HAIR COLOR: Black; graying temples
VOCAL RANGE: (IF ANY): Tenor
UNION AFFILIATION (IF ANY): None
BIOGRAPHY:
Eric Parness is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Westfield State University and a theatre artist who performs, directs, writes, and teaches. His creative work and research focus on the intersection of the past and present, through explorations of how classic plays, performance styles, and directing techniques can applied to creating vibrant, relevant theatre for today. He is Artistic Director of Resonance Ensemble, a New York based theatre company, through which he has directed plays inspired by Sophocles, Shakespeare, Maxim Gorky, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, Karel Čapek, Samuel Beckett, and others. His directing work has also been featured on the mainstages of numerous other theatre companies, including Oberon Theatre Ensemble, IATI Theatre, Rising Sun Performance Company, and Boomerang Theatre Company. Favorite recent performance credits include Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Carl Scheffield in The Glory of Living, and his award-nominated portrayal of Grandhomme in the world premiere of Éléphant. He is a Level 1 certified teacher of the Margolis Method Acting Technique, and has completed both levels of the Uta Hagen Teacher Training program, and has previously taught or directed college students at Brooklyn College, Marist College, Marymount Manhattan, and Dean College.
EDUCATION / TRAINING:
EDUCATION
May 2014 M.F.A. Theater Directing (Dean’s List). Department of Theater. Brooklyn College (City University of New York), Brooklyn, NY.
May 1998 B.A. English and American Literature (minor in Theatre Arts), Brandeis University, Waltham, MA.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
Sep. 2021 Margolis Method Virtual Certification for Theatre Educators (Level 1). Margolis Method Center Int’l, Online/Streaming.
Feb. 2021 The Art of Transformation (Michael Chekhov Technique). HB Studio, Online/Streaming.
Jul. 2020 Margolis Method Virtual Intensive for Theatre Educators. Margolis Method Center Int’l, Online/Streaming.
Jul. 2020 Acting with the Camera. HB Studio, Online/Streaming.
Jul. 2019 Devised Theatre / Moment Work. HB Studio, New York, NY.
Aug. 2018 Hagen Teacher Training (Part 2). HB Studio, New York, NY.
Jun. 2017 Embodied Performance. Hess Collective, New York, NY.
Feb. 2017 Tools for Heightened Text. HB Studio, New York, NY.
Aug. 2016 Hagen Teacher Training (Part 1). HB Studio, New York, NY.
Jun. 2014 The Ensemble Director. Movement Theater Studio, Brooklyn, NY.
Jun. 2010 Filmmaking for Theatre Directors. Elizabeth Lucas, Instructor, New York, NY.
Jan. 2003 Directing a New American Theatre. SDCF Directing Symposium, New York, NY.
Aug. 2002 Directors Lab. Lincoln Center Theater, New York, NY.
Aug. 2001 Summer Conference. Ensemble Studio Theatre, Lexington, NY.
Jan. 2001 Directing Shakespeare. SDCF Directing Symposium, New York, NY.
SPECIAL SKILLS:
Extensive directing, producing, and teaching (college level) experience, good ear for dialects (have performed standard British RP, Cockney, Alabama, and French), can carry a tune (baritone/tenor), moves well, can grow full beard in two weeks, great with kids and animals.