David Kaye

David Kaye has served on the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of New Hampshire since 1996, serving as Chair from 2012-2017. He has worked throughout the US as a professional actor, director, and designer for such companies as the Texas Shakespeare Festival, the Maine Shakespeare Theatre at Monmouth, the National Theatre of the Performing Arts in NYC, Boston Chamber Theatre, and Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston, TX. David has previously worked as Artistic/Producing Director of the Hackmatack Playhouse, the Maine Stage Company, and New York City's Julian Acting Company. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of Power Play Interactive Development, a professional applied theatre company. With Power Play he has presented at a wide variety of national and international conferences including the Association for Women in Science (National Science Foundation) and the International Association for Chiefs of Police. He is a produced and published playwright and was awarded the Zornio Playwriting Prize in 1998. His play, Co-written with Oded Gross, AND GOD SAID (!@#?!) was performed at the Montreal International Fringe Theatre Festival, where it was selected as a "top ten pick" by the Montreal Gazette. His solo-play How I Brought Peace to the Middle East: A Tragicomedy premiered at the Actors Collective Theatre of New England, was an official selection at the United Solo Festival in NYC and won the Spotlight on the Arts Award for best new play. The play recently received critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and his been performed at theatres and universities throughout the US. David has also directed several solo performers including Susan Poulin (Ida’s Having a Yard Sale, Pardon My French) and Michael Parent (One More thing). He co-developed and directed writer/performer Sarah Brown’s Bloodshed, Miracles, Deliverance, Good Food!, which premiered at the Theatronetto Festival in Tel Aviv, Israel and later had a run at the NYC Fringe. He has written, directed and produced films, documentaries, and television programs for broadcast on Vermont and New Hampshire PBS. He has been author and co-author of several articles and book chapters on acting, psychodramatic applications, ensemble created theater, applied theatre and theatre and social justice. He has made numerous presentations and conducted workshops both nationally and internationally in subjects ranging from "Active Play Writing" to "New Clown" work to “Inter Active Theatre for Social Justice” and “Theatre of the Oppressed/Forum Theatre”. David is the co-founder and trainer of WildActs, the UNH social justice theatre troupe. He is a Fulbright Scholar (2012) and the recipient of several awards including the New England Theatre Conference Leonidas A. Nickole Theatre Educator of the Year (2009), University of New Hampshire Outstanding Associate Professor (2012) College of Liberal Arts Lindberg Award (2016) and Teaching Excellence Award (2009), UNH Social Justice Award (2011) ( and Spotlight on the Arts Awards for Best Director (2007) and Best Supporting Actor (2011). He has served in various leadership roles in the Association for Theatre in Higher Education including national chair of the Acting Program, Vice President for Conference Planning (2008) and Membership and Marketing (2012-14). Before joining the UNH Faculty in 1996, David was the Director of Theatre at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia where he created and trained the Sydistic Hampsters Comedy Improv Troupe. David is a graduate of the MFA professional theater-training program at Brandeis University.