Leigh Wilson Smiley

Leigh Wilson Smiley was an associate professor of acting, voice and speech from 2003 to 2021. She also served as the director of the School from 2013 to 2020 and as head of the M.F.A. in performance program from 2009-2013..

Education/Training:

B.A., Marlboro College, Vermont; Designated Linklater Voice Teacher; Training: Kristin Linklater, Richard Armstrong, Jean Rene Toussaint, Louis Colaianni, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Cecily Berry, Michael Howard, William Hickey

Areas of Specialization/Interest:

Voice, Acting, Text, Shakespeare, Speech, Dialects, Presentational Coaching

Professional Affiliations:

Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Actors Equity Association (AEA), American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA), Voice and Speech Association (VASTA), Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)

Representative Productions:

Voice/Dialect/Text Coaching and Direction: Cirque de Soliel, Pig Iron Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre (WDC), Ford's Theatre, The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA), Arena Stage, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, Wilma Theatre, Catalyst Theatre, Georgetown University, Catholic University, Olney Theatre, Open Eye Theatre. Performance: Dear Harvey, Coriolanus, Cassandra Project, Anna Bella Eema, Mary Stuart, Macbeth, Quills, Custom of the Country, The Winter's Tale, Two Noble Kinsmen, A Lover's Discourse, Under Milkwood, What the Butler Saw, The Miser. Film: Beloved, Twelve Monkeys, Philadelphia, Renaissance. Direction: Sandwalk; The Winter's Tale, Trojan Women - University of Maryland,Stop Kiss - University of the Arts, Cassandra Project - Capitol Fringe Festival. International Workshops in: "Shakespeare's Text into Action," "Archetypes and the Voice" (Athens, Greece and Aberystwth, Wales); "Vocal Presence with Self: A Conscious Journey through the F.M. Alexander and Linklater Voice Techniques;" Linklater Voice Workshops; Shakespeare Weekend Intensive Workshops

Representative Publications/Research Activities:

Author: "Cowboy Resonance in America," Voice & Speech Review, 2007; "The Vocal Soundscape of Trojan Women,"Voice & Speech Review, 2006

Honors and Awards:

2010 - Honored University Faculty Mentor for Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar; 2010 - Maryland Institute of Technology for the Humanities Fellowship (MITH); 2009 - Creative and Performing Arts Award (CAPA);  2006 - Creative and Performing Arts Award (CAPA); 2005 - Honored University Faculty Mentor for Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar