Degrees

M.F.A. American Repertory Theatre
B.A. Columbia University

Research Area

playwriting, dramatic translation, new play development, acting, directing, Middle Eastern theater, changing styles in Shakespearean acting, voice & speech, dialects

Current Courses

Playwriting, Theatre 225. Course description: A play is not a finished literary product; it is a blueprint for a collaborative theatrical event. Surrendering a precious piece of writing to actors, directors and designers can be a harrowing experience, but it can also be an extraordinary experience– a collision and fusion of talents, energies, and visions that influence our writing and bring our plays to life in ways beyond our imagination. In this course we will learn and practice the elements of dramatic writing including action and conflict, character development, dialogue, theme, and form. We will also study canonical dramatic texts from the perspectives of directors, actors, and fellow playwrights. We will build a writing community where we can share constructive and critical feedback on our work and draw on the talents and creativity of members of the Vanderbilt community to bring our writing to life through in-class readings and public presentation.
Dramatic Texts in Performance, English 118W. Course Description: In this seminar we will study several canonical dramatic works as they have been interpreted by some of the best stage and film artists. We will examine how artists’ renditions of these plays in recordings, films, and live performance offer competing interpretations of character, story, and theme. By juxtaposing different interpretations of the same text we will learn to observe and listen critically to performances and develop a complex understanding of these literary works. We will gain further insight into both text and performance by situating these productions in their historical context.

Previous Positions

Preceptor, Harvard College Writing Program
Playwriting Fellow, Huntington Theatre Company
Teaching Assistant, Harvard University, Department of Dramatic Arts

Professional Societies

Actors Equity Association (AEA), Dramatists Guild, Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA)

Biography

Rebekah Maggor is a playwright, translator, director, actress, and voice and speech specialist. She received her MFA through the American Repertory Theater Institute at Harvard University, her BA from Columbia University, and studied Arabic at Alexandria University in Egypt. She teaches dramatic literature and playwriting at Vanderbilt University. Her first full-length play, TWO DAYS AT HOME THREE DAYS IN PRISON, explored the challenges of a young woman soldier assigned to work as a prison guard in an Israeli military prison. Her solo piece, SHAKESPEARE'S ACTRESSES IN AMERICA, revealed how the interpretations of several influential nineteenth and early twentieth century actress-managers have shaped our understanding of Shakespeare’s plays. Together with Mohammed Albakry, she translated Ibrahim El-Husseini’s COMMEDIA AL-AHZAAN (Comedy of Sorrows), about Egypt’s January 25th revolution, and will direct readings of the play at the Radcliffe Institute, the Segal Theatre Center in New York, and Vanderbilt University. Her work has had readings and productions at the American Repertory Theater, the New York Theater Workshop, the Old Vic in London, and the Huntington Theatre Company. She has received commissions and fellowships from the Huntington Playwriting Fellows, the Catalyst Collaborative @ M.I.T., the Foundation for Jewish Culture, and the Middle Eastern Theater Project. Currently she is working in collaboration with anthropologist Keren Mazuz on a play called PAPER SWANS, which delves into the world of Filipina migrant care workers in Israel.

As an actress she has worked with directors Robert Woodruff, Peter Sellers, Andrei Serban, Anne Bogart, János Szász and others. As a voice and speech specialist she has coached on Broadway, in regional theater, for film and television, and been a dialect consultant for PBS and NPR. She is an Associate Editor of the International Dialects of English Archive and an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework. Maggor was founding director of the Derek Bok Center’s Program in Speaking and Learning at Harvard University.