/Bio

Dara Weinberg, (put an “@” between daraweinberg and gmail.com) formerly of Los Angeles, currently based in Baltimore, is a writer and director who specializes in the poetic & theatrical interpretation of the chorus.

In 2009, she relocated to Baltimore to begin a poetry MFA at the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, from which she will graduate in 2011.

Also in 09, she studied playwriting at Chicago Dramatists, and attended and blogged from the US Artists Initiative conference in Wroclaw, Poland. In 2008, she directed two readings of her own adaptation from Greek drama, entitled 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE CHORUS, in Indianapolis and Los Angeles. She also directed a one-night Poetic Salon of Ron Allen’s short play, X RESTRUNG CORTEX, at Theatre of Note, and a workshop on all the choruses in LYSISTRATA for high school students.

Other directing credits include THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, an improvised dance play based on William Blake’s poetry, at the Met Theatre Company, and A VAST WRECK and BRANDOHEAD at Theatre of NOTE, where she is an associate member.

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She co-founded the Indy Convergence (www.indyconvergence.com), an annual conference of experimental artists, held each February in Indianapolis, with Robert Negron and Caitlin Swihart, in 2007.

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From March 2007-April 2008, she assistant directed six plays: MY WANDERING BOY (dir. Bill Rauch) at South Coast Rep, ROMEO AND JULIET (dir. Bill Rauch) and TARTUFFE (dir. Peter Amster) at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, GOLDA’S BALCONY at TheatreWorks (dir. Aaron Davidman), LYDIA at the Denver Center (dir. Juliette Carrillo), and SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION at Portland Center Stage (dir. Aaron Posner).

She directed and choreographed the premiere of Helma Fries’s anti-war play HUMAN BOMBING for the Berliner Compagnie, a political theater ensemble in Kreuzberg. The production toured Germany from 2003 to 2007. She holds a BA from Stanford University.


REVIEW QUOTES:

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On A Vast Wreck (2006):

” In a production reminiscent of early Actors Gang efforts, director Weinberg directs a heavily made-up and garishly attired ensemble to tumble and cartwheel through a noisy, acrobatic interpretation that’s heavy on pantomimed sex and out-loud thinking. The strength of Weinberg’s production lies in the energy of her ensemble and Chow’s simple but effective costuming, Closs-Farley’s gargoylish makeup and Jenkins’ haunted-house light plot. -” Steven Mikulan, LA Weekly

“Dara Weinberg’s direction, which practically choreographs it [AVW], reinforces Theatre of Note’s reputation as an exciting cutting-edge house.” – Laura Hitchcock, CurtainUp Los Angeles

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On Brandohead (2006):
“The epically opaque “Brandohead” is one for the surrealist books…merging scabrous absurdity, Mayan myth, industry satire and a giant cranium of the ultimate Method actor…Robert Wilson was never like this.” – David C. Nichols, Los Angeles Times

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On The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell (2007):
“Blake’s hell is a land of forbidden pleasures, an antithesis to heaven’s stoic morality: Both are on the stage, melding into each other…” – Steven Leigh Morris, LA Weekly

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22 Responses to “/Bio”

  1. neiman Says:

    ilovedara

  2. Andres Says:

    Dara, you kick butt. Just wanted to say hi and that well, you kick butt.

  3. Phil Says:

    I hadn’t read your words before. I can hear you speaking, it’s nice since you’re so far away. You write well, very well.

    Phillip

  4. Phil Says:

    Ah dear Dara, luck, to quote Mae West, had nothing to do with it. You earned that job by dint of hard and smart work, over several years, for people who were bright enough to recognize your talent and wise enough to utilize you to aid them to do their jobs better and more easily. Give yourself the credit you deserve. You didn’t get the job because you wear Manolo Blahnik shoes or carry a Louis Vuitton handbag. It’s not because you car pooled with Steven Speilberg’s kids. You’re very good at what you do, period.

    The Nubian Prince

  5. weinberg Says:

    Thanks, Phil, Andres, Neiman. I’m all of your biggest fans too. Colorado sends you love.

    And Phil, I do think luck has something to do with it, because – well, I may have worked hard, I have, but some of this is all just too good to be true.
    Just my opinion.

    My teacher used to say that the best actor in the world is doing dinner theater in Kansas somewhere. So I try not to let the fact that I have jobs that I like indicate to me that I necessarily deserve them. Do you know what I mean? It’s one thing to know you can do it, but there’s always someone else who can, too. So there is luck. And I have been lucky.

