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Resume

JACOB JUNTUNEN

EDUCATION:

In-Progress            Ohio University, MFA Professional Playwriting Program

Advisor: Charles Smith

2007            Northwestern University, Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Program in Theatre and Drama: Profitable Dissents: The Mainstream Theatre of Larry Kramer and Tony Kushner as a Negotiating Force Between Emergent and Dominant Ideologies

Dissertation Committee: Tracy C. Davis (chair), Jennifer Devere Brody, Craig Kinzer

2004                        Northwestern University, M.A. in Theatre

1999                        Reed College, B.A. in English

Thesis: Skism: A Play in Two Acts with a Critical Introduction

Advisors: Roger Porter, Lisa Steinman

1996                        Clackamas Community College, A.A., Oregon Transfer Degree

Awarded phi theta kappa and President’s Honors

PUBLICATIONS:

“Presenting Death: Uncanny Performing Objects in Taduesz Kantor’s Dead Class.” Puppetry International. #31 Spring/Summer 2012 (peer review)

“’We Represent the Polish People’: The Western Press’ Portrayal of Tadeusz Kantor’s Cricot 2 Performances at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.” Polish-AngloSaxon Studies. 2011.

Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train and Under America: How Mainstream Reviews Represent the Guilty and Obscure the Economics of the U.S. Prison Industry.” To Have or Have Not: New Essays on Commerce and Capital in Modernist Theatre. Ed. James Fisher. McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina and London. 2011.

“Review: Theatre Oobleck’s An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening.” Theatre Journal. 62:2 (May 2010).

“Mainstream Theatre, Mass Media, and the 1985 Premiere of The Normal Heart: Negotiating Forces Between Emergent and Dominant Ideologies.” “We Will Be Citizens”: New Essays on Gay and Lesbian Theatre. Ed. James Fisher. McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina and London. 2008. 7-32.

“Repairing Reality: The Media and Homebody/Kabul in New York, 2001” Tony Kushner: New Essays on the Art and Politics of the Plays. Ed. James Fisher. McFarland: Jefferson, North Carolina and London. 2006. 172-189.

“Infamous Commonwealth Theatre’s Weblog for The Kentucky Cycle.LMDA Review. 15:2 (Spring/Summer 2005): 5.

“The International Istanbul Theatre Festival”

A review published in Tiyatroda.com, Turkey’s online performance journal. (2000)

Forthcoming:

“Review: Taduesz Kantor: Routledge Performance Practitioner Series.” Theatre Journal.

“Pain Overflowing Boundaries: Magical Realism in Contemporary US Drama.” Eyes Deep With Unfathonable Histories: The Poetics and Politics of Magic Realism Today and In the Past. Adam Mickiewicz University Press: Poznań. (peer review)

AWARDS AND HONORS:

2012            Understanding: Semi-Finalist in the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival 10-Minute Play Category

2012            Understanding: Winner of the Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival 10-Minute Play Category

2012            1, 2, 3: Finalist in the Region II Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival 10-Minute Play Category

2011            Fulbright Award: Faculty Fellowship, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

2011            Chicago Storefront Theatre use in Fall 2011; Department of Cultural Affairs; Spearheaded Mortar Theatre Company’s successful application

2010            Community Arts Assistant Program (CAAP) grant; City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council

2010            Arthur Kopit Master Class, Chicago Dramatists

2010            Senior Network Playwright, Chicago Dramatists

2009            Sundance 2010 Screenwriters Lab Finalist for After the Funeral

2009            Awarded Membership on the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee

2008            Christopher Brian Wolk Playwriting Award Finalist for Under America

2008                Tennessee Williams Scholarship to attend the Sewanee Writers’ Conference

2007                Driehaus Foundation Selected Under America for submission to the Sundance Institute Theatre Program Chicago Roundtable

2005-2006            Diedrich & Johnson Scholarship for Dissertation Writing

2005            Literary Managers and Dramaturgs Association Debut Panel Award (Association for Theatre in Higher Education Focus Group)

2005            Lee Blessing Scholarship to attend Timberlake Playwrights’ Colony

2005            Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, Northwestern University

2004            Graduate Research Grant from Northwestern University

2003      Northwestern University’s Agnes Nixon New Play Award

2002            Graduate Student Debut Award from the American Theatre and Drama Society (Association for Theatre in Higher Education Focus Group)

2001–02            Northwestern University Fellowship

1998      Edward Albee produced Screwscotch (an original play)

A four-month production workshop culminating in a production at Stages Repertory Theatre: Houston, Texas.

