Dina Janis
Dina Janis is the Artistic Director of the Dorset Theatre Festival where she directs for their Main Stage, in addition to overseeing their acclaimed New Play Development Programs including DTF Women Artists Writing Group, Pipeline Series of New Plays, and the Commissioning and Fellowship Program.
Biography
Janis has served as the Artistic Director of the Dorset Theatre Festival for the past eleven years, where she recently was co-creator and director of Gorgeous Nothings, with Mary Bacon and Purva Bedi. Janis oversees Dorset's New Play Development Programs including DTF Women Artists Writing Group, Pipeline Series of New Plays, and the Festivals Commissioning and Fellowship Program. Janis's Main Stage productions at DTF include the acclaimed production of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill by Lanie Robertson, The Whipping Man by Mathew Lopez and Out of the City by Leslie Ayvazian. As part of the Pipeline Series Janis has directed A Stage of Twilight by Sarah Schwab starring Karen Allen, and A Life in the Theatre by David Mamet starring Treat Williams. Janis serves as one of the contributors to the Kilroy List. She is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. Janis trained as an actor getting her start with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, then heading to NY where she studied acting with Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner and most importantly- Kim Stanley. She taught acting at the School of Visual Arts for several years, while developing her career as a director of new work for the theatre. Janis has taught at Bennington since 2000.