    I want to keep that in mind.

  6. Phil Says:

    While I see your point? I am of the opinion that as Louis Pasteur so aptly pointed out, “Luck favors the mind that is prepared.” And it’s not too good to be true. It IS true. I love being pompous AND right. :-)

    One more thing? You have been traveling too much, Dara. Today is the 8th not the 9th. ~winks~ Sunday is the 9th.

    That is all

    Phillip

  7. weinberg Says:

    You’re right, and yes, you’re pompous :)
    And I think the clock in my computer, or WordPress, is messed up – I don’t set the dates. But I’ll fix it.

  8. Phil Says:

    Guess what? Guess what? we had a full house last night! I couldn’t watch the show so a PAYING audience member could have a seat! I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it! I’m about to lose control and I, sorry, I got carried away there. Ron came too and liked it a lot. ;-)

    K, bye

    Phil

  9. Phil Says:

    Yikes! You are getting your share of snow, aren’t you? Stay warm, dear

    Phil

  10. Phil Says:

    Hey Dara, I had breakfast with Ron today. He’s well and spoke highly of you. Here’s a URL for a blog I read this morning. Let me know what you think?

  11. O Solis Says:

    Oh Dara, kind, sweet, talented Dara! We hardly knew ye!

    We had fantastic previews, a superb opening, and the show rolls along gathering steam! And I owe much of it to you! You were just the right addition to our process, bringing a tireless sense of service and wisdom to Juliette and myself. I don’t think I even understood just how deep your contribution was to Lydia until you left. And we sorely missed you. Thank you for your awesome work, your patience with this numbskull playwright, and your keen heart in our warmest hours.

    Forgive me if I ever took you for granted or condescended to you. I just never realized the extent of your engagement and service. Formidable and unforgettable.

    Now I am back in SF rehearsing the next one- no time to savor the afterglow of success- and staying up late again making revisions. And I find myself thinking… what would Dara do? That may be the mantra of ‘08.

    Dara, tell me, are you on a Mac or pc? Do you have i-Tunes? Where in heavens name are you now?

    sending you love from the City of Love,

    O.

  12. Tic Tac Says:

    This is my partner in crime. Our crime spree is on a hiatus. We don’t steal no money. We rob people of a couple hours of their time.
    I don’t exaggerate. I am not gonna claim that I would kill for Dara. But I would kick your fucking ass for her.

  13. weinberg Says:

    I love you, Octavio. I find myself thinking “What would Octavio do?” quite often. Especially with this Antioch college strike project. Remind me to tell you more about it – it’s fascinating.

  14. weinberg Says:

    We rob them of their time…and we give it to the poor of King Richard’s England. Miss you, Terry T.

  15. Jessica Says:

    Dude. I found you! (This is Jessica Fisher, now Jessica Zeckel, who you used to hang out with in middle school!) I have been searching Facebook for you and couldn’t find you so I decided to google you, and look what the first link was! The other day I pulled a long-forgotten jacket out of storage and stuck my hand in the secret inner pocket only to find my ticket stub from going to see Lysistrata at Harvard Westlake. I’m so glad I found your blog, it’s great to see what you’ve been up to for the past, oh, ten years or so . . .

  16. weinberg Says:

    Hi Jessica! It’s so awesome that you found me! Sorry I’m not on Facebook, I find it oddly terrifying. So good to hear from you! I emailed you…please let me know what’s going on with you? I think it’s fantastic that you still have a LYSISTRATA ticket stub. That play never stops having power in my life.

  17. Bradley Spann Says:

    Dara: you are a rock star. It is great to read about what you are doing. Keep in touch.

    Namaste,

    Bradley

  18. Phil Says:

    Posted @ 6:30AM Thursday November 27th 2008, Thanksgiving day

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Dara Weinberg!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ILY

    Phil

  19. weinberg Says:

    thank you phillip. ily 2.

  20. simplycara Says:

    waves hello ~~
    cara

  21. Lisa Concoff Says:

    Hey! Looks like I wasn’t the first one to wonder what you were up to! I like your blog. Hope all is well with you!
    ~Lisa (also from middle school… and possibly elementary school, now that I think about it…)

  22. Alice Says:

    p.s. did i mention that you.are.wonderful?


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