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Chari Arespacochaga

Associate Professor, Directing

Director, MFA Directing Program

School of Theatre

Chari Arespacochaga is a director for theater, film, multimedia, special events and concerts; and Assistant Professor in Performance at the School of Theatre.

Chari’s theatrical direction credits include BirthmarkLove’s Labour’s Lost the MusicalThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (University of California), Amadeus and Stupid Kids (Phoenix Theatre, Victoria), 9 Minutes (for PopUP Theatrics NYC). She has also worked with Susan Stroman in the Vineyard Theatre’s production of Dot, and with Jeff Whiting in NYMF’s Single Wide through the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.

A Director for Creative Development for S.T.R.O.N.G. Edutainment, she is in the process of adapting a series of stories about a culturally diverse group of princesses/superheroines called the Guardian Princesses into musicals for young audiences. These musicals are being developed using various creative and collective methodologies and seek to incorporate multimedia and a variety of theatrical techniques and devices from the different cultures and traditions represented in the stories.

Chari continues to work on the development of theatre which tells new stories and experiments with new ways of telling them, consciously committed to diversity in casting and creative methodologies; and, translating these experiences into training practices for actors.

Contact and Files

Education

MFA in Theatre Directing, University of Victoria

BA in Film and AudioVisual Communication, University of the Philippines

Teaching Areas

Performance and World Theatre Practices

Awards and Affiliations

  • NSF Unit 18 Professional Development Award, University of California.
  • Instructional Innovation Grant Award, University of California.
  • Matoto Arts Bursary Award Recipient, 2015 and 2016
  • Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation
  • Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab

Creative Works

Currently Developing: MISSING WHITE WOMEN SYNDROME by Dr. Annika Speer and Justin Reich
Currently Developing: PRINCESS TEN TEN AND THE DARK SKIES A New Musical by Maggie Herskowitz and Jackie Emerson

  • BIRTHMARK by Rickerby Hinds. Director. (Selected Participating Production for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, February 2019)
  • LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST by Michael Friedman and Alex Timbers. Director.
  • THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin. Director.
  • AMADEUS by Peter Shaffer. Director.
  • 9 Minutes for PopUP Theatrics NYC. Director.
  • Rock of Ages by Chris D’Arienzo. Director.
  • Spring Awakening by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. Director.
  • The Little Mermaid by Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, Glenn Slater, Doug Wright. Co-Director. (Broadwayworld Award for Best Direction and Best Musical)
  • Doubt by John Patrick Shanley. Director.
  • Altar Boyz by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker and Kevin Del Aguila. Director. (Gawad Buhay Award for Best Ensemble)