1997      Edward Albee produced Where Hebrus Wanders (an original play)

A four-month workshop culminating in a staged reading at the University of Houston

1996            Phi Theta Kappa

1996                        Clackamas Community College President’s Honors

SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS:

“War During Peacetime: Mainstream Theatre, The Media, and AIDS Drama” presented by invitation at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, May 2011

“Pain Overflowing the Boundaries: Magic Realism in U.S. Drama” presented at the Literature in English conference, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland April 2011

“’We Represent the Polish People’: The Western Media’s Portrayal of Eastern Bloc Theatre at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games” presented at the American Comparative Literature Association conference, April 2010

“’We Represent the Polish People’: The Western Press’ Portrayal of Tadeusz Kantor’s Cricot 2 Performances at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles” presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association joint conference, April 2009

“Using Travel to Represent Nation: Tectonic Theater Project’s The Laramie Project” presented at the American Comparative Literature Association Conference, April 2008

“Mainstream Theatre, Mass Media, and the 1985 Premiere of The Normal Heart: Negotiating Forces Between Emergent and Dominant Ideologies” presented at the American Comparative Literature Association, April 20, 2007

“’The Writing on the Wall’: Alienation and Activism in the 1985 Public Theatre’s Production of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart” presented at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, August 5, 2006

Respondent to Sonja Kuftinec’s paper “Collide-o-scopes: Methodologies of Performance Research in the Balkans and Jerusalem/Al Quds” at Northwestern University’s “Considering Calamity: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Methods for Performance Research”: October 1, 2005.

“The Online Egg Crack: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre’s Weblog for Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle” awarded the Literary Managers and Dramaturg’s Association debut Panel Award at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, July 29, 2005

Chair for the panel: “1800, 1910, & Now: Continuities of Time in American Theatre” for Association for Theatre in Higher Education, July 29, 2005

“Not Persuasion, Not Preaching to the Converted: The Other Political Work of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul” presented at the International Conference on American Theatre and Drama, University of Málaga, Spain: May 18-22, 2004

“Not Persuasion, Not Preaching to the Converted: The Other Political Work of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul” presented at the Globalism is/in America conference at Northwestern University: April 29, 2004

“Commodity Magic and Colonial Fantasies: Exploring Desire in Act I of Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul” awarded the Graduate Student Debut Award from the American Theatre and Drama Society focus group at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, July 28, 2002

Chair and Respondent to the panel “German Actors and Authorship in the Long Nineteenth Century” at the University of Wisconsin – Madison Department of Theatre and Drama Graduate Student Conference. University of Wisconsin -Madison, 2001

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

Adam Mickiewicz University (Faculty Fulbright Fellowship), 2011

Masters Pro-Seminar: African American Representation, Performance, and Theatre in the U.S.

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers, and held office hours for this 20+ masters seminar.

Masters Monographic Lecture: (How) Does U.S. Political Theatre Work?

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, and held office hours for this intensive 10 student lecture course.

University of Illinois at Chicago, 2005 – 2010

Theatre 109: Introduction to Theatre

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers and quizzes, and held office hours for this 60+ student course.

Theatre 209: Modern Theatre

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created assignments, graded papers and quizzes, and held office hours for this 30 student course.

Honor’s 201: Theory, Performance and Social Justice

Successfully pitched the course to UIC’s Honor’s College, designed the syllabus, led discussions, created assignments, graded papers and held office hours for this 15 person course.

