Joanie Schultz

Joanie Schultz is a director/adapter from Chicago. She currently serves as Associate AD at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She has directed at theatres that include Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company.

In 2017-18, Joanie was Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre in the Dallas, Texas area. Prior to that, Joanie served as Associate Artistic Producer at Victory Gardens Theater, as part of the Leadership U One-on-One Fellowship funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation administered through TCG. She was also a Drama League Fellow; The Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Director Fellow; the SDSF Denham Fellow; and member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. She is an ensemble...

Joanie Schultz is a director/adapter from Chicago. She currently serves as Associate AD at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She has directed at theatres that include Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre, The Cleveland Play House, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, and Philadelphia Theatre Company.

In 2017-18, Joanie was Artistic Director of WaterTower Theatre in the Dallas, Texas area. Prior to that, Joanie served as Associate Artistic Producer at Victory Gardens Theater, as part of the Leadership U One-on-One Fellowship funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation administered through TCG. She was also a Drama League Fellow; The Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Director Fellow; the SDSF Denham Fellow; and member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. She is an ensemble member at Steep Theatre, artistic associate at Victory Gardens Theater, and artistic cabinet member at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC.

Joanie received her B.A. in Theatre Directing from Columbia College Chicago and M.F.A. in Theatre Directing from Northwestern University.

Scripts

Seagull

Adaptation by Joanie Schultz

Cast Size

10

Genre

adaptation

This period adaptation of Chekhov’s classic centers Constantine, reimagined as a young queer woman playwright struggling to carve her own path in art and love under the shadow of her famous actress mother. Their charged relationship collides with questions of desire, ambition, and survival, bringing new resonance to Chekhov’s exploration of art and longing.

Critics have called this Seagull “as visceral as it is...

This period adaptation of Chekhov’s classic centers Constantine, reimagined as a young queer woman playwright struggling to carve her own path in art and love under the shadow of her famous actress mother. Their charged relationship collides with questions of desire, ambition, and survival, bringing new resonance to Chekhov’s exploration of art and longing.

Critics have called this Seagull “as visceral as it is new,” noting how the familiar story gains fresh urgency and intimacy when reframed through Constantine’s voice. With its devastating Act IV and its focus on creation, erasure, and the desperate hope that art can save us, this adaptation holds true to Chekhov’s world while making space for a perspective too often unseen.

A Doll's House

by Joanie Schultz

1

Cast Size

6

Genre

adaptation

The classic play by Henrik Ibsen, in a new 90-minute adaptation that both retains and reveals the original play.

"Director and adapter Joanie Schultz modernizes the language and keeps the design firmly rooted in history. The choice to adapt does not hide a lack of understanding on Schultz's part - it in fact shows a true depth of understanding and familiarity with the text. " JoJo Stein, Broadwayworld.com...

The classic play by Henrik Ibsen, in a new 90-minute adaptation that both retains and reveals the original play.

"Director and adapter Joanie Schultz modernizes the language and keeps the design firmly rooted in history. The choice to adapt does not hide a lack of understanding on Schultz's part - it in fact shows a true depth of understanding and familiarity with the text. " JoJo Stein, Broadwayworld.com

“Schultz’ adaptation is a very effective tweak of the original—particularly in a short, vital addition at the end. And Ibsen’s story is respected: it’s all here, with almost no plot points lost along the way. The play’s longest face-to-face conversations are pared down without sounding rushed (though a couple of Nora’s brief, agitated soliloquies might have remained). And the light-handed update of language isn’t jarring, but makes several lines land with greater force, as if the #MeToo movement were bumping up against the 19th-century rulebook:

Torvald: No man would sacrifice his honor.
Nora [after a pause, and a long, steady look]: It’s a thing millions of women do every day.

Schultz isn’t trying to cut through the period style of Ibsen’s work—but to let us see past the flowing skirts and high collars, to experience just why and how this play shocked late-19th-century audiences with its blunt realism.” -Jan Farrington, Theaterjones.com