Artistic Director for week-long Women Playwrights Festival, featuring guest artists Wendy Wasserstein, Maria Irene Fornes, Susan Lori Parks; directed Toussaint Fragment by Lorraine Hansberry. Director and adaptation, LaFontaine's Tales, translated by Norman Shapiro. Faculty Producer and Director for the Wesleyan Playwrights Advancement Program, (WPA). Featuring student playwrights, dramaturgs and directors working with guest playwrights. Director of Vassar/Wesleyan Program in Paris, one year. Courses Taught: History of Drama and Theatre I and II; Script Analysis; Plays for Performance; Theatre Criticism; Irish Plays and Politics. Professor of Theatre Arts, Department Chair 1985-88, Graduate Advisor 1988-89, California State University, Los Angeles. Chair of the Department: managed nine full-time faculty, seven full-time staff, several part-time faculty and staff; and served as Artistic Director of ten-production academic seasons. In collaboration with Spanish Department produced bilingual production annually with professional directors from Mexico. Directed major productions of Shaffer's Amadeus and Molière's Misanthrope. Founded student theatre magazine, Places, Please. Courses taught: Graduate (M.A.) seminars in theatre history, literature and criticism. Undergraduate courses (B.A.): Introduction to Theatre, Directing, Shakespeare, and other history/lit/criticism courses; developed new course in play/film comparison; theses tutor. Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Department Chair, University of LaVerne, CA, 1978-85. Director of several productions including Maeterlinck's Pelleas and Melisande, Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Molière's The Learned Ladies, Sam Shepard's Angel City, Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, my own script A Theatre of One's Own, an original piece about George Sand’s plays and family drama. Faculty advisor for theatre magazine, Entr'acte. Courses taught: Directing, Theatre History, Theatre Criticism, Shakespeare, Irish Dramatists, Theatre Management. Drama Critics' Workshop, originated and conducted four-week intensive writing program offered twice, featuring guests Kenneth Tynan, Jack Lambert (Sunday London Times), Martin Esslin, Dan Sullivan (LA Times). Instructor in Theatre, Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio, 1976-77. Artistic director of two productions, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, adapted and directed text of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae, re-titled The Misogynist, with original music; taught Theatre History. EDUCATION Ph.D. Theatre History and Criticism, University of California, Los Angeles. June 1983. M.A. Drama and Theatre, University of Hawaii, Manoa. 1971. B.A. Drama and Theatre, University of Hawaii, Manoa. 1970. SELECTION OF MORE RECENT CONFERENCE PAPERS, GUEST LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, PANELS “Hillary Clinton: A Lady Macbeth?” Guest Lecture, American University, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2016. “Wolfe Tone, Making of a Revolutionary in Drogheda and Derry, 1792,” SOFEIR conference, Strasbourg, France, March, 2013. "She Made Me Do It," Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House, Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences lecture, April, 2011. "Playing for Revolutionaries: 1776 Lady Macbeth and First Lady Abigail Adams," Wasch Center, Wesleyan University, November 2009. “Abigail Adams and the Irish,” Grian Conference, New York University, March, 2007. “A House is Not a Home: It’s a Theatre,” Center for the Humanities Lecture, Feb 2007. “Transformation of Theatrical Images from Sand to Bernhardt,” Dublin, International George Sand Conference, June 2006. ” From Ireland's Rebellion to Independence in New York, America’s First Preeminent Tragedienne. Paper Delivered at Trinity College, Dublin. Conference of Eighteenth Century Historians of Scotland and Ireland. June 2004. “Wrighting the Wrongs, Kushner’s Ethel Rosenberg and Miller’s Monroe,” International Federation for Theatre Research Conference, Amsterdam, June 2003. "Displaced Women/Trans-cultural Theatre Writing," International Women’s Playwrights Conference, Athens, Greece, October 2000. "Constructing Theatre/History," University of Texas, Austin, April 1998. Associate Professor of Theatre Arts and Department Chair, University of LaVerne, CA, 1978-85. Director of several productions including Maeterlinck's Pelleas and Melisande, Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Molière's The Learned Ladies, Sam Shepard's Angel City, Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, my own script A Theatre of One's Own, an original piece about George Sand’s plays and family drama. Faculty advisor for theatre magazine, Entr'acte. Courses taught: Directing, Theatre History, Theatre Criticism, Shakespeare, Irish Dramatists, Theatre Management. Drama Critics' Workshop, originated and conducted four-week intensive writing program offered twice, featuring guests Kenneth Tynan, Jack Lambert (Sunday London Times), Martin Esslin, Dan Sullivan (LA Times). Instructor in Theatre, Muskingum College, New Concord, Ohio, 1976-77. Artistic director of two productions, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, adapted and directed text of Aristophanes' Thesmophoriazusae, re-titled The Misogynist, with original music; taught Theatre History. EDUCATION Ph.D. Theatre History and Criticism, University of California, Los Angeles. June 1983. M.A. Drama and Theatre, University of Hawaii, Manoa. 1971. B.A. Drama and Theatre, University of Hawaii, Manoa. 1970. SELECTION OF MORE RECENT CONFERENCE PAPERS, GUEST LECTURES, WORKSHOPS, PANELS “Hillary Clinton: A Lady Macbeth?” Guest Lecture, American University, Aix-en-Provence, France, 2016. “Wolfe Tone, Making of a Revolutionary in Drogheda and Derry, 1792,” SOFEIR conference, Strasbourg, France, March, 2013. "She Made Me Do It," Lady Macbeth in America: From the Stage to the White House, Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences lecture, April, 2011. "Playing for Revolutionaries: 1776 Lady Macbeth and First Lady Abigail Adams," Wasch Center, Wesleyan University, November 2009. “Abigail Adams and the Irish,” Grian Conference, New York University, March, 2007. “A House is Not a Home: It’s a Theatre,” Center for the Humanities Lecture, Feb 2007. “Transformation of Theatrical Images from Sand to Bernhardt,” Dublin, International George Sand Conference, June 2006. ” From Ireland's Rebellion to Independence in New York, America’s First Preeminent Tragedienne. Paper Delivered at Trinity College, Dublin. Conference of Eighteenth Century Historians of Scotland and Ireland. June 2004. “Wrighting the Wrongs, Kushner’s Ethel Rosenberg and Miller’s Monroe,” International Federation for Theatre Research Conference, Amsterdam, June 2003. "Displaced Women/Trans-cultural Theatre Writing," International Women’s Playwrights Conference, Athens, Greece, October 2000. "Constructing Theatre/History," University of Texas, Austin, April 1998.