Angela Farr Schiller

A NG E L A M. F A R R S C HI L L E R
PHONE: 650.804.4720
WEBSITE: WWW.ANGELASCHILLER.COM
EMAIL: ANGELA.SCHILLER@STANFORD.EDU

EDUCATION:

STANFORD UNIVERSITY, STANFORD, CA
PhD., Theater and Performance Studies
(ABD, degree anticipated 6/2015)
Dissertation: The Choreography of Jim: Race, Performance and the Politics of Touch

Considering the critical methods of performance, race, and sensorial studies, The Choreography of Jim Crow
analyzes the creation of social identities through the rubric of toucha tactile sensibility, I argue, that
provides a cultural foundation for the misperception of bodies as racialized subjects. This project approaches
touch as an act that performs beyond itselfan enactment that determines meaning. In doing so, this project
asks: how does the body become culturally legible through tactility? How is race produced and confirmed by
touch, texture, and composition? And, how do bodies become racially affirmed through the course of
interaction?
Advisor: Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education, Dr. Harry Elam, PhD

Fields of Study: Critical Theory, Dramatic Literature, African American History and Performance,
Performance Studies, Critical Race Studies, Sensorial Studies, Drama

Fields of Praxis: Directing, Dramaturgy, Acting, Documentary Theater, Devised Performance
*Program includes the completion of the requirements for an MFA in Directing
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK
Master of Arts, Social and Cultural Analysis,
Emphasis in Africana Studies
Studied Abroad at:
The University of Ghana
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Bachelor of Arts, Theater Arts,
Studied Abroad at:
The University of Cape Town, South Africa &
Universita degli Studi di Siena, Italia

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FELLOWSHIPS:
Mellon Dissertation Fellowship,
Stanford Humanities Center 2014-2015

TEACHING
Instructor:
TAPS 29: Theater Performance: Acting, Fall 2013, Winter 2014
Stanford University, Department of Theatre and Performance Studies
TAPS 29 focuses on building basic to advanced Stanislavski based acting skills via the rehearsal-to-
performance processthinking critically and working practically towards the production of a live
performance.

Co-Instructor:
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TAPS/AFRICAAM 156/356: Performing Race, Politics, and Staging the Plays of August Wilson, Fall
2013, With Vice Provost Professor Harry Elam, PhD
Stanford University, Departments of Theatre and Performance Studies and African American Studies
This course purposefully and explicitly mixes theory and practice. We read and discuss the plays of August
Wilson that comprise his 20
th
Century History Cycle. Staging scenes from each of these plays, culminating in
a final showcase of longer scenes from his work as a final project in an effort to consider the ways in which
Wilson reviews the past and reevaluates history. What does Wilson say about the process of history, and how
does he situate and imagine the African American struggle for freedom over time? We interrogate key
concepts of stage directing from blocking to composition. Considering questions around the art of staging
theater and questions that are particular to the Theater of August Wilson.

Co-Instructor:
AFRICAAM 105: Introduction to African American Studies, Fall 2012 and 2013,
With Associate Director of African and African American Studies, Cheryl Brown, PhD
Stanford University, The Program in African and African American Studies
This interdisciplinary course examined the social thought, cultural mores, religious institutions, intellectual
history, political challenges, literary traditions and expressive arts of people of African descent in the
Americas. Examining the works of W.E.B. DuBois, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Malcolm
X, Alice Walker, and bell hooks, this course explored the primary themes and shifts in African American
culture and history related to race as a definitive American phenomenon.

TEACHING ASSISTANT:
STANFORD UNIVERSITY:
o Graded papers
o Lead class discussions
o Assisted in the development of course &
course syllabus
o Held office hours
o Advised students through the development of
various critical writing and/or performance
projects
TAPS 248/English 148: Family Drama: American Plays About Families, Spring 2013
Professor Peggy Phelan, PhD
Departments of Theatre and Performance Studies and English
This class analyzed dramatic literature written by playwrights from the United States and the American
Family. Asking: Why is the family so frequently the subject of dramatic literature? Is there something intrinsic
to the structure of the family that lends itself to dramatization?

