Department of Theater Arts

Adrianne Krstansky

Adrianne KrstanskyLouis, Frances, and Jeffrey Sachar Professor of Creative Arts

Degrees

  • University of California, San Diego, MFA
  • Beloit College, BA

Profile

Adrianne Krstansky is a professional actor and director and professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University. In the New England area, she has performed at Huntington Theater Company, The American Repertory Theater, Speakeasy Stage Company, Boston Playwrights Theater, New Repertory Theater, Lyrics Stage Company, Gloucester Stage Company and Commonwealth Shakespeare among others.

She is the winner of Boston's Eliot Norton Award and Independent Reviewers Awards for her performance in "Come Back Little Sheba" at the Huntington Theater Company.

In New York City and regionally, she has appeared at The Public Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Steppenwolf Theater, LaJolla Playhouse. Film credits include featured roles in Columbia Picture's "Little Women" (Greta Gerwig), "American Woman," "The Company Men" and the HBO miniseries "Olive Kitteridge." She recently appeared in "The Roommate" at The Lyric Stage Company in Boston.

Upcoming appearances include "Tribes at the Kitchen Theater" in Ithaca, New York, and "They All Fall Down" (world premiere) at The Huntington Theater Company. Her adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s "A Mark on the Wall" was presented at the International Virginia Woolf Conference 2014.

She has worked as a director at Shakespeare and Company (Lennox, Massachusetts) Actors Shakespeare Project ( Boston) and Merrimack Repertory Theater (MA). She is a tenured professor of theater arts at Brandeis, where she teaches acting, collaborative process, directing and improvisation. She directs departmental productions. Her last project was the collaboratively devised play "Ordinary Mind/Ordinary Day" based on Virginia Woolf's short story collection "Monday or Tuesday." She currently is working on a theatrical adaption of "The Waves" and continues her research on performing the texts of Virginia Woolf.

She holds an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of California, San Diego, and has a BA in theater arts from Beloit College. She is a member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

Awards and Honors

  • Nominee: Independent Reviewers of New England Award: Outstanding Solo Performance, "Every Brilliant Thing," Speakeasy Stage Company (2019)
  • Nominee: Independent Reviewers of New England, Outstanding Solo Performance, "Blackberry Winter" (2017)
  • Eliot Award Nomination: Outstanding Performance, "Blackberry Winter," New Repertory Theater, Midsize Theater (2016)
  • Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Ensemble, "The New Electric Ballroom," Gloucester Stage Company (2016)
  • Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Performance by an actress, for "Come Back Little Sheba," Huntington Theater Company, Large Theater Category (2016)
  • Independent Reviewers Award: Outstanding Actress, Large Theater, "Come Back Little Sheba," Huntington Theater Company (2016)
  • Nominee: Independent Reviewers of New England Outstanding Actress, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Production "Come Back Little Sheba," Huntington Theater (2016)
  • Winner — Eliot Norton Awards "Tribes": Outstanding Production (2014)
  • Winner Best Production — "Tribes" by Nina Raine, Independent Reviewers of New England Association (2014)
  • Best Ensemble — "Round and Round the Garden," Gloucester Stage Company, Independent Reviewers of New England Award (2013)
  • Independent Reviewers of New England, Best Actress nominee, "Three Viewings" (2012)
  • Independent Reviewers of New England, Best Production nominee — "Body Awareness" (Actor) (2011)
  • Independent Reviewers of New England, Best Solo Performance — "Bad Dates," Merrimack Repertory Theater (director) (2010)
  • Independent Reviewers of New England, Best Solo Performance nominee — "2.5 Minute Ride," New Repertory Theater (2010)
  • Eliot Norton Award, Best Solo Performance — "Bad Dates," Merrimack Repertory Theater (director) (2009)
  • Eliot Norton Award nominee — "GARY" by Melinda Lopez, Best Production (2008)
  • Independent Reviewers of New England Nomination — "Britannicus," Best Production, Best Ensemble (2008)
  • Eliot Norton Award Nominee — "Brittanicus," Outstanding Large Production and Outstanding Ensemble (2007)
  • Michael L. Walzer Award for Teaching, Brandeis University (2007)
  • Boston Globe Pick Best Theater Production of 2006 "Thom Pain (based on nothing)" at New Repertory Theater — Adrianne Krstansky, director (2006)
  • Mazer Award to study Suzuki and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart's SITI Company in Saratoga Springs, NY (2000-01)

