ASH SINGER
ashsinger07@gmail.com | 908.415.3760
PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
Theatre director driven by dramaturgy, script analysis, and deep character work. Roots every production in strong concept and uses the full theatrical space to bring it to life — always considering who the audience is in relation to the play. Work spans musicals, new plays, devised pieces, and immersive theater, with productions Off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Fringe, and in site-specific environments across the country. 15+ years of collaborative, research-based practice with a consistent commitment to making theater that doesn’t just tell a story but makes an audience live inside it.
SELECTED CREDITS
Grease Stevens Institute of Technology – NJ – April 2026
Re-imagined through the tension between public performance and private reality — building a heightened, audience-aware world contrasted with stark, isolated moments of truth.
In Their Footsteps Director/Playwright – National and International Runs - 2017–Present
Long-running original work based on oral histories of women Vietnam veterans. Off-Broadway (59E59), Edinburgh Fringe, national tour, NPR radio adaptation. Winner: Women in Media Gracie Award 2025.
Nellie and The Women of Blackwell Wildrence Immersive – NYC – Winter 2020
Fully immersive experience placing audiences inside the world of Nellie Bly and Blackwell’s Island. Winner: Broadway World Best Immersive/Theatrical Experience Off-Off-Broadway 2021.
Pretending to Fly Edinburgh Fringe Festival – 2023
Original devised production interweaving WWII and COVID-era stories. NYC and international Edinburgh Fringe premiere.
Verse DiVerse by Amy Losi Theatre for the New City – NYC – September 2022
Directed contemporary New York-focused production weaving poetic text and urban landscape into live performance.
DEVISED & IMMERSIVE DIRECTING
Excavating the Rising Stars Bronx Music Heritage Center – NYC – Fall 2024
Created and directed immersive production drawn from oral histories of women archaeologists, transforming the performance space into an active dig site of memory and reclamation. Bronx premiere.
Pretending to Fly Edinburgh Fringe Festival – 2023
Developed and directed original devised production interweaving WWII and COVID-era stories. NYC premiere July 2023; International premiere Edinburgh Fringe August 2023.
Murder Ballads Brokeneck Girls – NYC – March 2023
Directed devised production integrating historical American folk music with dramatic narrative — using song as testimony and the stage as a site of reckoning.
Not the White Stripes Permafrost Collective – NYC – October 2021
Created production interweaving dramatic scenes with the music of The White Stripes — exploring myth, gender, and sonic identity through environmental staging.
Nellie and The Women of Blackwell Wildrence Immersive – NYC – Winter 2020
Fully immersive experience based on the story of Nellie Bly and the women of Blackwell’s Island. Winner: Broadway World Best Immersive/Theatrical Experience Off-Off-Broadway 2021.
Displeyst Under St. Marks – NYC – Spring 2019
Created visually driven devised production using fabric, wooden luggage, choreography, and shadow work — developed from oral histories and diary entries.
In Their Footsteps Director/Playwright – 2017–Present
Created and directed production based on oral histories of women who served in the Vietnam War. Productions include Off-Broadway (59E59 Theaters), Edinburgh Fringe Festival, national touring, and Bronx Music Hall (reimagined version, Fall 2025). Adapted for radio play broadcast on NPR. Winner: Women in Media Gracie Award 2025.
Beyond the Etchings Co-Director/Playwright – Vietnam Veterans Memorial NYC – 2016–2017
Developed production from Vietnam Veterans’ donated poems, songs, and letters. Performed at Vietnam memorials and NYC theaters.
TRADITIONAL & NEW WORK DIRECTING
Grease Stevens Institute of Technology – NJ – April 2026
Approached the musical through the tension between public performance and private reality. Built a heightened, audience-aware world where characters actively played to the room — contrasted with quieter, isolated moments that revealed who they are underneath.
An Interpretation of Anna by Natalie Saks Spit&Vigor – NYC – June 2024
Directed true story-based world premiere about Anna Freud — navigating psychoanalytic legacy, identity, and a daughter living in her father’s shadow.
House with No Walls by Thomas Gibbons Sedona Arts Academy – February 2023
Mounted historical drama set in George Washington’s Philadelphia residence, rooting the political and personal in the physical world of the space.
The Great Gatsby, the Live Play by Joe Landry Sedona Arts Academy – December 2022
Directed experiential production with 20-person cast featuring dancing, singing, and audience participation.
Verse DiVerse by Amy Losi Theatre for the New City – NYC – September 2022
Directed contemporary New York-focused production weaving poetic text and urban landscape into live performance.
True Nature of All Being by Lisa Giordanno Sedona Arts Academy – May 2022
Directed historical drama about the Minamata Disease crisis, centering the human cost of environmental injustice.
Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons Sedona Arts Academy – February 2022
Directed complex drama exploring race, ownership, and access through the lens of The Barnes Foundation controversy.
Raging Skillet by Jacques Lamarre Sedona Arts Academy – Fall 2021
Directed biographical production about feminist chef Chef Rossi, centering voice, identity, and the politics of the kitchen.
These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich Bethpage Historical Society – Fall 2018
Directed historical drama about the Radium Girls — weaving grief, friendship, and resistance into an intimate ensemble production.
YOUTH THEATRE
Guest Director, Success Academy 2022–2026
Directed annual workshops with middle school playwrights and high school performers, guiding original devised work from page to stage.
TEACHING & WORKSHOP EXPERIENCE
Workshop Facilitator 2017–Present
Topics: Sense Memory, Interview Techniques for Monologue Creation, Oral History Theatre.
Organizations: Veterans Poetic Theatre Company (NYC), Salons for Life (NJ), Infinite Variety Productions (NY), Florida Thespians Festival, Onstage Festival (Italy).
ADDITIONAL LEADERSHIP
Infinite Variety Productions Founder & Artistic Director – 2011–Present
Founded and leads 501(c)3 dedicated to women’s historical stories in non-traditional spaces. 11+ years of continuous programming; manages production teams, fundraising, and educational outreach.
World Seido Karate General Manager – NYC – 2010–Present
Manages international Japanese Karate school headquarters. Oversees staff, student registration, facilities operations, and non-profit programs.
EDUCATION
MFA — The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University (2009)
BFA — New York University: Tisch School of the Arts (2006)
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
Women in Media Gracie Award (2025) — In Their Footsteps: The Radio Play
Broadway World Best Immersive/Theatrical Experience Off-Off-Broadway (2021) — Nellie and The Women of Blackwell
Resident Artist: Frigid New York (2016–Present); Bronx Music Hall (2023–Present)
Grants: ART/NY Creative Opportunity Grant (2021–2025), Bronx Council for the Arts Community Grant (2023–2025), Leon Levy Grant (2021), Naftali Foundation Grant (2016), Kuehne Foundation Grant (2014)
Publications: Feminisms and Museums: Volume 2; HerStories: The WASP Exhibit at the American Airpower Museum