TAPS 301: Performance and Performativity, Winter 2013
Dr. Peggy Phelan, PhD
Departments of Theatre and Performance Studies and Art History
This survey course looked at performance theory through topics including: affect/trauma, embodiment,
theatricality/performativity, liveness/disappearance, belonging/abjection, and utopias and dystopias. Reading
included Schechner, Phelan, Austin, Butler, Conquergood, Roach, Schneider, Fanon, Freud, and Lacan.

TAPS 152 H: Food and Performance: Meals, Markets, Maize, and Macaroni, Spring 2012
Dr. Jennifer Brody, PhD, Chair
Angela Farr Schiller

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Department of Theater and Performance Studies and The Center for Comparative Studies in Race
and Ethnicity
This course serves as an introduction to food and performance culture. We will engage ethical and aesthetic
questions about factory farms, feminist performance art and futuristic cooking. Emphasis is on original
research, interdisciplinary analysis, and doing performance.

TAPS 176H: Intimate Apparel: Black Female Playwrights, Fall 2011
Dr. Jennifer Brody, PhD, Chair
Departments of Theater and Performance Studies and African American Studies
This course analyzed and performed work written by black women in the U.S., Britain, and the Caribbean in
the 20th and 21st centuries. From the rave reviews garnered by Angelina Weld Grimke's lynching play, Rachel
to recent work by Lynn Nottage on Rwanda, the course unpacked the ways in which black women
playwrights have addressed key issues in modern culture and politics.

SELECTED PERFORMANCE & PRACTICE-BASED EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH UNDERGRADUATES:
Director:
Dreamgirls, the musical, Broadway By the Bay, Summer 2014
(*Nominated for Eight Theatre Bay Area Awards, including Outstanding Direction of a Musical)
The Bluest Eye, Stanford University main stage, Winter 2014
The Knot, Stanford University main stage, Spring 2011

Dramaturge:
Elephant, Stanford University, Spring 2014 (*original work/documentary theatre)
Higher Ground, Stanford University, Winter 2014 (*original work/devised performance)
Cabaret, Broadway By the Bay, Summer 2013
The Color Purple, Stanford University, Spring 2012
Fabulation, Stanford University, Spring 2011

Acting Coach:
Higher Ground, Stanford University, Spring 2014
Cabaret, Broadway By the Bay, Summer 2013
The Color Purple, Stanford University, Spring 2012

Performer:
The Symphonic Body, Performance Studies International (PSI), Spring 2013 (*original work/devised)
The Wanderings of Odysseus, Stanford Repertory Theatre, Athens, Greece, Summer 2012

Playwright (advised under award-winning playwright Cherrie Moraga):
The Knot, Stanford University, Spring 2011

Co-curator (with National Endowment of the Arts winner Ann Carlson):
Performance, History, and Memory: The Jasper Ridge Project, Stanford University, Fall 2012
TEACHING ARTIST:
LAMBS PLAYERS THEATRE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, 2000-2001
Angela Farr Schiller

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PERFORMING ARTS EDUCATOR
o Designed and facilitated performing arts conservatory programming
o Choreographed conservatory production of Fiddler on the Roof

LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, 1998-2000
Tony Award Winning Theatre Company
PERFORMING ARTS EDUCATOR, GUEST ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
o Developed and facilitated two year theatre arts conservatory program for youth and young adults
o Directed theatre pieces and original works for the conservatory

KAISER PERMANENTES EDUCATIONAL THEATRE PROGRAM, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, 1995-1998
Emmy Award Winning Program
Touring Road Manager/Actor/Health Educator
o Managed large scale health education theatre touring program
o Toured and performed to over half a million students

PRESENTATIONS:
Angela Farr Schiller, Lourdes Andres, Sandra Nakagawa, Robert Rawles, and Adina Glickman
Academic Skills Couch Advisor (ACSA) Program: Personalized Interventions for Students on Academic Standing, UC
Berkeley, National Academic Advising Association (NACADA), March 2014.