Scholarship

  • "Little Women" adapted and directed by Greta Gerwig. Actor. Columbia Pictures, 2019.
  • "The Roommate." By Jen Silverman. Actor. Lyric Stage Company, Boston, October-November 2018.
  • "Tribes." By Nina Raine. Lead Actor. The Kitchen Theater, Ithaca, New York, May-June 2018.
  • "Atonement." Actor. Israeli Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, June 2017.
  • "Burning Woman." Principal role. Jake Scott Productions, Jake Scott, director, September 2018.
  • "Every Brilliant Thing." By Duncan McMillan. Actor-Narrator. Speakeasy Stage Company, Boston Center for the Arts, March 2018.
  • "Fefu and Her Friends." By Maria Irene Fornes. Director. Brandeis Department of Theater Arts, October 2017.
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Playwright Festival. Krstansky, Adrianne
  • "The Boston Project." By MJ Halberstadt. Actor. Speakeasy Stage Company
  • "Alone Above a Raging Sea." By Christopher Oscar Pena. Role of Mother. Huntington Theater — Breaking Ground New Play Festival, Huntington Theater, September
  • "Barbecue." By Robert O'Hara. Role of Lillie Anne. Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Lyric Stage Company of Boston.
  • "Doll's House." By Henrik Ibsen. Role of Anne Marie. Huntington Theater Company, Huntington Theater Company.
  • "Screwtop." By Dan Hunter. Performer. Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston Playwrights Theater, August 2016.
  • "Yerma." By Frederico Garcia Lorca. Role of Incarnacion. Arts Emerson, Emerson Stage, December.
  • "Yerma." By Frederico Garcia Lorca. Role of Incarnacion. Huntington Theatre, Huntington Theatre, March.
  • "All at Once Upon a Time." By Giselle Ty. Performer/Collaborator. Peabody Essex Museum, December 2015.
  • "Blackberry Winter." By Steven Yockey. Role of Vivienne Avery. New Repertory Theater, March-April.
  • "Mud Blue Sky." By Marisa Wegrzyn. Role of Angie. Bridge Repertory Company, Boston, Boston Center for the Arts, May/June.
  • "The New Electric Ballroom." By Enda Walsh. Role of Ada. Gloucester Stage Company, July-August 2015.
  • "You Enjoy Myself." By Topher Payne. Actor. Merrimack Repertory Company, October 2015 — one week workshop.
  • Krstansky, Adrianne. "An Audience Revolution — Taking the Stage." Theater Communications Group Source Book (2016): June 2016.
  • "Chatal." Written by Sinan Unel, directed by Melinda Lopez. Actor. Huntington Theater, July 2014.
  • "Come Back Little Sheba." By William Inge. Role of Lola. Directed by David Cromer, Huntington Theater Company, March/April 2015.
  • "Dead Man's Cell Phone." By Sarah Ruhl. Director. Brandeis Theater Company, October 2014.
  • "I Was Most Alive With you." Written and firected by Craig Lucas. Actor. Huntington Theater Company, September 2014.
  • "Make My Heart Flutter." By Hanoch Levine. Actor. Israeli Stage, October 2014.
  • "Imagining Madoff." By Deborah Margolin. Role of the Secretary. New Repertory Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA, December 2013-February 2014.
  • "Imagining Madoff." By Deborah Margolin. Role of the Secretary. Boston Center for American Performance, Boston University Studio, June 2014.
  • "Olive Kitteridge," HBO miniseries. Role of Cynthia Bibber. HBO, 2014.
  • "On the Verge." By Eric Overmeyer. Role of Fanny. New Repertory Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, April-June 2014.
  • "Richard the Third." By William Shakespeare. Role of the Duchess of York. Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Babson College Performance Series, November 2013.
  • "Tribes." By Nina Raine. Role of Beth. Speakeasy Stage Company, Boston, Calderwood Pavillion — Boston Center for the Arts, September-October 2014.
  • Krstansky, Adrianne. "Performing Woolf." International Virginia Woolf Conference. Chicago, Illinois. June 5-8, 2014.
  • "Character Analysis." Actress. Radcliffe Fellowship — Director — NYC director David Levine, 2013.
  • "Legally Dead (world premiere)." By Dan Hunter. Role of Annie. Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston University, January-February 2013.
  • "Paradise Lost." By Clifford Odets. Role of Bertha. New York Theater Workshop — Director Daniel Fish, New York Theater Workshop, April.
  • "A Mark on the Wall." By Virginia Woolf, adapted by Adrianne Krstansky and Abigail Killeen. Adaptor/director/performer. Brandeis University — workshop production, Independent, November 2011.
  • "Holiday Memories." By Truman Capote (adapted by Russell Vanderbrooke). Role of Ms. Sook. New Repertory Theater, Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Massachusetts, December 2012.
  • "Ordinary Mind/Ordinary Day." By Text by Virginia Woolf. Adapted by Adrianne Krstansky and Abigail Killeen from "Monday or Tuesday" by Virginia Woolf. Adaptor/director. Spingold Theater Center, Brandeis Theater Company — New Play Workshop, February 2012.
  • "Round and Round the Garden." By Alan Ayckbourn. Role of Ruth. Gloucester Stage Company, Glouceter, Massachusetts, June/July 2012.
  • "Superior Donuts." By Tracy Letts. Role of Randy Osteen. Smith College, Mandell Hall, New Century Theater, July 2011.
