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 working theatre director, playwright, and acting teacher. Currently, I am the Instructor of Directing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
By way of introducing other parts of myself (beyond the bios and CV lines) here are some of the things of daily life that are important to me and that inform my artistry (no particular order... I think):
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I'm a dad and a partner first. Brianne and I are raising our son Arthur... So, yes, the bags under my eyes are earned.
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I'm an ensemble guy. Rehearsal is my daily practice, and I love the work of building new theatre experiences from the ground up with a group of enthusiastic, generous artists.
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I'm an "outdoorsy" type – hiking, backpacking, and general adventuring. This might explain why so much of my work is obsessed with people in motion: momentum, collision... people who reveal themselves by what they do, not what they claim.
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I'm drawn to work that pursues something divine and true, and celebrates how we see those soul deep characteristics manifested in all of us.
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I build the culture of my rehearsal studios and classrooms very intentionally – leading with kindness, practicing real collaboration, staying silly. These are things that Uta Hagen calls "character." I, like her, think this kind of artistic character isn't just good for your reputation, it actually makes the art better, riskier, more vulnerable.
On this website you can find:
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production photos from my work
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a full cv detailing my training and academic experience
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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
