ROBERT BRESNICK
53 Foster Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 777-8869
bresnickr@aol.com
 
 

EDUCATION

1982-83	Freie Univesität, Berlin, West Germany.
1979-82	New York University, NY, NY; M.F.A.
1969-74	University of Hartford, Hartford, CT; B.A.
1969-72	Hartt College of Music, Hartford, CT

PRINCIPAL TEACHERS

Carl Weber

Gerald Forbes

GRANTS, AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

1997, 1999	Jim Henson Foundation (Puppetsweat Theater)
1997	Puppeteers of America Endowment Fund (Puppetsweat Theater)
1995	Connecticut Humanities Council (Azdak's Garden)
1982-83	Fulbright-Hayes Scholarship
1981-82	Graduate Assistantship, NYU
1982	Paulette Goddard Award
1980-82	NYU School of the Arts Scholarship
1979	Individual Artist Grant, Ct. Commission on the Arts

 

PROFESSIONAL THEATER EXPERIENCE

1992-Present	Azdak's Garden Inc., Puppetsweat Theater, New Haven, CT  Founder, President, Board of Directors  Established non-profit theater organization and performance company committed to the exploration of ideas and social responsibility through performance, with special emphasis on imagistic work in which the visual, aural and textual are equally expressive.
1986-Present	Freelance Director and Dramaturg  Directed and Dramaturged for a variety of theaters throughout the New York and Connecticut area including: Theater for the New City, P. S. 122, Company One and New England Actors' Theatre.
1993-1996	City-Plays Project  Developed a theater project that traces Connecticut urban history in a "city specific" manner. Directed productions about Bridgeport (at Fairfield University), Hartford (at Trinity College), and New Haven (at ACES/Educational Center for the Arts).
1991-1992	INTAR, New York, NY  Directing Consultant/Dramaturg  Directing Consultant/Dramaturg to the INTAR Hispanic American Playwrights-in-Residence Laboratory (HPRL). Acted as a dramaturg and advisor to playwrights preparing for readings in a workshop run by Maria Irene Fornes.
1991	Aaron Copeland Music and Arts Camp, North Salem, NY  Theater Program Director  Developed and administered theater program for gifted children ages 12-15.
1987	Hartford Beckett Festival, Hartford, CT  Producer  Conceived of, and administered a three week long festival honoring Samuel Beckett. Produced six one-act plays and directed Endgame. Organized four evenings of seminars and two evenings of films and speakers; developed a high-school outreach program.
1978-1982	Protean Theater, Hartford, CT  Founder, Artistic and Administrative Director  Developed and received a CETA grant to establish an experimental theater; outfitted and maintained performance and rehearsal spaces; reviewed scripts; produced and directed plays; researched and developed funding sources.
1979-1982	Bread and Puppet Theater  Participant in workshops culminating in performances of The End of the World Pageant, NYC, June, 1982; Swords and Ploughshares, Hartford, CT, May, 1981; and Wolkenstein, Hartford, CT, September, 1979
1977	Plumcake Players, Hartford, CT  Director/Actor  Directed and acted in children's theater productions which toured throughout Connecticut.
1975-1982	Hartford Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, Hartford, CT  Chairperson, Board of Directors  Established non-profit organization to lend financial and organizational support to performance and arts related activities in the Greater Hartford area; produced lectures and concerts; coordinated a performance of the York Cycle Mystery Plays by five community theaters; sponsered the Protean Theater.
1969	Off Centre Theater, New York, NY  Actor/Musician  Acted and played music for children's theater which toured parks and community centers in NYC

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE (SELECTED)

2005- Present	Quinnipiac Univertsity, Hamden CT  Adjunct Faculty  Teach course: "Introduction to Theater "
2000, 1993, 1994	Fairfield Univertsity, Fairfield CT  Guest Artist, Adjunct Faculty  Directed plays, co-taught course: "The Art of Puppetry "
1997-1999	Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY  Assistant Professor of Theater  Taught beginning and advanced acting courses, dramatic lierature, directed plays, produced and mentored student productions
1995	Educational Center for the Arts/ACES, New Haven, CT  Guest Artist  Taught theater class and directed "City-Play" about New Haven at arts high school.    Trinity College, Hartford CT  Guest Artist/Lecturer  Taught seminar: "History as Theater" and directed "City-Play" about Hartford
1987-1994	Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY  Assistant Professor of Theater  Developed and implemented a theater program for a small liberal arts college. Taught courses in acting, directing, text analysis, theater history and dramatic literature; oversaw independent student projects; directed plays.