  • "Three Viewings." By Jeffrey Hatcher. Role of Virginia. Boston Center for American Performance, Boston University, May-June 2012.
  • "Three Viewings." By Jeffrey Hatcher. Role of Virginia. Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Massachusetts,  New Repertory Theater, November-December 2011.
  • Krstansky, Adrianne. "A Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf (A Performance)." Bowdoin College Faculty Seminar. Bowdoin College. March 2012.
  • "Afterlife: A Ghost Story." By Steve Yockey. Role of The Proprietess. Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, Massachusetts, New Repertory Theater, January-February 2011.
  • "Antony and Cleopatra." By William Shakespeare. Director. Actors Shakespeare Project, The Modern Theater at Suffolk University (premiere professional production in this theater), May-June 2011.
  • "Body Awareness." By Annie Baker. Role of Phyllis. Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, Speakeasy Stage Company, October-November 2010.
  • "Othello." By Willam Shakespeare. Role of Emilia. Boston Commons, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, July-August 2010.
  • "Paradise Lost." By Clifford Odets. Role of Bertha. Harvard University Loeb Theater, American Repertory Company Directed by Daniel Fish, March 1-15, 2010.
  • "Paradise Lost." By Clifford Odets. Role of Bertha. Loeb Theater, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, American Repertory Theater, February-March 2010.
  • "The Company Men." Role of Carol. Company Men Productions, 2010.
  • "2.5 Minute Ride." By Lisa Kron. Role of Lisa. Arsenal Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA, The New Repertory Theatre, October 2009.
  • "A Child's Christmas in Wales." By Dylan Thomas. Role of the Mother. Boston University, Boston Playwrights Theater, Feb.16, 2009.
  • "Bad Dates." By Teresa Rebeck. Stage director. Elayne Bernstein Theater, Shakespeare and Company, Lennox, Massachusetts, Jan. 14-March 7, 2009.
  • "Bad Dates." By Teresa Rebeck. Stage director. MRT, Lowell, Massachusetts, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, March 19-29, 2009.
  • "Slasher." By Allison Moore. Role of Frances. Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, March 27, 2009.
  • "The Company Men." By John Wells. Role of Carol. In production, May 2009.
  • "The Leer Sisters." By Larry Switsky. Role of Gamma. Harvard University, American Repertory Theater, November 2009.
  • "Trojan Barbie." By Christine Evans. Role of Hecuba. Harvard University, American Repertory Theater, Cambridge Massachusetts, Feb. 4, 2009.
  • "A Little Work." By Anita Diamant and Stephen McCauley. Role of Mi. Stuart Stree Playhouse, Stuart Street Playhouse in Boston, June 2007.
  • "Gary." By Melinda Lopez. Performer. Boston Playwrights Theater, Boston Playwrights Theater, Feb. 28-March 16, 2008.
  • "November." By David Mamet. Role of Clarice Bernstein. Lyric Stage, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Oct. 24-Nov. 15, 2008.
  • "Sow and Weep." By Nitzan Halperin. Role of Durriyah. Arsenal Center for the Arts, Boston, MA, New Repertory Theater, March 24, 2008.
  • "The Children." By Michael Elyanow. Role of the Nurse. Shakespeare and Company, Lennox, MA, Shakespeare and Company, Lennox, Massachusetts, June 2008.
  • "The Macbeth Project — The Making of Actors Shakespeare Project All-Female Macbeth (Documentary. Participant/interviewee. Actors Shakespeare Project, 2008.
  • "The Making of 'Gary' — Documentary." Performer. Boston University, 2008.
  • "WELL." By Lisa Kron. Role of Lisa. Smith College, New Century Theater at Smith College, July 9-19.
  • "356 days/365 plays." By Suzan Lori Parks. Ensemble. Blessed Unrest Theater Company, New York City, The Public Theater, New York City, May 2007.
  • "Britannicus." By Racine.  Role of Albina. January-February 2007.
  • "Macbeth." By William Shakespeare. Director. Studio 102 at Boston University, Actors Shakespeare Project, Oct.18-Nov. 18, 2007.
  • "The Etty Project." By Kirk Lynn. Ensemble. Brandeis University, FortyMagnolias Production, July 2006.
  • "Thom Pain (based on nothing)." By Will Eno. Director. The New Repertory Theater, Arsenal Theater, Watertown, Massachusetts, September 2006.
  • "The Bacchae." By Euripides. Role of Agave. Spingold Theater Center, Brandeis Theater Company, April/May 2006.
  • "Antigone." Actor. Nora Theater Company
  • "Boston Theater Marathon." Actor. Boston Playwrights Theater
  • "The Loman Family Picnic." Actor. The Gloucester Stage Company
  • "Bug." Krstansky, Adrianne. Boston Theatre Works
  • "The Tale of The Allergist's Wife." Krstansky, Adrianne. New Century Theatre
  • "Snakebit." Krstansky, Adrianne. Speakeasy Stage Company
  • "Closer." Krstansky, Adrianne. Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre
  • "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea." Krstansky, Adrianne. The Steppenwolf Theater
  • "Ubu Rock." Krstansky, Adrianne. American Repertory Theater
  • "Luck, Pluck and Virtue." Krstansky, Adrianne. The Atlantic Theater Company
  • "A Clockwork Orange." Krstansky, Adrianne. Steppenwolf Theater
  • "Luck, Pluck and Virtue." Krstansky, Adrianne. LaJolla Playhouse
  • "Twelfth Night." Krstansky, Adrianne. Steppenwolf Theater