Posted on Monday, October 25th, 2010 by Ryan
More than likely, when you think of someone who has an academic background in Religion and some training in Clowning, you don’t immediately associate that with EST. But for Director in Residence Heidi Handelsman, it was those very things that drive her theatrical passion.
“Both of these fields inform how I tell stories and which stories I’m compelled to tell,” Heidi said. “I’m all about the foolish and the sacred.”
After getting involved with EST a few years ago by directing some short plays by EST and Youngblood affiliated playwrights, Heidi was wowed by the artists who call EST home.
“It’s a Mecca for new plays, and I love the artists. Everyone who works here is crazy talented,” Heidi said. “Also, everyone who works here is just plain crazy – the amount of theatre this company puts together every year is staggering. I love EST’s open-minded approach to new work development: they give their artists the freedom to try just about anything. It makes EST into a real creative playground.”
It’s in that creative playground that Heidi fits right in.
“I’m a new play director. I’ve developed new work with New Georges, Ma-Yi, the Tank, the Woodshed Collective, Manhattan Theatre Source, etc. I also run my own play-reading series (and burgeoning producing company), the Potluck (so named because each reading I produce is also a potluck).
As far as her hopes for this upcoming year here at EST, Heidi has a list. “I hope to get to know the sprawling EST family a little better, I hope to eat a lot of pancakes at Youngblood Sunday Brunches, and I hope Anna Moench will train me to be a better long-distance cyclist. That woman puts my urban cycling to shame.”
Kate Marks
Posted on December 29, 2010 at 9:34 am
Congratulations EST! Heidi is a rock-star director!