Faedra Chatard Carpenter

Faedra Chatard Carpenter, recipient of the American Theatre and Drama Society’s Betty Jean Jones Award for Outstanding Teacher of American Theatre and Drama (2019), was also honored with the Anne Warren Leadership Award (2018) from the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, and the University of Maryland’s Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award (2016). Dr. Carpenter is a theatre and performance studies scholar, professional dramaturg, and cultural critic. Her research, writing, public speaking, and creative activities are grounded in her advocacy for diversity, inclusion, and cultural fluency within a wide range of institutional spheres. Through her analysis of both staged performances and the performative practices of everyday life, Dr. Carpenter applies her expertise in expressive culture, creative collaboration, and dramaturgical methodologies to forge common understandings and illuminate issues regarding race, gender, class, and sexuality. 

Dr. Carpenter’s book, Coloring Whiteness: Acts of Critique in Black Performance (University of Michigan Press), received the Honorable Mention for ATDS’ John W. Frick Book Award for the best book in American theatre and drama in 2014 as well as the Honorable Mention for ASTR’s 2015 Errol Hill Award for outstanding scholarship in African American theater, drama, and/or performance studies. Currently, Dr. Carpenter is working on her second book project, Crafting Consciousness. A study of creative texts, performance events, and public presentations, Crafting Consciousness explores how the particularized employment of imagery, language, and communal narratives can facilitate and foster meanings—both intended and unintended. In so doing, Dr. Carpenter uses her case studies to offer cultural insight, consider the politics of intentionality, and champion conscientious innovation on and beyond the stage. 

Education/Training:

Ph.D., Stanford University
M.A., Washington University
B.A., Spelman College

Areas of Specialization/Interest:

• African American Cultural Expressions and History
• Critical theories of Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality
• American Performance and Dramatic Literature
• Production and Institutional Dramaturgy 

Selected Representative Productions:

Professional Dramaturgy for over 65 plays and creative projects, including:

• Production Dramaturg for Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman. Directed by Psalmayene 24, Folger Theatre, Washington, DC, May-June, 2024.
• Production Dramaturg for Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard (A World Premiere) by Pearl Cleage. Directed by Seema Sueko. Ford’s Theatre, Washington, DC, September 22-October 15th, 2023.
• Production Dramaturg for “Kimmy” by Farah Lawal-Harris, A Radio Play Series for Kennedy Center Theater for Young Audiences. Directed by Paige Hernandez.  March 2021.
• Dramaturgy Curator for RESET, Dramaturgical Website Curated Project with Nicole Brewer, Jordan Ealey, Kristen Jackson, Leticia Ridley, and Nikkole Salter. Collaboration conceived by Maria Manuela Goyanes. Produced by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (2020-2021).
• Production Dramaturg for Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage.  Directed by Eric Ruffin; Mosaic Theater Company; Washington, D.C. (2019)
• Production Dramaturg for Queens Girl in Africa by Caleen Sinnette Jennings. Directed by Paige Hernandez; Mosaic Theater Company; Washington, D.C.  (2018)
• Production Dramaturg for Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau.  Directed by Nicole A. Watson; Baltimore Center Stage; Baltimore, MD (2018)
• Production Dramaturg for Propelling Voice (International, Expanded Version) choreographed by Shannon Quinn (Artistic Director) and co-directed by Ben Levine (Designer) of ReVision Dance Company, Dance Place, November 2016 – April 2017.
• Production Dramaturg for What’s Going On by Vincent E. Thomas, choreographer and founder of VTDance, Dance Place, October 2015 – November 2016. 
• Production Dramaturg for Pride and Prejudice adapted by Christopher Baker.  Directed by Hana S. Sharif. Baltimore Center Stage (Sept.-Oct. 2015).
• Production Dramaturg for Black Nativity by Langston Hughes. Directed by Eric Ruffin. Theatre Alliance. (Nov. 2014-Jan. 2015).
• Production Dramaturg for Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Directed by Gavin Witt. Baltimore Center Stage (March-April, 2014).

Representative Publications/Research Activities:

Book:

• Coloring Whiteness: Acts of Critique in Black Performance, University of Michigan Press, 2014. 

Selected Articles, Essays, and Interviews:

• “Forum: Black Theatre Under Pressure,” Theater magazine, 53.1, Isaiah Wooden editor. Duke University Press, 2023. 
• “Foreword,” Ghost Light: An Introductory Handbook for Dramaturgy, Second Edition, Michael Chemers.  Southern Illinois University Press, 2023.
• “Robert O’Hara,” 50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre. Jimmy Noriega and Jordan Schildcrout. Routledge Press, 2022.
• “When and Where They Enter: Black and Brown Voices in American Theatre,” Cambridge Companion to American Theatre, 1945-Present. Julia Listengarten and Stephen Anthony DiBenedetto, editors. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
• “Deconstructing Our Perspectives on Casting:  An “Inter-Article” with Hana S. Sharif (Essay/Interview). Diversity, Inclusion, and Representation in Contemporary Dramaturgy: Case Studies from the Field, Edited by Philippa Kelly and Amrita Ramanan, Routledge, 2020.
• “Toward New Kinds of Truths: Staging Toni Morrison with ‘The Homophonic Trinity,’” College Literature, Stacie McCormick and Rhaisa Williams, editors. Fall 2020. 
• “Staging Scenes of Suffering: Metaphoric Ruminations on Strategic Dysfluency” (Article), Theater magazine, David Bruin, editor. Duke University Press, 2019 (63-75).
• “Activating the Asterisk: The Dramaturgy of Intentionality,” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Spring 2018. (129-140).
• “Teaching the Cycle:  Understanding August Wilson’s Fractal Dramaturgy” (Essay). MLA Approaches to Teaching the Plays of August Wilson. Sandra Shannon and Sandra Richards, editors. Modern Language Association, 2016 (169-178).  
• Roundtable Essay, “Things That Make Me Go Hmmm…,” Theatre Survey, September 2016 (406-408). 
• “‘It’s All About a Rabbit, or It Ain’t’:  The Folkloric Fabulation of Lynn Nottage” (Essay). A Critical Companion to Lynn Nottage. Jocelyn Buckner, editor.  Routledge, 2016 (90-109).
• “Introduction,” Methuen Drama Modern Classic edition of Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop” (Essay). Methuen, June 2015 (4-23).
• “Reading and (Re)Directing ‘Racial Projects’ on and Beyond the Stage” (Essay). The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy.  Magda Romanska, editor.  Routledge, 2014.

Honors and Awards:

• The Betty Jean Jones Award for Outstanding Teacher of American Theatre and Drama, the American Theatre and Drama Society (ATDS)
• The Anne Warren Leadership Award, The School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of Maryland;
• Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year Award, University of Maryland;
• Honorable Mention: John W. Frick Book Award (ATDS);
• Honorable Mention: Errol Hill Award (ASTR);
• Creative and Performing Arts Award (CAPAA), The University of Maryland;
• Subvention Funds Award, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Maryland;
• Faculty Seed Grant from the Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (CGRE) and the Maryland Population Research Center (MPRC), University of Maryland;
• Research and Scholarship Award (RASA), The Graduate School, UMD;