directing

Measure Back; Krapp’s Last Tape; Living in Exile
Pains of Youth; Fefu and Her Friends; Pterodactyls
The House of Bernarda Alba; This is Our Youth; Trust
The Diviners; The Cover of Life; Quality Street
Story Theatre; In the Center of the Fire; The Gaba Girl

Measure Back

a play by T. Ryder Smith
Directed by Christopher McElroen and T. Ryder Smith
Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, Pittsburgh PA
October, 2013

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 Photo by the Hinge Collective.

see production’s archive page here

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Krapp’s Last Tape

by Samuel Beckett
Directed by T. Ryder Smith (as Honor Nola)
MCLA, North Adams, MA
February , 2011

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 Poster by the Hinge Collective.

see production’s archive page here

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Living in Exile

by Jon Lipsky
Directed by Christopher McElroen and T. Ryder Smith
Under the Radar Festival, NYC
January, 2011

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 Photo by Jason Goodman.

see the production’s archive page here

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At AADA

I was happy to be for a few years a member of the Guest Faculty of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC, and to direct and design several productions there. I was proud of all of the shows I did, and of the actors in them, and in some cases would not have hesitated to open the shows Off-Broadway that same night.

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Pains of Youth

by Ferdinand Bruckner
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Third-Year Acting Company, 2005
Directed & Co-Designed by T. Ryder Smith
Set Design: Colly Long – Light Design: Paul Carbone
Choreography: Gabriella Barnstone
With: John-Michael Cooper, Ewa da Cruz, Robert Holden, Christopher Jensen, Stefanie Neukirch, Sean Kathryn O’Connor, Jessica Wilson
Directing Intern: Justin Winton

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Photos above by the Hinge Collective.

Photos below by Mark Wyville.

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Poster by the Hinge Collective.

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Above: with cast.

Below: article about some of our actors in Trace magazine.

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Fefu and Her Friends

by Maria Irene Fornes
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Third-Year Acting Company, 2004
Directed & Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With: Jackie Abusamra, Marisa Calin, Debra Jans, Robin Jedlicka, Vanessa Johansson, Meghan Jones, Melissa Stephens, Christine Willis

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Photos above by the Hinge Collective.

Photos below by Mark Wyville.

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poster by the Hinge Collective

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Pterodactyls

by Nicky Silver
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Third-Year Acting Company, 2003
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
Dinosaur by Jon Donk
With: Matt Behan, Johannes Brun, Sarah Lemp, Maggie Steele, Jason Stewart
Directing Intern: Stacey Mosley

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photos above by the Hinge Collective

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Above: cast and crew. I am in middle row right, in costume as Lou Reed, from a film I had been acting in that same day. (See that project page here.) I had rushed from the set at the end of shooting, to try to see the last few minutes of the final performance.

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The House of Bernarda Alba

by Federico Garcia Lorca
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Second-Year Students, 2004
Directed & Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With: Andrea Bickert, Kathryn Bock, Ru-Chen Ang, Hayley Elizabeth Carson, Abi Clancey, Vicki Connett, Ewa da Cruz, Iris Emmenegger, Lina Engelsrud, Kay Frances, Kay Hodgson

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photos and poster by the Hinge Collective

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This is Our Youth

by Kenneth Lonergan
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Third-Year Acting Company, 2004
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With Nick Amick , Elliot Joseph, Sofia Karvela

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photos above by the Hinge Collective

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Trust

by Steve Dietz
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Second-Year Students, 2005
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With: Nicki Cushing, Jennifer Hayek, Trace Sheehan, Brian Trybom, Breane Wood, et al.

