One-on-One Conversation with Rachel Chavkin and Jacob G. Padrón

Rachel Chavkin is a Tony nominated and three-time Obie Award and Drama Desk winning director, writer, dramaturg, and the Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based experimental ensemble, the TEAM (www.theteamplays.org). See more below...
Jacob G. Padrón is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Sol Project, a NYC-based theater initiative dedicated to producing works by Latinx playwrights with leading Off-Broadway theaters and bringing the stories from this community to the fore of the American theater. In addition to his work on The Sol Project, Padrón is currently on staff with Time Warner Inc. in Cultural Investments where he supports the theatre portfolio and identifies diverse storytellers for future media projects. See more below...
SDC Foundation’s One-on-One Conversations illuminate the creative processes, secret mottos, and personal and professional experiences that guide today’s luminary directors and choreographers as they forge artistic careers in a profession that has no handbook. These intimate and dynamic conversations between today’s most successful artists offer audiences rare insights into the challenging and ever-changing world of theatre making.
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Rachel Chavkin bio (continued)... Selected projects: Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (World Premiere – Ars Nova; A.R.T.; Broadway transfer, 12 Tony nominations including Best Musical); Anais Mitchell's folkopera Hadestown (World Premiere - NYTW); Anne Washburn’s transadaptation of Euripedes’ Iphigenia in Aulis (World Premiere – CSC), Dave Malloy’s Preludes (World Premiere – LCT3), The TEAM’s RoosevElvis (PS122’s COIL festival, tours to the Royal Court, Walker Art Center, A.R.T.), Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (World Premiere – Ars Nova), British artist Chris Thorpe’s Confirmation (World Premiere – Warwick Arts Centre and Battersea Arts Centre, 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award, Top 10 Shows at the Edinburgh Fringe – American Theater); Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (Northern Stage, UK national tour); Meg Miroshnik’s The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Yale Rep); Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (The Old Globe; Lincoln Center, Spring 2016); and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac, including judy's extravaganza The Lily’s Revenge (World Premiere (Act II) – HERE). NYTW Usual Suspect, Artistic Associate at London’s Gate Theatre, alum of Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab, Drama League Directors Project, Women’s Project Director’s Lab, and New Georges Affiliate Artist. Nominee, Doris Duke Impact Award, 2013 & 2014. She has also taught extensively at NYU, Pace, and other colleges. B.F.A. NYU, M.F.A. Columbia. Proud member of SDC.
Jacob G. Padrón bio (continued)... He was most recently on the artistic staff of The Public Theater as the Senior Producer where he worked on new plays, new musicals, Shakespeare in the Park, and Public Works. He shepherded  the work of Tarell Alvin McCraney (Head of Passes), Universes (Party People), Stew & Heidi Rodewald (The Total Bent), Tracey Scott Wilson (Buzzer), Lemon Andersen (Toast), Richard Nelson (The Gabriels),  Suzan-Lori Parks (Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2, and 3), and Shaina Taub & Kwame Kwei-Armah (Twelfth Night), among many others. Prior to his post at The Public, Padrón was the Producer at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago where he oversaw the artistic programming in the Garage, Steppenwolf's second stage dedicated to new work, new artists, and new audiences. From 2008 to 2011, he was an Associate Producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Appointed by Bill Rauch to his senior staff, Padrón was instrumental in producing all shows in the 11-play repertory.  Padrón has worked with many leading companies around the country including Yale Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Teatro Vista, About Face, and El Teatro Campesino. He was named “one to watch” by American Theatre magazine and was an inaugural recipient of the SPARK Leadership Fellowship administered by Theatre Communications Group (TCG). He has been a lecturer at Northwestern University and has adjudicated on grant panels for TCG, Network of Ensemble Theaters, The Drama League, SDC Foundation, and American Theatre Wing. He has been appointed to the faculty of Yale School of Drama beginning in the fall 2017.