Deborah Lubar - Resume

RECENT PERFORMANCES IN ONE-WOMAN PLAYS

Naming the Days by Deborah Lubar (2000)
Inspired by Lubar's time in post-war Bosnia with Bosnian women refugees, Naming the Days is an exploration of the possibilities of healing after the profound trauma of war and displacement. (Two acts)

Eve’s Version by Deborah Lubar (1998)

An aging Eve gives her recollections of what really happened in Eden and describes her complex relationships with Adam, the Snake, God, and the world of Eden itself. (One act)

Rose Solomon at Ellis Island by Deborah Lubar (2003)

In a tribute to refugees everywhere, Polish-Jewish immigrant Rose Solomon recounts a magical night on Ellis Island and the bitter-sweetness of everyone leaving their old homes and starting life over again. (One act)

You Do What You Do by Marianne Lust (1997)

About the life of Countess Maria von Maltzan, an eccentric and remarkable member of the German resistance against Hitler who helped to save many Jews, including her Jewish lover during World War II. (Two acts)

A Story’s A Story by Deborah Lubar (1996)

Act I:  About Rose Solomon, a turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrant to the Lower East Side from Poland, who weaves together stories of her girlhood in the shtetl and the legends of the Hasids and their magical leader, the Baal Shem Tov.
Act II:  About Luigina Ponzini, an immigrant from Italy who is Rose’s best friend in America, and who continues Rose’s story as she braves life in the New World and suffers the loss of her Polish family during the Holocaust.  (These fictional characters are based on historical reality.)(Two acts)

Blood and Stones by Deborah Lubar (1992)

Based on Lubar’s interviews with Jewish and Palestinian women in Israel and the West Bank, conducted in 1989, the play reflects various sides of the Arab-Israeli debate by telling the personal stories of three Israeli Jewish women and three Palestinian women who are struggling to come to terms with their shared historical fate.  (Full-length)

Life and Fate by Vassily Grossman/Frederick Wiseman

Based on the letters written by the mother of Russian novelist Vassily Grossman from a Ukrainian Jewish ghetto in World War II, this powerful one-act depicts the life of a strong, inspiring and keenly insightful Jewish woman who describes in all its complexity and anguish the last month of the ghetto Jews before their death at the hands of the Nazis.

Berries Red by Pat Schneider

About the struggles, successes, and rites of passage of Ozark women in hard times.

GRANTS
Ohio Humanities Council - for writing, directing, and two years of touring Ghosts of Hiroshima.

Picker Fellowship - for travelling to Israel and the West Bank to interview Israeli and Palestinian women for the creation of the script of Blood and Stones.

Harnish Grant - for creation of a production on women healers with Kiki Smith.

Vermont Community Arts Fund - for creation of You Do What You Do with Marianne Lust.

LEF Foundation - for creation of You Do What You Do (trip to Berlin to visit with von Maltzan).

Vermont Council on the Arts - for production of You Do What You Do with Marianne Lust.

Vermont Community Foundation - for the creation of Naming the Days.

Vermont Community Foundation - for research in Syria and Jordan for Voices of Sanity monologues.

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Hampshire College & Smith College - Visiting Professor of Theatre (2001-02)

Smith College - Associate Professor of Theatre (1983-1995 - Tenured)

California Institute of Integral Studies - Adjunct Professor (1994)

Oberlin College - Instructor of English  (1977-1978)

Colorado Academy (Denver), Director of Drama Program (1974-1977)

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Ongoing touring of solo productions above.

Developer and teacher of Healing-Performance Training, combining skills from the worlds of theatre and healing arts.

Numerous lectures, classes, and workshops across the country - for both theatre and non-theatre groups - concerning the arts and social issues; the arts and healing; monologue, complexity, and spirit; the art of listening; entering, embodying, and expressing stories of "otherness"; creating dramatic monologue from history. Classes and workshops with therapists, educators, and those in the helping and healing professions on working with the (true) stories of others.

Two current writing projects:

  • A book for monologuists on the healing/theatre interface called Acts of Courage: Performance, Healing, and Heart.
  • A series of monologue collections inspired by true stories of people from around the world moving through harsh times with courage and wisdom, collectively called Voices of Sanity for Thirsty Souls.

    • Co-director and performer in a performance tour of former USSR.  

    EDUCATION
    Oberlin College B.A. in Theatre and English (1971)
    Rutgers University M.F.A. in Acting and Playwriting (1989)

    PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
    Theatre
    American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco
    Alexander Technique, Qi Kung and T’ai Chi with Peter Payne, Vermont
    Voice for the Actor, with Cicely Berry, RSC
    James-Roose Evans Experimental Theatre Training, London

    Healing Arts
    Graduate of:
    Integrated Kabbalistic Healing ™ based on the Jewish metaphysical tradition, with Jason Shulman (3 years)
    Barbara Brennan School of Healing Science (4 years)
    Resonant Kinesiology Training Program (2 years)