K. L. Cullom

 

 

As a Director:

I believe Directing Theater is much like conducting an orchestra.  My work as a Director is to hear the whole piece; to understand each individual part, see how they fit together and lead a company in creating something more beautiful and complex than any one instrument would be capable of alone.

 

I am most interested in working on pieces that push the boundaries of what we think we know about theater; plays that challenge an audience to shift their perspective – about life or themselves or humanity as a whole. I am excited by writers who don’t provide all the answers in the writing. I look for scripts that demand more from actors, directors and designers; scripts that force me to dig deeper and look more closely for clues about how to most effectively tell the story. 

 

 

BACKGROUND:

After graduating with a BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia WA, I spent six years stage managing in Portland. This afforded me the opportunity to be in rehearsal rooms with a variety of Directors, working on major regional theater productions.  While working at Portland Center Stage, I had the privilege of being part of JAW: A Playwrights Festival for 3 consecutive seasons, including as a member of the play selection committee. It was here that I became enamored of new American plays and the possibilities for the future of American theater. PCS is also where I was introduced to the voices of playwrights such as Will Eno and Adam Bock, by which I continue to be inspired.

 

In 2013 I completed an MFA in Directing from The New School for Drama in New York.  My training has included work on classical texts, modern classics, new plays, devised work and original adaptation. My background and continuing interest in dance, film, photography and lighting design all play a hand in my approach to directing.

 

I continue to look forward - toward a future ripe with curious minds, fearless actors, inventive writers, passionate colleagues and creative new approaches to theater & performance.

 

 

 

Credits include: 

Director: As You Like It - Brimstone Creek Productions / The Drunken City, by Adam Bock - Theatre Vertigo, Portland, OR / Five Flights, by Adam Bock / Aperture and Normal Wash, both by phillip y. gerson / Saudades (an original adaptation) - The New School for Drama, NYC. 

 

Assistant Director: Our Town and The Typographer's Dream, Dir. Rose Riordan (Portland Center Stage) / Timmy Failure: Mistakes were Made, Dir. Marcella Crowson (Oregon Children's Theatre - World Premiere) / JACKIE, Dir. Tea Alagic (Women’s Project Theater, NYC - US Premiere) / Execution of Justice, Dir. Lou Jacob (The New School for Drama, NYC) / Sweet Charity, Dir. Isaac Lamb (Lakewood Theater)