PROFESSIONAL DIRECTING CREDITS (SELECTED)

2005	Master Peter's Puppet Show by Manuel de Falla; Puppetsweat, Wesleyan University at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, with Post-Classical Ensemble at Kennedy Center, Washington DC Pine Eyes by Martin Bresnick; Puppetsweat, Zeitgeist; Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, MN Don Quixote adapted by Bert Garskof; National Theater, U,S. tour
2004	The Odd Couple (female version) by Neil Simon; Bethany Playhouse, Bethany, CT The Man Who Came to Dinner by Kaufmann and Hart; Orange Players; Orange, CT
2003	Revealing the Mysteries of Math; National Theater of the Performing Arts, U.S. tour Flight by Allan Appel; New England Actors' Theatre (reading); New Haven, CT
2002	The Story of Anne Frank by Bert Garskof; National Theater of the Performing Arts, U.S. tour The Life of James Mars; Puppetsweat; Russell Library, Middletown, CT, through-out New England (to 2005)
2001	Generator Girl by Susan Bishop and John Anderson; American Renegade Theater, North Hollywood, CA For the Sexes: The Gates of Paradise by William Blake/Martin Bresnick; Puppetsweat; Miller Theatre, NY, NY, world-wide (to present)
2000	Buttons and Bows by Jill Cutler; Puppetsweat; Fifth Annual Toy Theater Festival; HERE Center for the Arts, NY, NY Three Tales by Poe/Der Signàl; Puppetsweat; Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater; La MaMa ETC, NY, NY
1999, 1998	The Tell-Tale Heart:Three Tales by Poe; Puppetsweat; ECA, Weslyean University, Foreman Series, Oneonta, NY MS Found in a Bottle adapted from Poe; Puppetsweat, National Puppetry Conference, Eugene O'Neill Center, Waterford, CT; PS 122, International Festival of Puppet Theater, NY, NY
1997	The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum; New England Actors' Theatre, New Haven, CT
1996	Appetite adapted from the Grimm Brothers; Puppetsweat, Third Annual Toy Theater Festival, NY, NY Der Signál by Vsevelod Gorshen; Puppetsweat, PS 122, International Festival of Puppet Theater
1995	Syneocism by Robert Bresnick, Der Signál by V Gorshen; Puppetsweat, Theater for the New City, NY, NY
1993	I Have Often Dreamed... by Patricia Cobey; Tribeca Film Center, New York, NY
1992	Felicia by Patricia Cobey; Theater for the New City
1990	Der Signál by Vsevelod Gorshen; New Music New Haven, New Haven, CT The Task by Heiner Müller; Blue Heron Theater, NY, NY
1989	Act Without Words II by Samuel Beckett; M'ville/Leningrad Exchange; Leningrad; USSR
1987	See How They Run by Philip King; Mark Twain Masquers, West Hartford, CT
1986	Out at Sea by Slawomir Mrozek; Company One, Hartford, CT
1982	The Housing Show by Robert Bresnick; Protean Theater, Hartford, CT
1980	Man Is Man by Bertolt Brecht; Protean Theater Biedermann and the Firebugs by Max Frisch; Protean Theater
1979	The Autobiography of Mother Jones by Joel Schechter; Protean Theater Kaspar by Peter Handke; Protean Theater
1978	The Elephant Calf and The Exception and the Rule by Bertolt Brecht; Protean Theater Approaching Simone by Megan Terry; Protean Theater
1976	At the Hawk's Well by W.B. Yeats; Asylum Hill Artists' Cooperative, Hartford, CT

DRAMATURGY CREDITS

1992	Morphine by Ana Maria Simo; INTAR, New York, NY
1990	Spies R Us by Jennifer Miller; Circus Amok; Dramaturg, Con(sulting) Artist; PS 122, NY, NY
1988	Thick Dick by Ronald Tavel; Dramaturg, Assistant Director; Theater for the New City, NY, NY

ACADEMIC DIRECTING CREDITS (SELECTED)

2005	The Marvellous Puppet Show by Miguel Cervantes; Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
2000	House of Blue Leaves by John Guare; Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT
1999	How Mr Mockenpott Was Cured of His Suffering by Peter Weiss; Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY
1997	Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill; Hartwick College, Oneonta
1996	City-Play: New Haven, by Robert Bresnick; Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven, CT
1995	City-Play: Hartford, by Robert Bresnick; Trinity College, Hartford, CT
1994	Sincerity Forever by Mac Wellman; Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY Krapp's Last Tape by Samuel Beckett; Manhattanville College
1993	cityScape by Robert Bresnick; Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT The Open Couple and A Woman Alone by Franca Rame and Dario Fo; Manhattanville College The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht; Manhattanville College
1992	Our Town by Thornton Wilder; Manhattanville College
1991	The Lesson by Eugène Ionesco; Manhattanville College A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare; Manhattanville College
1990	Dark Ride by Len Jenkins; Manhattanville College
1989	The Imaginary Invalid by Molière; Manhattanville College Not I and Footfalls by Samuel Beckett; Manhattanville College
1988	The Complete Aristophanes by Joel Schechter, Robert Bresnick; Manhattanville College
1987	Endgame by Samuel Beckett; University of Hartford, West Hartford, CT
1986	Top Girls by Caryl Churchill; University of Hartford
1985	The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder; University of Hartford Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley; Purdue Indiana Theater (PIT), Ft. Wayne, IN Ceremonies in Dark Old Men by Lonne Elder III; PIT
1984	Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht; PIT The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare; PIT The Maids by Jean Genet; PIT
1983	The Miser by Molière; PIT