Noelle Ghoussaini
MA Arts Politics Class of 2010
BA Performance Studies / French (minor African Studies), Northwestern University
Noelle Ghoussaini is a multidisciplinary theatre artist: a director, writer, educator and performer. She creates expansive and genre-defying theatre that examines and reimagines our society within political, cultural and mystical contexts. In her work, she brings to light to the divine feminine and the resilient spirit of women living under patriarchal norms. She creates nuanced stories about unexposed beauty and complexity of spiritual and social landscapes in the Middle East. Recent Projects include: The Jungle (Resident Director, Curran Theatre) A Skate Play (Director / Adaptor, Co-production of The Jenin Freedom Theatre and Skateqilya) Acquittal (Director, Pan Asian Rep), Dreamscapes (Co-creator / Performer, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center), 6 views: on women of power and interest (Creator / Performer, Venice Biennale), Mariposa and the Saint by Julia Steele Allen (Dir. National Tour) There is a Field by Jen Marlowe (Dir. National Tour). Noelle was also the recipient of the Laundromat Project Create Change Fellowship, was a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 directing fellow, a Target Margin Institute Fellow, a Hemispheric Institute fellow for artist activists and a member of the 2013 Lincoln Center Director’s Lab.
What drew you to the MA Arts Politics program?
It was the only program I applied to. I wanted to find a way to work in an interdisciplinary manner to bring together my passion for live performance arts and activism. This was the only program I found that did this at a Masters level.
How did your experience in the program shape your work?
It has and continues to shape my work and my politics. I met collaborators in the program I still continue to work with. It allowed me access to cultural institutions in NYC that I remain connected to and inspired by. And more than anything, through both theory and practice - this program provided me with the vision to understand how I could make a career as an arts activist, bringing together the diverse array of my professional, artistic and personal interests and work.
What are you doing now?
I am currently working as a theatre artist and educator in NYC and internationally.