Kristen van Ginhoven: Artistic Director and co-Founder of WAM Theatre
kristen@wamtheatre.com
Kristen’s WAM Theatre credits include directing ‘The Attic, The Pearls and Three Fine Girls’ by Martha Ross, Ann-Marie MacDonald, Jennifer Brewin, Alisa Palmer and Leah Cherniak (beneficiary: Berkshire United Way Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative), ‘Melancholy Play’ by Sarah Ruhl (beneficiary: Women’s Fund of Western MA) and ‘The Last Standing Protestor’ by Lydia Styk for ‘A WAM Welcome’ (beneficiary: Women for Women International). She is a participant of the Michael Langham Workshop for Classical Direction at the Stratford Festival of Canada, which includes assistant directing 42nd Street, directed by Gary Griffin. Additional directing credits include ‘Petticoats of Steel’ at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany, NY, ‘Vendetta Chrome’ at Emerson College in Boston, a staged reading of ‘If We are Women’ by Joanna McLelland Glass for Theatre Voices in Albany, NY and ‘Footloose’ at the Cohoes Music Hall in Cohoes, NY. Kristen has been assistant director to Edward Hall on ‘Two Men of Florence’ at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, MA, Jesse Berger on ‘Sleuth’ and ‘Absurd Person Singular’ at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, MA and Melia Bensussen on ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at the Actor’s Shakespeare Project in Boston, MA. Kristen has also been involved as a director with projects at the Majestic Theatre in West Springfield, MA and ArtsEmerson in Boston, MA. She is an associate member of the Society of Stage Director’s and Choreographers.
Her career as an actor includes playing such roles as ‘Helena’ in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Rosalind’ in ‘As You Like It’ by William Shakespeare, Claire’ in ‘Proof’ by David Auburn and as ‘Beatrice’ in ‘A View From the Bridge’ by Arthur Miller. She worked in various regional Canadian theatres, such as the Neptune Theatre, the Sudbury Theatre Centre and the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto, where she was part of the world premiere of Jason Sherman’s ‘An Acre of Time’. Most recently, she played ‘Molly’ in ‘Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel for Theatre Voices in Albany, NY, and ‘Dotty Otley’ in ‘Noises Off’ by Michael Frayn at the Cohoes Music Hall in Cohoes, NY. Kristen is a proud member of the Canadian Actor’s Equity Association (CAEA).
As an theatre educator, Kristen has worked at Emerson College in Boston, MA and Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is a freelance artist for ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association), an association devoted to international youth theatre education who hold events and festivals worldwide where young people, teachers and artists come together to explore theatre through intense collaboration. For ISTA, she has travelled to places such as China, Thailand, India, Berlin, London, Portugal and Paris.
Kristen has a Masters in Theatre Education from Emerson College, where she received the Presidential Fellowship, a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University.