Matthew Earnest

Matthew Earnest (born 30 June 1969) is an American theater director. He grew up in Texas and began his career under Richard Hamburger at Dallas Theater Center. Relocating to New York City, Matthew spent a season as assistant director to Lee Breuer at Mabou Mines, and a Drama League fellowship made him assistant director to Adrian Hall, a position he would hold for many years. As Founding Artistic Director of NYC’s deep ellum ensemble [1] Matthew created works that garnered international acclaim from 1995 until the company disbanded in 2007. He has been an associate artist at Germany’s English Theatre Berlin [2] since 1999, and at the University of Delaware’s PTTP [3] since 2001. Matthew works around the country creating new works and directing plays and his own literary adaptations and translations. His productions have been seen across the U.S., Europe and in Africa.

Selected works

2010: Wanderlust: A History of Walking, adapted by M.E. from the book by Rebecca Solnit. Ice Factory 2010 at the Ohio Theater, NYC following world premiere at Cleveland Public Theatre.

2009: Himmelweg by Juan Mayorga, translated by David Johnston. NYC premiere at Teatro Círculo following US premiere at Burning Coal Theatre Company, Raleigh, NC.

2008: The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Matthew Earnest. Roe Green Visiting Director, Kent State University.

2007: Peter Pan, or The boy who would not grow up by J.M. Barrie, adapted by Earnest.[4] [5] Porthouse Theatre, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

2007: We Were Civilized Once by Suzan-Lori Parks, from 365 Days/365 Plays. [6] NYSF/Public Theater

2006: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, English version by Matthew Earnest. The Warehouse Theatre, Greenville, SC

2005: The Josephine footnote by Matthew Earnest, score by Joseph Troski, choreography by Tina Fehlandt. deep ellum ensemble at Daniel Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA (as part of The Berkshire Fringe, which produced its premiere performance) and Hartshorn Theatre, University of Delaware (2006)

2003: Doctor Tedrow's Last Breath by Matthew Earnest, score by Joseph Troski, choreography by Tina Fehlandt. [7] deep ellum ensemble at Trinity River Arts Center, Dallas, Texas and The Ice Factory, Ohio Theater, NYC (2005)

2002: Ch’ien-nü leaves her body. by Matthew Earnest, after a play by Chêng Teh-hui. deep ellum ensemble at The Ontological-Hysteric Theater, NYC

2002: The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, Dallas, Texas

2001 : Saints and Singing by Gertrude Stein. deep ellum ensemble at Washington Square Church, NYC; The Present Company Theatorium, NYC; Midtown International Theatre Festival, NYC; The Bridge (Dance-Theater series) at WAX, Brooklyn, NY (excerpts), (2002)

2001: A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. deep ellum ensemble at The DStv Performing Arts Festival in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2000: Venus by Suzan-Lori Parks. English Theatre Berlin, Germany

1999: blood pudding by Matthew Earnest (premiere). deep ellum ensemble at English Theatre Berlin, Germany; and Dublin Festival Fringe, Dublin, Ireland.

1998: Puntila and his servant Matti by Bertolt Brecht, English version by Matthew Earnest. deep ellum ensemble at The Ohio Theater, NYC; and Brecht Centennial/NY Internat’l Fringe Festival [8] (1998)

1997: The Jilting of Granny Weatherall by Matthew Earnest (premiere) from the story by Katherine Anne Porter. deep ellum ensemble at The New York International Fringe Festival: BIFF Award; and English Theatre Berlin, Germany (1998); and The FIT Festival, Dallas, TX and UT Arlington

1997: The Purification & The Two-Character Play by Tennessee Williams. deep ellum ensemble at Chelsea Arts Theater, NYC, The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, New Orleans, LA, English Theater Berlin, Germany

1996: Wolf at the Door by Erik Ehn (NY premiere). deep ellum ensemble at One Dream Theatre, NYC

1995: Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare. deep ellum ensemble at NADA, Inc., NYC

Awards

• National Endowment for the Arts "Access to Artistic Excellence" grant (2010): "Wanderlust: A History of Walking" (Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland, OH)
• "The Cleveland Scene" Best Director and Times Tribute (2007): Peter Pan (Porthouse Theatre, Cuyahoga Falls, OH)
• Raleigh News & Observer Top 10 of 2007: Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman (Still Water Theatre, Raleigh, NC)
• Roe Green Visiting Director, Kent State University, 2008
• The Cleveland Scene Outstanding revival and Times Tribute: Our Town [9] (Porthouse Theatre, Cuyahoga Falls, OH), 2007
• Raleigh News & Observer Top 10 of 2005: Lipstick Traces (Burning Coal Theatre, Raleigh, NC)
• Dallas Morning News Top 10 of 2002: Coriolanus [10] (Kitchen Dog Theater, Dallas, Texas)
• Audience Favourite Award to deep ellum ensemble (blood pudding), Dublin Festival Fringe, 1999
• BIFF Award: Excellence in Ensemble Acting, deep ellum ensemble (The Jilting of Granny Weatherall), NY Fringe Festival, 1997
• Special Interest Residency Grant from The Drama League of New York, 1995
• Dallas Theater Critics’ Forum Award for Outstanding Direction: On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) by Eric Overmyer (Moonstruck Theatre Co, Dallas, TX), 1994
• Dallas Observer's Best of Dallas Award for Outstanding Production: Fen by Caryl Churchill (Moonstruck Theatre Co), 1993

References

http://www.deepellum.org

http://www.etberlin.de/

http://blog.cleveland.com/reviews/2007/07/porthouses_peter_pan_soars_bec.html

http://www.clevescene.com/2007-07-11/culture/nothing-lost-on-this-boy

http://german.lss.wisc.edu/brecht/archive4.html

http://royberkinfo.blogspot.com/search/label/Times%20Tributes

http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/2091

External links

• MatthewEarnest.com
• deep ellum ensemble
• English Theatre Berlin
• University of Delaware Theatre Guest Artists
• Peter Pan at Kent State's Porthouse Theatre

Persondata
Name	Earnest, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1969-06-30
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death