Guest Artists:

John Langs, Associate Artist, Seattle Shakespeare Company
Directing the musical "A Man of No Importance" at NCSA (opens Feb. 17)

Jeremy Skidmore, Artistic Director of Theater Alliance in Washington, D.C.
Directing "Gross Indecency" at NCSA (opens Feb. 24)

Ashley Gates Jansen, frequent guest director
Directing "After Easter" at NCSA (opens March 2) and teaching freshman "text class" for winter term 

BIOS

John Langs, director of “A Man of No Importance,” received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the NCSA School of Drama in 1996. He is also a graduate of The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. He has served as artistic director for The Full Contact Shakespeare Company of Sacramento, Calif.; Dimensions Theater Project of Stockton, Calif.; the Golden Mean Theater Company of Los Angeles; and Maui Onstage in Hawaii. He created many original works, including the award-winning musical “Up the Week Without a Paddle,” with the Neurotic Young Urbanites in Los Angeles. He received a Backstage West Garland Award for his direction of “The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World,” which moved on to the Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, where it was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award. Langs is currently an associate artist at the Seattle Shakespeare Company, where he recently directed “King Lear” and will return this year to direct “Romeo and Juliet.”  

Jeremy Skidmore, director of “Gross Indecency,” received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from NCSA in 2000. As the artistic director of the Theatre Alliance, he has directed the Washington premieres of “Mary’s Wedding” (“Top Ten Show of 2004” in the Washington City Paper, Metro Weekly and Potomac Stages), “Tales from Ovid,” “Slaughter City,” the American premiere of “The Dispute,” and the world premiere of “Painted Alice.” At Theatre Alliance, he has produced the Washington premieres of “Thief River,” “[sic],” “Boy Gets Girl” and “The Gospel of John” (which transferred to off-Broadway). His company has been nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards in just two years, and is the recipient of the 2004 Mary Goldwater Award. He has also directed the world premiere of “After the Flood” for Rorschach Theatre, the world premiere of “Finding Tony” for Charter Theatre, “The Learned Ladies” for Catalyst Theater Company, and “Speed-The-Plow” for the Magellan Project (nominated for Best Revival of the Year by Los Angeles Weekly). Skidmore was the first American to assistant direct at the Subaru Theater Company in Tokyo and at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. He has taught at the National Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, The Lovett School in Atlanta, Fu Ren Catholic University in Taiwan, and the Macau International Fringe Festival in China, among others. 

Ashley Gates Jansen, director of “After Easter,” was a member of NCSA’s first directing class, pioneered by School of Drama Dean Gerald Freedman. She also helped develop “Shakespeare Lives!” a joint program between the School of Drama and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, designed to improve the teaching of Shakespeare in North Carolina schools. Her professional credits include work at the Old Globe in San Diego, the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland and San Francisco’s Encore Theatre. Her directing credits include “Balm in Gilead,” “Burn This,” “Waiting for Godot,” “The Cradle Song,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” (NCSA 1998) and “Three Tall Women” (NCSA 2002). In addition to a B.F.A. from NCSA, Ashley Gates Jansen holds a B.A. in theatre from the University of Vermont, and an M.A. in English from Middlebury College’s Breadloaf School of English.

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For more information, call Marla Carpenter at 336-770-3337 in the public relations office at NCSA.