The School of the Art Institute, Chicago, 2007 – 2010

First Year Seminar: Art as Criticism, Criticism as Art

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers, and held office hours for this 15 person course.

First Year Seminar II Intensive: (How) Does Political Theatre Work?

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers, and held office hours for this 15 person course designed to be an intensive—almost honors—alternative for the school-wide First Year Seminar Requirement.

First Year Seminar I: Art and Ideology

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers, and held office hours for this 15 person course designed to be an intensive—almost honors—alternative for the school-wide First Year Seminar Requirement.

First Year Seminar I: Elegiac Writing: War, Genocide, Natural Disaster

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, created  assignments, graded papers, and held office hours for this 15 person course designed to be an intensive—almost honors—alternative for the school-wide First Year Seminar Requirement.

Northwestern University, 2001 – 2007

Theatre 366: Staging the U.S. Character

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, planned and led outings to plays and to hear speakers, graded papers and held office hours for a junior/senior level course in the School of Continuing Studies for this 15 person course.

Theatre 365-2: U.S. Theatre: 20th Century Canons

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, planned and led outings to plays and to hear speakers, graded papers and held office hours for a junior/senior level course of 15 students.

Theatre 366: Theory, Performance and Social Justice

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, planned and led outings to plays and to hear speakers, graded papers and held office hours for a junior/senior level course of 15 students. One graduate student also enrolled and was under my supervision for the quarter.

Theatre 140B: U.S. Political Theatre: The Twentieth Century

Designed the syllabus, prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, planned and led outings to plays and to hear speakers, graded papers and held office hours for a required course for 15 first-year theatre majors.

TA for Theatre 140A

Prepared and delivered lectures, led discussions, planned and led outings to plays and to hear speakers, graded papers and held office hours for a required course for 30 first-year theatre majors.

TA for English 234: Shakespeare

Led two weekly discussion sections of over 60 students total, prepared extra credit assignments, graded papers and held office hours

Lake Forest College, 2004

TA for Intro to Dramaturgy

Led some class discussions, graded papers and worked closely with the instructor as part of my fellowship for Northwestern University’s Preparing Future Faculty program.

Clackamas Community College, 1994 – 1996

Completed a year-long training course and then tutored students in English and Psychology for two years.

SELECTED PRODUCTIONS OF ORIGINAL PLAYS:
Teachers: Edward Albee, Charles Smith

2012            (forthcoming) Joan’s Laughter

Produced by the side project, Chicago; directed by Cecilie Keenan.

2011            Code Name: Astrea!

Produced by Caffeine Theatre, Chicago; directed by Dan Smith.

2010            Under America

Produced by Mortar Theatre, Chicago; directed by Rachel Edwards                                                 Harvith.

2010            Saddam’s Lions

Produced by the Source Festival, Washington, D.C.; directed by Danielle Drakes

2010            Saddam’s Lions

Produced by the Thoroughbred Theatre, Midway, Kentucky; directed by Jeremy Kisling

2009            Saddam’s Lions

Produced by the Vet Arts Project, Chicago; directed by Rachel Edwards Harvith.

2008            Antigone the Dog

Produced by Caffeine Theatre, Chicago. Director: Joanie Schultz.

2008            The Uptown Trilogy, Part II: The Catholic Worker (commissioned)

Produced by Scrap Mettle SOUL, Chicago; directed by Stefan Brün

2008            Killing David Mamet

Produced by The Mill, Chicago. Director: Kit McKay.

2007            Waiting for Management

Produced by Wingspace Theatre, Ithaca, NY. Director: Nicholas J. Clarey.

2007            The Uptown Trilogy, Part I: The Inspiration Café (commissioned)

Produced by Scrap Mettle SOUL, Chicago; directed by Stefan Brün

2006            Borderlines (commissioned)

Produced by Scrap Mettle SOUL, Chicago. Directed by Stefan Brün

2006            Here Be Dragons

Produced by Vestige Group, Austin. Director: Susie Gidseg.

