Kirsten Brandt

Kirsten Brandt

Kirsten Brandt is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice embraces inquiries into gender, social and environmental justice, politics, and the intersection of theatre and technology. An award-winning playwright and director, she served for six seasons as Artistic Director of the experimental theatre company Sledgehammer Theatre where she directed over a dozen plays and musicals and wrote BERZERKERGANG, THE...
Kirsten Brandt is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice embraces inquiries into gender, social and environmental justice, politics, and the intersection of theatre and technology. An award-winning playwright and director, she served for six seasons as Artistic Director of the experimental theatre company Sledgehammer Theatre where she directed over a dozen plays and musicals and wrote BERZERKERGANG, THE FRANKENSTEIN PROJECT and NU. She was the Associate Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre, where she directed DR. FAUSTUS, NEXT FALL, THE BIG MEAL, LEGACY OF LIGHT, RABBIT HOLE and GROUNDSWELL, among others. As a director, Ms. Brandt’s work has been seen at The Old Globe, TheatreWorks, La Jolla Playhouse, Utah Shakespeare Festival, African-American Shakespeare Company, San Diego Repertory, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, North Coast Repertory, Marin Theatre Company, City Lights Theatre, Jewel Theatre, and Arizona Theatre Company. She is the co-adapter of Henrik Ibsen’s A DOLL’S HOUSE (with A.C. Harvey), which had its world premiere at the Old Globe Theatre. Her other plays include CODED, THE MECHANIC'S DAUGHTER, THE WAVES, an adaptation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS as well as the telematic, multi-site play THE THINNING VEIL and the site-specific THE OPEN DOOR..

She is Chair of the Theatre Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the Executive Director of the Nevada Conservatory Theatre. She received her BA in Theatre from UC San Diego where she took part in the Education Abroad Program in Birmingham, England. Her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College focuses on gender in performance, performative technologies and environmental justice. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, The Dramatists Guild of America, and the National Theatre Conference.

Plays

  • CODED by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    5–6
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: gaming, feminism + 2 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, science fiction
    Keyword: gaming, feminism, environment, technology
    Jerrie was on her way to being a leader in the gaming industry until a competitor armed with a legion of internet trolls launched an all-out assault on her, and she was forced into hiding. Now, she’s back with a hand-picked team and a plan to revolutionize virtual-reality gaming. If she can keep the trolls at bay and control over her staff, she might be able to dismantle the industry’s boys’ club. But when the...
    Jerrie was on her way to being a leader in the gaming industry until a competitor armed with a legion of internet trolls launched an all-out assault on her, and she was forced into hiding. Now, she’s back with a hand-picked team and a plan to revolutionize virtual-reality gaming. If she can keep the trolls at bay and control over her staff, she might be able to dismantle the industry’s boys’ club. But when the virtual world begins to invade the real one, things get more surreal than she could have imagined.

    Commissioned by City Light Theatre, San Jose, CA
    World Premiere March 2020 (two previews but did not open due to COVID)
    World Premiere September 2021 (reopening of the theatre)
  • The Snow Queen by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    9–12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, adventure + 5 more
    ·
    Keyword: coming of age, friendship + 3 more
    Genre: adaptation, adventure, fable/folktale, fantasy, holiday, musical, young audiences
    Keyword: coming of age, friendship, loss of innocence, storytelling, magic
    Book by Kirsten Brandt and Rick Lombardo; Music by Haddon Kime; Lyrics by Kirsten Brandt, Haddon Kime, and Rick Lombardo
    Be spirited away by this new musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fantastical coming-of-age adventure t. Join Gerda on a dangerous and whimsical quest to save her best friend Kai before he is trapped forever in the Snow Queen’s palace. Dare to enter a world where flowers...
    Book by Kirsten Brandt and Rick Lombardo; Music by Haddon Kime; Lyrics by Kirsten Brandt, Haddon Kime, and Rick Lombardo
    Be spirited away by this new musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fantastical coming-of-age adventure t. Join Gerda on a dangerous and whimsical quest to save her best friend Kai before he is trapped forever in the Snow Queen’s palace. Dare to enter a world where flowers sing, animals talk, and riddles yearn to be solved. With an original pop-rock score, alluring ballads, urban steampunk flair, and the enigmatic Snow Queen, you'll soon see this is not your average bedtime story.

    Winner of the 2014 Stage Rights/NYMF Publishing Award, a program of The New York Musical Theatre Festival.

    There is a shorter Theatre For Young Audiences Version available

  • Wuthering Heights by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    8–12
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 3 more
    ·
    Keyword: Brontë, gothic + 2 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, experimental, movement/physical, tragedy
    Keyword: Brontë, gothic, romance, social justice
    Inseparable since childhood, Heathcliff and Cathy believe themselves eternally bound. But when they are brutally torn apart, the resulting course of retribution provides an unflinching look into the cyclical nature of revenge, injustice and the unknowable passions of the heart. Travel across Yorkshire’s stormy moors with one of literature’s darkest antiheroes in this legendary tale of devotion and redemption....
    Inseparable since childhood, Heathcliff and Cathy believe themselves eternally bound. But when they are brutally torn apart, the resulting course of retribution provides an unflinching look into the cyclical nature of revenge, injustice and the unknowable passions of the heart. Travel across Yorkshire’s stormy moors with one of literature’s darkest antiheroes in this legendary tale of devotion and redemption. Emily Brontë’s epic love story is re-imagined in this gripping adaptation.
  • The Frankenstein Project by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    7–21
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, experimental + 4 more
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    Keyword: biotechnology, Frankenstein + 7 more
    Genre: adaptation, experimental, horror, movement/physical, political, science fiction
    Keyword: biotechnology, Frankenstein, feminism, gothic, monster, motherhood, alchemy, trauma, science
    The Frankenstein Project v.2.0 is a modern re-telling of Mary Shelley’s classic tale set against the backdrop of late-breaking developments in science and medicine. Haunted by the death of her mother from a cocktail of weight-loss pharmaceuticals, PhD candidate Mary Frankenstein (Mary #1) strives to create life and, by doing so, conquer death. The “monstrous” creation that is the result of her work is Mary #2,...
    The Frankenstein Project v.2.0 is a modern re-telling of Mary Shelley’s classic tale set against the backdrop of late-breaking developments in science and medicine. Haunted by the death of her mother from a cocktail of weight-loss pharmaceuticals, PhD candidate Mary Frankenstein (Mary #1) strives to create life and, by doing so, conquer death. The “monstrous” creation that is the result of her work is Mary #2, a woman who is plagued by the memories of the seven prostitutes that make up her body. Mary #3, Mary Shelly, floats in and out of her own story as her creations grow beyond her control.

