Rebecca Taichman
Rebecca Taichman is an American theatre director. In 2017, she received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Indecent.
Life and career
Taichman attended McGill University, Montreal, and graduated from the Yale School of Drama. She was the associate artistic director at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington, D.C. for two years. She is an affiliated artist at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C, where she has directed Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale and Cymbeline. The Washington Post reviewer wrote of her work: "Taichman has a proven knack for framing difficult plays in tantalizing ways. Her saucy, la dolce vita The Taming of the Shrew in 2007 remains one of the smartest nights of Shakespeare the company has offered."
Playbill noted that Taichman cannot be put in a category: "...her career is marked by an eclectic range of works—from new plays to outdoor operas. Taichman said that 'The end goal of it all...is to open people’s hearts.' ”
She has directed several Shakespeare plays at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton. New Jersey, including The Winter’s Tale in 2013. She said: "With Shakespeare, there's obviously no playwright telling me what he wants to see or how he wants to see it. In a sense, it's extremely liberating, if also lonely. When directing Shakespeare, I'm looking for my deepest, most authentic possible connection to the play and trusting that way in."
Sources: Internet Off-Broadway Database; Internet Broadway DatabaseDead Man's Cell Phone by Sarah Ruhl, 2007 at Woolly Mammoth Theater, DC The Scene by Theresa Rebeck, 2007 at Second Stage TheatreThe Evildoers by David Adjmi, 2008 at Yale Repertory Theatre Orlando by Sarah Ruhl, 2010 at CSC TheatreMilk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge, 2011 at Playwrights HorizonsLuck of the Irish by Kirsten Greenidge, 2013 at Claire Tow Theater Marie Antoinette by David Adjmi, 2013 at Soho Repertory Theatre Stage Kiss by Sarah Ruhl, 2014 at Playwrights HorizonsThe Oldest Boy by Sarah Ruhl, 2014 at Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater Familiar by Danai Gurira, 2016 at Playwrights HorizonsIndecent by Paula Vogel and Taichman, 2016 at Vineyard Theatre and 2017, Cort Theatre How to Transcend a Happy Marriage by Sarah Ruhl, 2017 at Mitzi E. Newhouse TheaterTime and the Conways by J.B. Priestley, 2014 at the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego; 2017 at American Airlines Theatre School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh, November 2017 at Lucille Lortel Theatre
Work as opera director
Dark Sisters by Nico Muhly, 2011 produced by Gotham Chamber OperaOrpheus by Telemann, 2012 at New York City Opera
Awards and nominations
Indecent — 2017 Lucille Lortel Awards nomination, Outstanding Director; 2017 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, Outstanding Director of a Play; 2017 Obie Award, Directing; 2017 Tony Award Best Direction of a Play winnerThe Scene — 2007 Joseph A. Callaway Award nomination