2004            A Kind of Surrender

Produced by Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, Chicago. Director: Laura Forbes.

2004            Waiting for Management

Produced as part of The 24 Hour Project by the Storefront Theatre and the Chicago Mayor’s Office as part of Chicago’s Winter Delights. Director: Jason Kae

2002 A Kind of Surrender

Producer: Bleu Rat Productions, Minneapolis. Director: Alisha Baines.

2001            A Kind of Surrender

Producer: The Engaged Theatre: Portland, Oregon. Director: Jesse Baldwin.

1998            Screwscotch

Producer: Edward Albee and Stages Repertory Theatre: Houston. Director: Steve Spurgat.

SELECTED STAGE DIRECTION:

Teachers: Mary Zimmerman, Frank Galati, Anna Shapiro

2009            The Woods

Produced by the Vet Arts Project and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

2006            Kantor! Kantor! (Solo!)

Produced by Experimental Theatre Chicago, Chicago.

2005            Kantor! Kantor! (a reading)

Producer: Chicago Dramatists.

2004            Lobsters and Lifers (a reading)

Producer: Chicago Dramatists.

2001            The Hospice

Produced by the Northwest Dramatists’ Guild: Portland, Oregon.

2000      Picture Rock (a reading)

Producer: Reed College English Department: Portland, Oregon.

1999      Skism (a reading)

Producer: Reed College English Department: Portland, Oregon.

SELECTED READINGS OF ORIGINAL PLAYS:

2011            Joan’s Laughter

Producer: Chicago Dramatists; Director: Cecilie Keenan

2010            One More Day

Producer: Chicago Dramatists; Director: Jeffrey Stanton

2009            Under America

Producer: The Side Project Theatre; Director: Rachel Edwards Harvith

2008            Under America

Producer: Prop Thtr and the Artisan Theatre Project; Director: Sean Kelly

2007            Under America

Producer: Gallery 400 as part of the “Captive Audience” exhibit curated by Marc Fischer; Director: Joanie Schultz

2005            Lobsters and Lifers

Producer: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre. Director: Laura Forbes.

2003            A Kind of Surrender

Agnes Nixon New Plays Festival at Northwestern University. Director: Jeremy Wechsler.

1997            Where Hebrus Wanders

Producer: Edward Albee and the University of Houston: Houston, Texas. Director: Steve Spurgat.

SELECTED DRAMATURGY:

2010            Baal

Producer: TUTA Theatre. Director: Zeljko Dukich

2009            The Man Who Was Thursday

Producer: New Leaf Theatre. Director: Jessica Hutchinson

2007            Cloud 9

Producer: Northwestern University. Director: Kit McKay

2007            Stone Cold Dead Serious

Producer: Circle Theatre. Director: Joanie Schultz.

2006            Betty’s Summer Vacation

Producer: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre. Director: Joanie Schultz.

2006            Saint Joan

Producer: Northwestern University. Director: Joanie Schultz

2005            Cloud 9

Producer: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre. Director: Genevieve Thompson.

2005            The Kentucky Cycle, Parts I and II (Joseph Jefferson Award: Best Production)

Producer: Infamous Commonwealth Theatre. Directors: Genevieve Thompson and Jason Kae.

2004            A Dybbuk

Producer: Northwestern University. Director: David Winitsky.

2004            Dealer’s Choice

Producer: Steep Theatre, Chicago. Director: G.J. Cederquist

SELECTED FILM PRODUCTIONS OF ORIGINAL SCREENPLAYS:

2011            Disowned and Dispossessed

A twenty-minute film produced by Almond Grief Productions. Director: Majel Cuza.

2009            Saddam’s Lions

A ten-minute film produced by the Vet Art Project. Director: Vance Smith.

2001            Breaking Bread

A twenty-minute film produced by 1/2 Productions and The Engaged Theatre, Portland, OR. Director: Will Brown.

