Erin B. Mee

• Comment: It's a start but we would need all additional significant reviews in significant publications to enhance the chances. SwisterTwister talk 18:21, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

• Comment: If not accepted, this article should be deleted because the author is gone. » Shadowowl Marcos Rodriguez | t | SPI | AIV | Sandbox | Helpdesk » 18:20, 28 July 2017 (UTC)

• Comment: Most likely notable. Onel5969 ^{TT me} 19:32, 14 December 2016 (UTC)

• Comment: Remove external links from body of article. Remove redlinks. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:52, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

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Erin B. Mee

Early Life and Career:

Born in 1963, the daughter of playwright Charles L Mee, Mee grew up in New York City. She earned her A.B. degree from Harvard University in 1985, and went on to earn an MA and a Ph.D. from NYU’s Department of Performance Studies, where she worked with Richard Schechner. She currently teaches Dramatic Literature at New York University.

Her first job after graduating from college was as a Literary Intern at the American Repertory Theatre. She then went on to serve as Des McAnuff’s assistant at the La Jolla Playhouse, and was Resident Director at the Guthrie Theater from 1989 – 1991, when Garland Wright was artistic director.

Directing Career:

In 1988 Mee directed the world premiere of Charles Mee's The Imperialists at the Club Cave Canem at HOME for Contemporary Theatre and Art, which received rave reviews from the Village Voice and The New York Times, and was picked up by Joseph Papp for a run at The Public Theatre. In 2000 Erin B. Mee staged another production of The Imperialists at the Club Cave Canem at The Market Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

She directed two productions in Malayalam with Sopanam, one of India’s most important theatre companies, located in Kerala, South India: Faust (1993) and Arambachekkan (1996), both by Kavalam Narayana Panikkar. She directed Kavalam Narayana Panikkar’s play Ottayan at The Ontological at St. Mark’s Theatre in 1992, and Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana at The Ontological at St. Mark’s Theatre in 1993.

In 2001 Erin B. Mee staged the world premiere of First Love with Ruth Maleczech and Fred Neumann of Mabou Mines, at New York Theatre Workshop. She staged a second production in 2002 at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco with Joan Mankin and Robert Parnell.

In 2013 Mee founded This Is Not A Theatre Company. She conceived and directed Pool Play, A Serious Banquet, Readymade Cabaret, and Versailles 2015. Her interest in podplays has led to the creation of Ferry Play, a site-specific audio play for the Staten Island Ferry, Avignon, a podplay for a café in Avignon LeOff, and a podplay for the New York City subway system.

The New York Times included Ferry Play in their list of top ten NY Fringe shows for 2015, and The Wall Street Journal noted that Ferry Play turns the Staten Island Ferry into an immersive theatre experience.

In Pool Play." Audiences sat at the edge of the pool with their feet in the water for an exploration of America’s long, joyful, and complicated relationship with the swimming pool that included synchronized swimming, an existential boatman, musical numbers, and a snarky fish along with stories about segregated pools, and a meditation on pollution. Sarah Lucie of Show Business Weekly said: “The entirety of the play is well executed, featuring a strong ensemble that has absolutely no fear of diving into whatever quirky material is presented to them. Their playfulness is contagious, ultimately creating an uplifting theatrical experience that leaves the audience joyous and refreshed—and maybe a little wet. Pool Play, while undeniably light-hearted, manages to communicate some profound and political themes to those who choose to pay attention.” Theatre is Easy wrote: "Pool Play...is definitely worth the trip...The entire ensemble showed moments of skill, wit, and brevity far beyond their years. Erin B. Mee does a superb job directing this young group of artists to create a cohesive look at our fascination with the water, entertaining and engaging the audience along the way."

Versailles 2015 is a site-specific play for an NYC apartment. New York Theatre Review noted that "Versailles 2015 is over far too quickly. It is an hors d'oeuvre plate of scenes that collectively...have a message about elitism and the vanity of apathy...Brief and poignant, Versailles 2015 will linger in your mind long after you see it." Courtney Escoyne of Thoughts from a Ballet Nerd wrote: “Versailles 2015 is a meditation upon privilege…It blurred the lines between audience and performer, ignored entirely the idea of a fourth wall, and managed to fit in some wonderfully crafted dialogue.” Finally, Stephen Kaplan of Theatre Is Easy called it: "Delightful and provocative"

Books:

• 'Theatre of Roots: Redirecting the Modern Indian Stage
• DramaContemporary: India (edited)
• Antigone on the Contemporary World Stage (co-edited with Helene Foley)
• Modern Asian Theatre and Performance (1900-2000) (co-edited with Kevin Wetmore and Siyuan Siu)

Selected Articles:

• 2015 “The Neuroscience of Spectatorship.” In Reti, Saperi, Linguaggi: Italian Journal of Cognitive Sciences.
• 2015 “Charles Mee’s (Re)Making of Greek Drama,” In The Oxford Handbook of Greek Drama in the Americas. Bosher, MacIntosh, McConell, and Rankine, eds.
• 2015 “Smartphone Plays: A New Theatrical Genre.” HowlRound. May. http://howlround.com/smartphone-plays-a-new-theatrical-genre
• 2015 “Immersive and Interactive Theatre: A Rasic Experience.” HowlRound. March. http://howlround.com/immersive-and-interactive-performance-a-rasic-experience
• 2015 “The Audience Is The Message.” TCG’s Audience (Re)volution blog series curated by Caridad Svitch. July.
• 2015 “Diverse Audiences for Smartphone Plays.” TCG’s Audience (Re)volution blog series curated by Caridad Svitch. http://www.tcgcircle.org/2015/04/diverse-audiences-for-smartphone-plays/
• 2015 “Speaking A Thought in the World II: Garland Wright on Richard III.” Co-Written with Sari Ketter. SDC. July.
• 2015 “Speaking A Thought in the World I: Garland Wright on The Misanthrope.” Co-Written with Sari Ketter. SDC. April.
• 2014 “Rasa Is/As/And Emotional Contagion” In Natyasastra: Aesthetics, Epistemology & Performance Practice, edited by Sreenath Nair. McFarland Press.
• 2014 “Standing Man and the Impromptu Performance of Hope” TDR 58:3 (223). Fall.
• 2013 “Hearing the ‘Music of the Hemispheres,’” a born-digital multimodal composition-article about “neuroperformance” for TDR 57:3, T219. Fall.
• 2013 “Women Directors in India.” In International Women Stage Directors, edited by Anne Fliotsos and Wendy Vierow.
• 2012 “The Cultural Intifada: Palestinian Theatre in the West Bank.” TDR 56:3 (T215). Fall 2012.
• 2010 “But is it Theatre? Colonial Culture‘s Impact on Theatrical History in India.” In Theatre History: Critical Questions, edited by Henry Bial and Scott Magelssen. University of Michigan Press.
• 2010 “Classics, Cultural Politics, and the Role of Antigone in Manipur, NE India.” In India, Greece, and Rome 1757-2007 edited by Edith Hall and Phiroze Vasunia. London: Institute of Classical Studies, University of London.
• 2007 “Mahesh Dattani: Invisible Issues.” In Mahesh Dattani’s Plays: Critical Perspectives, ed. Angelie Multani. New Delhi: Pencraft International.
• 2005 “Hayavadana: Model of Complexity.” In Girish Karnad’s Plays: Performance and Critical Perspectives, ed. Tutun Mukherjee. New Delhi: Pencraft International.
• 2002 “Mee on Mee.” TDR 48,3 (T175).

Selected Lectures Available Online:

"The Intricacies of Kutiyattam," Lecture at The Asia Society, New York City. http://asiasociety.org/video/erin-mee-intricacies-kutiyattam