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 photos above by the Hinge Collective

photos below by Mark Wyville

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The Diviners

by Jim Leonard, Jr.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Second-Year Acting Company, 2004
Directed by T. Ryder Smith
Sets: Jon Donk – Lights: John-Paul Sapanski – Sound: Matt Longmire
Costumes: Stephen Daniel and Christie Rilling
Stage Manager: Nick Gorham
With: John Adams, Robert T. Adkins, Andrea Bickert, Hayley Elizabeth Carson, John-Michael Cooper, Iris Emmenegger, Christopher Jensen, Paskell Meal, Matt Munroe, Jacob S. Saxton, Jacquelyn Terhar

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photos above by the Hinge Collective

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The Cover of Life

by R. T. Robinson
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Third-Year Acting Company, 2003
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With: Sarah Fraunfelder, Colleen Kelly, Nedra Morgan, Maggie Steele, Jack Walker

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photos and poster by the Hinge Collective

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Quality Street

by J. M. Barrie
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
Second-Year Students, 2003
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
With: Joe Cabatit, Angie Creighton, Nick Gorham, Lani Harwood, Robin Jedlicka, Meghan Jones, Louise Munson, Hayden Roush, Steve Sliker, Christine Willis, Katy Wright-Mead, Shannon Wyant

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photos by the Hinge Collective

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Story Theatre

by Paul Sills
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
First-Year Students, 2004
Directed by T. Ryder Smith
With: (two casts) Brandon Abel, Emily Barlow, Jaime Bartlett, Melanie Baxter, Desmond Bing, Laura Bullock, Michael Caulson, Julianne Chandler, Kristin Colucci, Katie Curri, Katherine Cushing, Sarah Daniel, Daphne Davalie, Danny De Lillo, Tom Gibson, John Dillon, Jennifer Hayek, Samuel Hutchinson, Cassandra Leach, Jessie Martinez, Rafael Rojas, Peter Rough, Justin Rosenberger, Rebecca Salerno, Laura Siegel, Leigh Stein, Brian Trybom, Erryka Walsh, Cat Ward, Jenny Wilde, Jessica Wilson, Adam Wolfe

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poster and photos by the Hinge Collective

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The Real Inspector Hound

by Tom Stoppard
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
First-Year Students, 2005
Directed by T. Ryder Smith
With (two casts): Joel Brady, Amy Burnett, Amber Falck, Adam Fujita, Ricky Johnston, Jimmy Juste, Chris Kapcia, Argyro Lefa, Angela Milton, Derek Noel, Chris Paolucci, Will Saks, Stephanie Smith, Criss Turner, Dominic Viskher, Cary Ward, G. Zhang

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photos by the Hinge Collective

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Getting Married
by George Bernard Shaw
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC
First-Year Students, 2005
Directed by T. Ryder Smith

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The Mousetrap
by Agatha Christie
Understudy company
Dorset Theatre Festival, 1995
Dorset, VT

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Measure for Measure
by William Shakespeare
Understudy company
New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, 1990
Madison, NJ

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Pericles, Prince of Tyre
by William Shakespeare
Understudy company
New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, 1989
Madison, NJ
1988

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In the Center of the Fire

a new play by Alisha Silver
Fully-staged reading
Nylon Fusion Collective, NYC
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, NYC
June, 2010

With:
Elliott Joseph, Darcy Fulcer, Nick Hepsoe, Galit Sperling, Micah Stock, Josh Tyson
Stage Manager: Gwyndolyn Kay

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photos by the Hinge Collective

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playwright Alisha Silver

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T. Ryder Smith and Elliott Joseph

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The Gaba Girl

A new play by Cheri Magid
Workshop production
Directed and Designed by T. Ryder Smith
University of the South, Sewanee, TN
April 4-6, 2016

With:
Nigel DeFriez, Libby Matthews, Megan Roberts, Josh Tyson
Stage Manager: Allie Puneky
Production Assistant: Richard Clements

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Photos, from top: Megan Roberts as the mannequin and Libby Matthews as the real Cynthia; poster by the Hinge Collective; Nigel De Friez, Libby Mathews and Josh Tyson in performance; the actual Cynthia mannequin, being made up, 1940s, and taking a bus tour with creator Lester Gaba; the Tennessee Williams Theatre Center at University of the South, Sewanee, TN; in rehearsal: Cheri Magid at right in first photo; T. directing; rehearsal.

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