SELECTED PRODUCER CREDITS:

2010            Under America, Mortar Theatre, Chicago

2010            Inherit the Whole, Mortar Theatre, Chicago

2001            Breaking Bread, (film) co-producer, 1/2 Productions and The Engaged Theatre, Portland, OR.

2001            A Kind of Surrender, The Engaged Theatre, Portland, OR.

UNDERGRADUATE ADVISING:

2009 – 2010                        Faculty Advisor for Theatre Majors, UIC

Served as the faculty advisor for seven theatre majors, advising them in course selection, post-graduate work, time-management, and all other facets of their academic life.

2009                                    Faculty Advisor and Referee to SAIC student

Served as the faculty advisor and wrote a reference letter for a first-year student at the SAIC which led to her becoming the Phyllis Mandler & Gary Elden Point Scholar, a prestigious national position which will provide financially for the rest of her undergraduate education.

2007 – 2010                        Faculty Liaison for Chicago Circle Players, UIC

Served as the mediator between UIC’s oldest, independent student group, Chicago Circle Players, and the Theatre Department negotiating both parties needs and desires and serving the students as an advisor for their independent productions both on and off UIC’s campus.

2005 – 2010                        Supervised Students in Honors College Projects, UIC

Created an assignment to fulfill the requirements of the Honors College at the University of Illinois, Chicago for students in my Theatre 109 and 209 courses. The assignment included choosing a topic, researching and creating an annotated bibliography, and finally crafting an original argument in a paper that was longer and more in-depth than the students had previously attempted.

2004 – 2006                        Assistant Master, Humanities Residential College, Northwestern

A half-time position where I advised and planned humanities related events for an undergraduate dorm of approximately sixty students. Served as resource person and performed various organizational and administrative tasks including, but not limited to: building relationships with students and faculty, attending meetings, writing reports, participating in college events, interacting and dining regularly with students and faculty, facilitating budgetary procedures and coordinating event details, and advising the college’s executive board in planning and executing academic and social programs.

2004 – 2005            Advised a Student Thesis in Comparative Literary Studies, Northwestern

Advised and provided feedback on a senior honors thesis in Northwestern University’s interdisciplinary Comparative Literary Studies department; the thesis was awarded Honors and won two Study Abroad Research Fellowships as well as the Comparative Literary Studies Departmental Distinguished Thesis Award.

2004 – 2005            Advised a Student in Paper Revision for Conference Submission, Northwestern

Advised and provided feedback on rewriting a paper from my interdisciplinary Theory, Performance and Social Justice class for submission to the Mid-America Theatre Conference Debut Panel, into which it was accepted. Further advised the student on how to get funding from the department to attend the conference.

2005                        Advised a Student Summer Research Fellowship, Northwestern

Advised and provided feedback on applying for a summer research fellowship for the undergraduate to write a play combining her interests in performance theory and Buddhist philosophy, and then advised her project over the summer which culminated in a production of the play in fall 2006.

SERVICE:

University of Illinois, Chicago

Faculty Liaison for the independent student theatre group, Chicago Circle Players, 2007-Present.

University of Illinois, Chicago

Solicited donations from local theatres, collected scripts from disparate locations, secured funding, organized and maintained the Theatre Department’s script library, 2006-Present.

Northwestern University

Graduate Student Representative to the Executive Committee, Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama, 2001-02

Northwestern University

School of Speech Graduate Student Representative, 2001-02

Clackamas Community College

Student Representative, Oregon Community College Multicultural Initiative, 1995–1997

AFFILIATIONS:

Fulbright Fellow: Faculty Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Chicago Dramatists: Senior Network Playwright (2010-2012)

Mortar Theatre Company: Founding Managing Director (2009-2011)
Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee: Member (2009-2010)

Preparing Future Faculty Fellow, Northwestern University

Association for Theatre in Higher Education: Member

American Society for Theatre Research: Member

American Comparative Literature Association: Member

Scrap Mettle SOUL: Resident Playwright (2006-2008)

Dramatists Guild: Member

LANGUAGES:

English (native)

French (competent reading; basic writing and speaking)

Polish (survival phrases)

REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST