Risa Brainin

Risa Brainin is delighted to be making her Gulfshore Playhouse debut with Every Brilliant Thing.

Brainin is a freelance director and Founder/Artistic Director of the groundbreaking new play development program LAUNCH PAD at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Associate Artistic Director for both Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Resident Director at the Guthrie Theater. Other directorial credits include plays at American Players Theatre, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Clarence Brown Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Commonweal Theatre, Denver Center Theatre, Elements Theatre Collective, Ensemble Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre, History Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Illusion Theatre, Kansas City Actors’ Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mixed Blood, New Harmony Project, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Playmakers Repertory Company, Portland Stage Company, Red Bull Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Rubicon Theatre, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Skylight Theatre, Syracuse Stage and TheatreSquared.

She directed the premiere of Bob Stromberg’s That Wonder Boy at the United Solo Festival in NY where it won several awards including the United Solo Festival and Backstage Award, Best One Man Show and Best Direction. Her production of Annie Torsiglieri’s “A” Train also won Best Production in 2017 and Best Encore in 2018 at the United Solo Festival.

A graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University Drama Program, Brainin is past President of the Board of Trustees of the National Theatre Conference (NTC) and currently serves as Chair of NTC’s Barrie and Bernice Stavis Award Committee, and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. risabrainin.com