Angela Farr Schiller, The Choreographies of Touch, at the annual American Society for Theatre Research
conference, Dallas, Texas 2013.

Angela Farr Schiller, The Memory of Touch: Race, Violence, and the Haptic in the Era of Jim Crow, at the
Performance Studies International conference, Stanford, California 2013.

INVITED LECTURES:
American History Through the Works of August Wilson, for Professor Peggy Phelan, Theater and
Performance Studies Department, 2013

An/other Peek: Behind the Politics of Suzan-Lori Parks Venus, for Department Chair Professor Jennifer
Brody, Theatre and Performance Studies Department, 2011

ACADEMIC ADVISING AND SERVICE:
ACADEMIC ADVISING AND MENTORSHIP:
ACADEMIC SKILLS COACH/ADVISOR FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, Fall 2012-Spring 2014
The Center for Teaching and Learning and Undergraduate Advising and Research, Stanford
University
The Academic Skills Coach/Advisor (ASCA) provides direct one on one support to undergraduate students
who are returning from suspension, or are currently on probation or other type of academic standing. As an
ASCA, I guided students through a holistic approach to develop individual learning tactics, mentoring to the
whole student learning process. I assessed, strengthen, and generated individualized learning strategies around
issues such as, procrastination, time management, test preparation, stress management, and the ability to
navigate the university environment.
Angela Farr Schiller

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ACADEMIC SERVICE:
Theatre and Performance Studies Main Stage Season Selection Committee, 2014
Co-curator for the Northern California Performance Platform, 2013

SERVICE IN MY COMMUNITY:
SOULCIETY/BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Soulciety is a 501c3 non-profit based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organizations goal is to enrich and
empower the lives of at-risk and underprivileged youth. Soulciety implements a multi-service approach that
includes leadership development, innovative mentorship, creative growth, and community service.

RELEVANT GRADUATE LEVEL COURSES AT STANFORD & NEW YORK UNIVERSITY:
PRACTICE BASED:
o Concepts of Directing/Lin Hixson (Artistic Director of Every House Has A Door)
o Graduate Directing Workshop-The Actor/Director Dialogue/Dr. Rush Rehm
o Shakespeare Projects In Directing/Rob Melrose (Artistic Director of The Cutting Ball Theatre)
o Intensive Playwriting Workshop/Cherrie Moraga
o Special Research: Advanced Playwriting/Cherrie Moraga
o Theories in Directing/Dr. Richard Schechner

THEATRE AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES:
o Performance and Performativity/Dr. Jisha Menon
o African American Drama/Dr. Nadine George
o Classical Seminar: Rethinking the Classics Plato, Aristotle and Beyond/Dr. Andrea Nightingale
o Introduction to Global Justice/Dr. Kieran Oberman
o Oral History/Dr. Nyhan

SELECTED TEACHING INTERESTS:
o African American Theatre History
o Theater & the Senses
o Theatre History
o Theatre in Cultural Context
o Post Black Drama
o Race and Gender In Performance
o Intro-Advanced Directing Projects
o Play Script Analysis
o 20
th
& 21
st
Century American Drama
o Devised Performance Practice
o Oral History & Documentary Theatre
o Directing: Viewpoints
o Dramaturgy
o Performance, History, & Memory
o Performance Studies
o History of the American Musical Theater
o Theatre in the African Diaspora
o Intro-Advanced Acting (Stanislavski)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP:
Performance Studies International (PSI)
The American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR)
Association for Theater in Higher Education (ATHE)
National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)
LANGUAGES:
GERMAN: INTERMEDIATE SPEAKER & READER