Faculty
Rory Pelsue
BA, Sarah Lawrence College. MFA, David Geffen School of Drama, Yale University. Pelsue is an Obie-winning director of new and classic plays, operas, musicals, and live-stream performances. He is the Resident Director of Fake Friends, where he helmed The Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse at the New Group, This American Wife, and Pulitzer Prize Finalist and Drama League Nominee Circle Jerk. Other recent and upcoming credits include directing Manon! at Heartbeat Opera, Other People’s Dead Dads at Dixon Place, Burn Book at Mabou Mines, Read to Me at Portland Stage, The Show on the Roof and Lizard Boy at Boise Contemporary Theater, Deathbed Edition at Ars Nova ANT Fest, and workshops and readings at Ojai Playwrights Festival, Ars Nova, Southcoast Repertory Theater, Studio Theater, Primary Stages, CultureHub, and Mercury Store. He has served as an Assistant and Associate Director at the Metropolitan Opera, the Juilliard School, Yale Repertory Theater, McCarter Theater Center, and Yale Repertory Theater. SLC, 2026–
Undergraduate Courses 2026-2027
Theatre
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Open, Component—Year
THEA 5609
How do directors develop their interpretation of a text, and what techniques can they use to bring that interpretation to life? What do actors need from directors? What do designers need from directors? How can directors inspire their collaborators to do their best work?
In this course, students will learn and refine directing techniques for rehearsals with actors and meetings with designers. The bulk of this course will be comprised of in-class rehearsals where students will direct scenes and receive reflections and feedback on their artistry and rehearsal technique from the instructor. Supplementary classes and assignments will help student directors work with designers and develop their craft as interpreters.
We will use Katie Mitchell’s The Director’s Craft as a guide for learning Stanislavskian play analysis techniques (given circumstances, events, intentions, etc.) and then apply those techniques to short plays by great writers that may include Caryl Churchill, Tennessee Williams, María Irene Fornés, or Alice Childress.
Faculty