Jay Scheib

Born in Shenandoah, Iowa, Jay Scheib is a director, designer, and author of plays, operas, and live art events. Internationally known for works of daring physicality, genre-defying performances and deep integration of new (and used) technologies, Scheib’s productions include his original Fassbinder adaptation World of Wires, which received glowing reviews from Ben Brantley in the New York Times  and Tom Murrin in PAPER. Other recent productions include Bellona, Destroyer of Cities, which played at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and the MAC Exit Festival in Paris, following its premiere at the Kitchen. Other recent works include Evan Ziporyn’s A House in Bali, as part of BAM’s Next Wave Festival 2010; Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Saarländisches Staatstheater. Named Best New York Theater Director by Time Out New York in 2009, and one of the twenty-five theater artists who will shape the next twenty-five years of American theater, by American Theater Magazine, Scheib is a recipient of the Edgerton Award, The Richard Sherwood Award, and a National Endowement for the Arts/TCG fellowship. He is Professor for Music and Theater Arts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Scheib’s recent and upcoming productions include a new ballet theater collaboration with choreographer Yin Mei and the Hong Kong Dance Company titled Seven Sages, which premiered in March 2012 followed by a new staging of Fassbinder’s controversial play Garbage, the City and Death with the Norwegian Theater Academy in Oslo, Norway.

In the fall of 2012 Scheib’s World of Wires will be presented at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Lieu Unique in Nantes France, and Festival d’Automne in Paris at the Maison des Arts Cretéil. The fall tour of World of Wires will be followed by a new staging for New York City Opera of Thomas Adès’ opera Powder Her Face, which will premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music in February 2013.

Profile photograph by REM.