Jennifer Onopa

ABOUT

I make theater that pulls people forward in their seats to catch their breath, or arrests them on a street corner to look closer. I make theater that is devised, text-based, highly visual, and often site-specific. I direct by building trust quickly and enabling wild creative risk-taking. I've created work on mainstages, in schools, street corners, parking lots, museum plazas, subway stations, orchards, and cafes, in the U.S. and abroad — always in conversation with the community it's made by, for, and with.

My work has been recognized by the Drama League Directing Fellowship (semifinalist, 2018–2020), the New England Foundation for the Arts, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union, of which I'm an Associate Member.

I work as a Senior Teaching Artist in the Education and Community Engagement Department of the Alley Theatre, where I have managed teaching artist teams, designed curriculum, and built creative programs that reach K-12 students, educators, and communities across Houston. I am actively expanding my directing work in Houston's theater community. I co-founded the Re/Emergence Collective in western Massachusetts, a theater company creating performance for community healing.

Teaching has been central to my practice for over 25 years — from public schools in New York City to university stages in Massachusetts and Texas. I've taught at UMass Amherst, Mount Holyoke College, and Lone Star College, and trained hundreds of young artists, educators, and community members.

Contact: OnopaJ@gmail.com