Wendy C. Goldberg (born 1973) is an American theatre director and the current

Artistic Director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

of the National Playwrights Conference at The

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company founded in 1964 by George C. White. It is commonly referred to as The O'Neill. The center has received two Tony Awards, the 1979 Special Awa ...

. Under Goldberg's tenure, The O'Neill was awarded the 2010

Regional Theatre Tony Award The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics. Background Initially presented in 1948 to Robert Por ...

, the first play development and education organization to receive this honor. Goldberg is the first woman to run the Playwrights Conference and was named Artistic Director when she was just 31 years old.

Life and career

Goldberg was born in Michigan and her mother was a middle-school English teacher. She spent her youth training to be a professional tennis player, but her athletic career was cut short when she contracted

lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

in 1989, the summer before her junior year in high school. Though Goldberg still managed to win the state championship that year, she decided to skip tennis camp the following summer, and went instead to an acting conservatory. The experience of the program changed her career focus, and when she went off to the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

after graduation, she chose to study theatre and comparative literature. After earning a BA, with honors, Goldberg continued her theatre education at the

UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television (UCLA TFT), is one of the 12 schools within the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) located in Los Angeles, California. Its creation was groundbreaking in that it was the first time a leadi ...

where she completed an MFA in Directing in 1998. After receiving her degree, Goldberg served for five seasons as Artistic Associate at

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

in Washington, D. C., where her directing credits include ''

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? ''The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?'' is a full-length play written in 2000 by Edward Albee which opened on Broadway in 2002. It won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and was a finalist for the 2003 Pu ...

'', '' Proof'', ''Book of Days'', and ''On the Jump''. She led "Downstairs in the Old Vat Room," Arena's artistic initiative dedicated to the development of new American plays, since its inception. Other than the theater's founder,

Zelda Fichandler Zelda Fichandler (née Diamond; September 18, 1924 – July 29, 2016) was an American stage producer, director and educator. Life and career Zelda Fichandler came from a family that emigrated from Russia when she was an infant. Her father, Harry ...

, she is the youngest associate to have directed for the company in its 50-year history, making her main stage debut at the age of 26 with the company's revival of K2 in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary. Goldberg has also directed in various new play development programs across the country, including work with New York Stage and Film, New Dramatists, The Women's Project, Arielle Tepper Productions, Hartford Stage, The

Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...

Portland Center Stage Portland Center Stage at The Armory is a theater company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Theater productions are presented at The Armory in Portland's Pearl District. Portland Center Stage at The Armory was founded in 1988 as the nort ...

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is a non-profit theatre company located at 641 D Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1980, it produces new plays which it believes to be edgy, challenging, and thought-provoking. ...

, Ojai Playwrights Conference, the

Oregon Shakespeare Festival The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary pla ...

and over 30 readings and workshops for

. At The O'Neill, Goldberg has developed more than forty projects for the stage and many have gone on to great acclaim in New York and around the country. Included in that group is the 2010

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

Winner (

Julia Cho Julia Cho (born July 5, 1975) is an American playwright and television writer. In March 2020 she was awarded the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize. Select full length plays ''99 Histories'' (2002) ''99 Histories'' is a drama portraying the ...

's ''The Language Archive''), two American Theatre Critics Association Citation Award Winning Plays (

Lee Blessing Lee Knowlton Blessing (born October 4, 1949) is an American playwright best known for his 1988 work, '' A Walk in the Woods''. A lifelong Midwesterner, Blessing continued to work in regional theaters in and around his hometown of Minneapolis thro ...

's ''Great Falls'' and Deborah Zoe Laufer's ''End Days'') and 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama (

Lynn Nottage Lynn Nottage (born November 2, 1964) is an American playwright whose work often focuses on the experience of working-class people, particularly working-class people who are Black. She has received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice: in 2009 for he ...

's ''

Ruined Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

''), written in part during Lynn's residency at the O'Neill in the summer of 2006. In the 2007-2008 season, nine projects developed during Goldberg's tenure saw their world premieres at theaters across the country. Other critically acclaimed work developed at the O'Neill during Goldberg's tenure includes

Adam Bock Adam Bock (born November 4, 1961) is a Canadian playwright currently living in the United States. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the fall of 1984, Bock studied at the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. ...

's ''The Receptionist'',

Rebecca Gilman Rebecca Gilman (born 1965 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American playwright. Education She attended Middlebury College, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College, and earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop at the Univ ...

's ''The Crown You're in With'', Jason Grote's 1001 and Julia Cho's ''Durango''. Goldberg is also the Creative Advisor for the Tony nominated ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

'' on Broadway. Her recent directing credits include Rebecca Gilman's ''Dollhouse'' (

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...

), ''The Crown You're in With'' (

Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

), the world premiere of ''Deathbed'' (McGinn/Cazale-NYC), ''

Master Class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

'' (

Paper Mill Playhouse Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater with approximately 1200 seats, located in Millburn, New Jersey on the Rahway River. Due to its relatively close location to Manhattan, it draws from the pool of actors (and audience members) who live in ...

), ''Durango'' (

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park is a regional theatre in the United States. It was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play that pr ...

DOUBT Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to be certain of any of them. Doubt on an emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. It may involve uncertainty, ...

(co-production with

and Actors Theater of Louisville), ''Third'', ''The Sweetest Swing in Baseball'', '' The Clean House'', ''Living Out'' (Denver Center), the world premiere of ''False Creeds'' (

Alliance Theater The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in Atlanta, Georgia, based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, and is the winner of the 2007 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal T ...

), ''The Chosen'' (Actors Theater of Louisville), and the world premiere of ''A Marriage Minuet'' (Florida Stage). ''

American Theatre Magazine Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

'' hailed Wendy as "one of the country's most promising theater artists working today." Goldberg sits on the Executive Board of the

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), formerly known as Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC), is an independent national labor union established in 1959, representing theatrical directors and choreographer ...

. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Wendy C. American theatre directors American women theatre directors Living people 1973 births University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni UCLA Film School alumni People from Brooklyn