kt shorb

kt shorb is a director, educator, and actor. They hold a Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice and an MA in Radio-Television-Film, both from the University of Texas at Austin as well as a Bachelor’s degree in music composition from Oberlin College Conservatory. They are a multi-disciplinary artist who grew up in Massachusetts, rural Japan, and Tokyo. They are an Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance at Macalester College. kt is also the Board Vice President for The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists.

“I love what kt shorb does and how they do it, both onstage and off. Whatever they are up to is not to be missed.”

Anne Bogart, Artistic Director , SITI Company

As a director, shorb facilitates physical virtuosity and intensity. Directing credits in theatre, devised theater, and opera include: The Future of Ismael, black girl love: an adaptation project, The Women of __, Carmen, 893 | Ya-ku-za, The Mikado: Reclaimed, and others. Their directorial work with creator-performers includes: The Psychopomp Project by Wendy Vastine (2014); Radio Kaduna and a tortoise walks majestically on window ledges by Guggenheim Fellow Wura-Natasha Ogunji, presented at The Pulitzer Foundation and the Menil Collection (2013); and two works by Natalie Goodnow, EAGLE WOMAN POEMS (2010) and MUD OFFERINGS (2009). shorb has also directed FronteraFest “Best of Fest” winners Dice (2012; by Candyce Rusk) and by a quiet sea (2009; by Wura-Natasha Ogunji). 

They have trained in the Suzuki Acting Method and Viewpoints (Anne Bogart/Tina Landau) and have studied directing with Pirrone Yousefzadeh and KJ Sanchez.

They are currently collaborating with Katherine Wilkinson on a new performance piece about the body, desire, and queerness called Inappropriate. They were a 2015 invited fellow at the Peer Leadership Exchange for the National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation in Minneapolis, hosted by Pangea World Theater and Art2Action, and a 2019 Directing Fellow at Wolf Trap Opera.

As an educator, shorb focuses on the relationship between social structures (such as race and sexuality) and personal expression through peer learning and individualized attention. Drawing from Paolo Freire’s pedagogy of the oppressed, shorb recognizes the innate wisdom and knowledge of all students. In addition, they have trained in Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed with Julian Boal and Bárbara Santos. They have served as faculty at Southwestern University, UT-Austin, St. Edward’s University, and Allegheny College. They are currently an Assistant Professor of Theater and Dance at Macalester College.

kt has trained in the Suzuki Acting Method and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart, Tadashi Suzuki, the SITI Company and the Suzuki Company of Toga, as well as with Simon Woods of Zen Zen Zo (Brisbane, Australia). They have studied acting with Adelina Anthony.

shorb’s solo performance, Una Corda (2010, Yvan Greenberg, dir), has been performed excerpted and in-full at the Philadelphia COLLAGE Collaborative Arts Festival, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, Oberlin College, Southwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Alma de Mujer Center for Social Change, Co-Lab Austin, and the University of Chicago. Other performance credits include: “Old Shady” in Men on Boats (Jaclyn Backhaus, Mary Moody Northen Theatre, 2018), “1” in 893 | Ya-ku-za (VORTEX and Victory Garden’s Theatre, 2018), “Theseus” in A Midsummer Nights Dream (Scottish Rite, 2014), “Dr. Drexler/Dancer,” in Still Now (2014), and “Count Thurzo” in Vampyress ( 2010). They are currently working with director Katherine Wilkinson on Inappropriate, a show about queer time travel and friendship.

shorb is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the Generic Ensemble Company, a troupe that foregrounds marginal bodies in collaborative, ensemble-based work in Austin, Texas. Directorial credits with GenEnCo include: black girl love: an adaptation project,  The Future of Ismael, Carmen, 893 | Ya-ku-za, Scheherazade, and The Mikado: Reclaimed. Under kt’s leadership, GenEnCo’s work has earned multiple B. Iden Payne and Austin Critics’ Choice nominations.