Faculty

Profile

Melissa Hardy is a dramaturg who has also worked as a non-profit off-Broadway Producer. She is currently the Artistic Associate at the Play Company, an Obie-winning theatre that presents contemporary plays from around the world, alongside of new American plays. Over the past decade she has worked at The Play Company as Literary Associate, Company Manager, and Associate Producer to present world, U. S., and New York premieres of plays from India, Russia, Romania, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Germany, the U.K., and Mexico. She also curates PlayCo’s Idea Lab program, an eclectic series of conversations, readings, and musical events featuring artists, scholars and community leaders. Melissa has worked at leading regional theaters, including The Goodman Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Alabama Shakespeare’s Southern Writers’ Project. She has also served as a freelance dramaturg for various New York productions. Prior to joining The Play Company she worked as a literary agent at Bret Adams Ltd. Melissa graduated with an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Brooklyn College.

Degrees Held

BFA Theatre Arts and Drama, Ohio University
MFA Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Brooklyn College

Research Interests

Contemporary International Theatre and playwriting
Dramaturgy and Dramatic Literature
World and American Theatre History
Community and Audience Engagement
Producing Models
Models of collaboration