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Hangar Drama League Directors

Every summer, the Hangar Theatre and the Drama League team up to give four future artistic leaders the extraordinary experience leading the Hangar’s Lab Company, producing the Wedge Series, and directing KIDDSTUFF productions. Applicants for the Hangar Drama League Directing Fellowship submit a production essay and artistic statement, which are reviewed by a panel. This pool is narrowed to 16 candidates, who come to New York for a day of interviews with three panels of national theatre artists. Once selected, the four Hangar Drama League Directing Fellows join an incredibly prestigious group of alumni, including Sam Gold (whose Broadway credits include The Glass Menagerie with Sally Fields and Fun Home, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Direction), Rachel Chavkin (director of the hit musicals Hadestown and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), and Hangar’s former Artistic Director Michael Barakiva! This season, the Hangar Theatre and the Drama League are pleased to introduce Ithaca audiences to these inspiring directors.

The Hangar welcomes our 2021 Hangar Drama League Directing Fellows!

  • Christian Ávila

    Christian Ávila

    Christian Ávila (he/him) is a theater director, playwright, producer, actor, activist, and 2021 Drama League Directing Fellow. He is a member of LatinX Playwrights Circle. Currently, he is collaborating on The Democracy Project, a devised Clubhouse production.  He produced, wrote, and co-directed Masseur and produced, wrote, and directed Daddy’s Boy at Theatre for the New City. He collaborates with Theater in Asylum: co-creating and performing in Debates 2020, a Live/Zoom hybrid production, Electability Cabaret, and Debates 2018. Ávila collaborated with Christian Bakalov on Pure for Drama League’s DirectorFest 2020, and with Richard Schechner on Dark Yes. Christian is founding member of Back to Work Collective co-creating and performing Feminist Flashmob at Women’s March in D.C. Ávila holds a BA from UC Berkeley, an MA from LIU Post and has studied under the tutelage of Stan Lai, Anne Bogart, and SITI Company. Christian Ávila is an SDC Associate Member and DG Member. 

  • Jasmine B. Gunter

    Jasmine B. Gunter

    Jasmine B. Gunter (she/her) is a first-year MFA directing candidate at Northwestern University. She is also the 2021 recipient of the Hangar Directing Drama League fellowship, the 2020 recipient of the Leighton M. Ballew Directing Scholarship, and a proud associate member of the Stage Director and Choreographers Society. Recent directing credits include Wine in the Wilderness (Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts), Intimate Apparel (SUNY Brockport), Ghost Story (Kane Repertory Theatre), Lines in the Dust (Geva Theatre Center), Reroute (24 Hour Plays: Nationals). Assistant directing: Nina Simone: Four Women (Arena Stage), In the Heights (Seattle Rep), Quixote Nuevo (Hartford Stage/Huntington Theatre Company), and The Luckiest People (Actors Theatre of Charlotte/NNPN). As well as being a freelance director, Jasmine has a wealth of experience as a teaching artist. She taught for the Berkshire Theatre Group and the Redhouse Arts Center in Syracuse NY.

  • Nicholas Polonio

    Nicholas Polonio

    Nicholas Polonio (he/him) is a Filipino-American theater director from the bay area. He has adapted and directed works including Late Fame: A History Play, A Phoenix Too Frequent, and The 100 Most Beautiful Names of Todd. As Assistant & Associate Director to Robert O’Hara, he has collaborated on productions such as Slave Play, A Raisin in the Sun, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Nicholas is an alum of the Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, the Young Vic Genesis Directors Program, and the National YoungArts Award. He received his BFA in Acting from Rutgers Mason-Gross School of the Arts.