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Karen
Robinson
Associate Professor, Coordinator of General Education for Theatre and Performance Studies, and Coordinator of Internships
Karen Robinson holds an M.F.A. in Directing from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and B.A.'s in Theatre and English Literature from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Prior to her arrival at KSU in January of 2000, she taught at North Carolina School of the Arts and Wake Forest University. She teaches courses in directing, performance studies, dramatic literature, auditioning, and theatre appreciation, in addition to directing for the Department’s production season. Karen’s recent production work has focused on adaptations of literature and performance ethnography. In 2005, she directed a world premier adaptation of the Chinese folk novel Monkey King that was presented at Kennesaw State University and subsequently toured to Shanghai. In 2006-7, she co-directed (with playwright Margaret Baldwin) another premiere entitled You Always Go Home, which focused on Kenyans living and studying in the KSU community. It was presented as part of an international conference: The Role of the Kenyan Diaspora in Kenya’s Development. Inspired by a visit to Shangilia--a Kenyan residence school that uses the performing arts to rehabilitate street children and orphans--Karen designed and coordinated a 5-day residency and performance at KSU featuring the Shangilia Youth Choir in collaboration with Micocci Productions of New York City, director Lee Breuer (The Gospel of Colonus), singer/music director J.D. Steele, and gospel musician Butch Heyward.
Robinson has worked as a freelance director, dramaturg, and/or stage manager for theatres in New York City, North Carolina, California and Atlanta, Georgia for over twenty years. Her directing and dramaturgical credits include new script development as well as contemporary and period classics. An Associate Artist at Georgia Shakespeare, she has directed fourteen productions for the company, including As You Like It, Twelfth Night (reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as “an absolute knock-out”), A Streetcar Named Desire, The School for Wives, Amadeus (listed by the Atlanta Journal and Constitution as one of the most memorable theatrical productions of 2001), Tartuffe, Saint Joan, The School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing (named one of the year's 10 best shows by the AJC), Love's Labour’s Lost, Cyrano de Bergerac and The Bourgeois Gentleman. She is a member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and Actors' Equity Association. In 2006, she assumed the role of Global Learning Coordinator for the KSU College of the Arts. Karen was the recipient of the 2008 Kennesaw State University Distinguished Teaching Award.