Adrienne Macki

Assistant Professor, Theatre History, Literature, and Criticism, Head of Theatre Studies

Dr. Adrienne Macki, Assistant Professor Theatre History/Criticism/Literature and Faculty Affiliate in the Institute for African American Studies, specializes in black drama & performance, early 20th century American drama, and gender and performance. Other interests include 19th century American drama, theatre for young audiences, theatre education, dramaturgy, and the plays of G.B. Shaw, dramaturgy.

Dr. Macki’s work has been published in Theatre Survey, Theatre Symposium, Theatre Journal, New England Theatre Journal, Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Theatre History Studies, Puppetry International, and the Encyclopedia of Ethnic American Literature. Chapters and articles include: “African American Women Dramatists, 1930-1960” (forthcoming in the Cambridge Guide to African American Theatre); “Fashioning Herself a Lady: Anna Cora Mowatt’s Career” (forthcoming); “Bearing Witness: The Noose as an Iconic Prop in African American Theatre” (2010); “(Re)constructing Community and Identity: Harlem Experimental Theatre and Social Protest” (2008); “Talking B(l)ack: Construction of Gender and Race in the Plays of Eulalie Spence” (2007); “Challenging Gendered Spaces: Anna Cora Mowatt’s Courageous Oratory” (2006); “Along the Parade Route: Gender and Race Relations, Industry and Popular Justice” (2004).

Recent creative work includes mentoring student dramaturgs for the Connecticut Repertory Theatre, producing a staged reading of a new play in collaboration with the Lark Play Development Center (NY), directing Gao Xingjian’s The Other Shore in Boston, and directing a staged reading of Carlton and Barbara Molette’s Fortunes of the Moor. Past credits include acting, directing, dramaturgy, and consulting on other regional theater and film projects.

Dr. Macki has won fellowships from the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute, the American Association of University Women, the American Society for Theatre Research, and the Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans. She has received grants and awards from the International Shaw Society and the Black Theatre Network. She is the recipient of Provost’s General Education Course Enhancement Grant Competition Award (2010) and the New Scholar Award in the School of Fine Arts (2010).

Currently, Dr. Macki is completing her book manuscript, Staging Ground: Harlem’s Theatres, Identity, and Community, 1925-1948, and has begun research for her next book project, Enacted Violence: Materiality, Cultural Memory, and African American Performance. She serves on the editorial board of New England Theatre Journal, is a board member of the American Theatre and Drama Society, and former board member of the Black Theatre Network. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Connecticut, Dr. Macki taught at Boston College, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and Eastern Nazarene College, consulted independently as a public speaking coach, and worked in educational outreach for North Shore Music Theatre.

Dr. Macki holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University, a M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College, and a B.A. from Middlebury College.