STIRRING. PLAYFUL. LIVE.
Hi! I'm Jacob.
"Our sense of reality is limited. We look at our daily lives for convenient, recognizable behaviorisms to transfer to the stage. Yet, every day some incident occurs that causes us to say: “Wow! If you saw that on a stage you wouldn't believe it.” -Uta Hagen
Welcome! If you're here, you probably already know that I'm a theatre director, playwright, actor, and teacher. So, by way of introducing other parts of myself, here are some of the things of daily life that are important to me and that inform my artistry (no particular order... I think):
-
my wonderful partner Brianne and our son Arthur (if there's bags under my eyes, well, I'm a new dad)
-
our two dogs
-
hiking, backpacking, and general adventuring
-
the creative ritual of preparing meals for myself and my loved ones each day (asked me about my smoked Thanksgiving turkey)
-
pursuing something divine and true, and celebrating how we see those soul deep characteristics manifested in all of us
-
teaching: that is, the collaborative grind of growth that occurs in myself and in my students across a class, a semester, a school year, a lifetime
-
reading (is Stephen King the pinnacle of American literature?)
-
live performance experiences (theatre pieces, yes, but also concerts, stand up, dance, etc.)
-
skiing (let me be clear: I'm bad at it... but I love it)
-
the daily work of rehearsal: a collaboration of creative minds investigating a text and each other for spontaneous, moment-to-moment encounters
I'm currently working out of Missoula, Montana, where I am a PhD candidate and graduate instructor at the University of Montana. I'm also a teaching artist in the No Joke Prison Theatre Project.
On this website you can find:
-
production photos from my work
-
a full cv detailing my training and academic experience
-
information about the podcast I co-host with Jackson Nickolay, No Script. Each week on No Script, Jackson and I have another "unscripted conversation about theatre's best scripts." We look at a play's context and themes, as well as analyzing structure, characters, and technique.
If you're looking for plays that I've written, check out my NPX profile or shoot me an email if you don't have an NPX account. I'm happy to share!
If have a project to propose or are otherwise interested in working together, please reach out to me at jacobmannchristiansen@gmail.com.
Thanks for stopping by!
-Jacob