    The Frankenstein Project received a workshop production at Sledgehammer Theatre in February 1999 and was subsequently performed at the Network of Ensemble Theatres Conference, San Francisco in September 2000. It received a KPBS Award in 1999 for “Outstanding Direction.” The Frankenstein Project (version 2.0), an updated version of the original, premiered at Sledgehammer Theatre in October of 2005 and was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

    Praise for THE FRANKENSTEIN PROJECT (V2.0)
    Bold, ambitious, and stirring…Brandt has become a disciplined and inventive theatrical storyteller...fresh theatrical blend of sound, image and movement… It revisits urgent questions of art, religion and science at a time when the specter of Frankenstein’s monster is closer to reality… Line for line Brandt’s script… is provocative, richly allusive stuff. The acting is sharp and sure… the most polished, provocative ensemble work at Sledge in many a season. -CRITIC’S CHOICE, San Diego Union-Tribune
    … the direction is precise, the performances meticulous, and the stage pictures are often gorgeous… There’s also a deliciously creepy soundscape… … the play will certainly unnerve and disturb…” – KPBS
    …one of the best-looking shows ever staged at St. Cecilia’s. – The San Diego Reader
  • Berzerkergäng by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    10–15
    ·
    Genre: adaptation, drama + 6 more
    ·
    Keyword: Wagner, mythology + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, drama, experimental, fable/folktale, fantasy, movement/physical, political, science fiction
    Keyword: Wagner, mythology, opera, feminism, movement theatre, corporate warfare
    Inspired by Richard Wagner’s opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, Snorri Sturluson’s Poetic & Prose Eddas, The Volsungasaga, and The Nibelungenlied, Berzerkergäng is a contemporary telling of the quest for love and power. When the dwarf Alberich steals a source of unlimited power – the business world goes berserk. As Giants and Gods wage corporate warfare, a Valkyrie named Brunhilde must choose between...
    Inspired by Richard Wagner’s opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, Snorri Sturluson’s Poetic & Prose Eddas, The Volsungasaga, and The Nibelungenlied, Berzerkergäng is a contemporary telling of the quest for love and power. When the dwarf Alberich steals a source of unlimited power – the business world goes berserk. As Giants and Gods wage corporate warfare, a Valkyrie named Brunhilde must choose between obedience & love, forgiveness & rage, and desire & truth, even if it means her own doom.
    Berzerkergäng received its world premiere at Sledgehammer Theatre, February 2003.
    San Diego Playbill Award for “Outstanding New Play” and a KPBS Award for “Outstanding Production.”
    Praise for Berzerkergäng:
    Sledgehammer Theatre’s season finale is a massive undertaking… stunning, evening of theatre. … there are moments, lingering ones, in which the production comes close to fulfilling Wagner’s ideal of combining of performing arts (music, drama, décor, dance) into a total theatre experience.
    -CRITIC’S CHOICE, San Diego Union Tribune

    With all her poetic ramblings, wild imaginings and topical references, Brandt has stayed surprisingly close to the original story. Whether you’re knowledgeable or not, it’s all there: the dwarf, the dragon, the giants, even Valhalla, which has morphed from a mythological hall of heroes into a 98-story office complex. And it all works excellently…the stylized, provocative, choreographically precise direction of Jessa Watson and Michael Severance has Brandt’s creative energy all over it. This is inventive theater of mythic proportion… brash, bold and courageous. -KPBS

  • The Waves by Kirsten Brandt
    Cast: 
    3
    ·
    Genre: dark comedy, experimental + 1 more
    ·
    Keyword: Frankenstein, motherhood + 3 more
    Genre: dark comedy, experimental, movement/physical
    Keyword: Frankenstein, motherhood, feminism, romance, Sisters
    Mary has a dilemma. She has destroyed her relationship with her father by running off with the love of her life. Claire wants “free love” but believes others should be monogamous with her. Claire’s driving force and vitality is the direct opposite of Mary’s richness of mind. Although the sisters adore one another, when a baby enters the picture, jealousies emerge. The sisters’ battle of wits triggers...
    Mary has a dilemma. She has destroyed her relationship with her father by running off with the love of her life. Claire wants “free love” but believes others should be monogamous with her. Claire’s driving force and vitality is the direct opposite of Mary’s richness of mind. Although the sisters adore one another, when a baby enters the picture, jealousies emerge. The sisters’ battle of wits triggers something in Mary’s subconscious and what she manifests is more horrific and surprising than she could possibly imagine. Inspired by the lives of Mary & Percy Shelley, Claire Clairmont and Lord Byron, The Waves is a modern look at relationships, sex and deeply rooted psychological conundrums.

    The Waves received a workshop and staged reading at Vox Nova Theatre Company in April 2008 and a production in conjunction with Southwestern College in July 2009.
    ..an absorbing drama… clever, perceptive writing.. – San Diego.com