COURTNEY LAINE SELF

I love ideas, story, magic, and metaphor. I’m always mixing the pedestrian with the ephemeral, the abstract with the concrete, the visceral with the cerebral. I try to create worlds that show universal human conditions on a somewhat different plane of reality. I search not only for new content within the boundaries of a play, but also for new forms and styles to house it.

I believe in the inherent thought-provoking, culture changing, restorative power of the theatre. I’m a director because I believe art is the first seed for change—the first step of a long individual and societal shift in thought and viewpoint and experience. Theatre for theatre’s sake is not my end goal—theatre is my tool to create change.

I value the evolution of our understanding of each other and our own selves, and I’ve turned to storytelling in the theatre to do it. I believe in telling stories that fulfill something in us—some need that we’ve buried down deep. I look to connect audiences to our humanity, to our subconscious, to our compassion, to our urge to question, to knowing we can define and change reality. More than any other art form, theatre should be like a dream, connected to visceral experience. It doesn’t represent our corporeal reality—it represents our most authentic sides and thoughts and curiosities and fears. I look to balance the cold pragmatic side of life with this type of theatre because not only is authentic inspiration hard to find, I don’t think we know what to do with it when it shows up.

I am known for my strong conceptual focus both in the development of new work and in the re-envisioning of classic work that results in a newly realized perspective on a familiar topic for audiences. This also creates room for greater engagement to the work with those of us in the rehearsal room and on the artistic staff creating a more fully explored piece. I prioritize the combination of a safe and supportive environment with my team in order to drive the intensity of the work and push everyone to their potential.

Check out my Tumblr to see daily snippets of my projects in process.

Or my Medium account to read articles I've written mostly about topics hovering around my ideas on theatre.

And Instagram: @courtneylaineself

Or check out Facebook

Info

I am a freelance director/choreographer based out of NYC.  

Please email me at: courtneylaineself@yahoo.com

Or LinkedIn

Or subscribe to my YouTube channel