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TSW artists and collaborators

TSW Director Gail Marlene Schwartz

I share stories via theater and video, sometimes in combination, sometimes separately. My work has focused on subjects ranging from marriage to death to dreams to democracy to identity to relationships to moving. I consider all relationships within a project to be the project itself; therefore, the relationships get as much attention and effort as does the “end product” or the performance. My work is guided by my values of honesty, balance, presence, communication, clarity, respect and collaboration.

Influences

Anne Bogart, Phyllis Chesler, Jonathan Cauette, David Dorfman, Viktor Frankl, Suzi Gablik, Rob Handel, bell hooks, Keri Hulme, Dan Hurlin, Allan Kaprow, Liz Lerman, Frances Moore Lappé, Robert D. Putnam, Marshall Rosenberg, Michael Rohd, Anna Deveare Smith, Starhawk, Danah Zohar

Education and Training

  • MFA, Goddard College, 2004
  • BA, Tufts University, 1988

  • Sojourn Theater: Devising Documentary-Style Theater, Portland, OR, 2004
  • Mandala Center: Theater of the Oppressed. Port Townsend, WA, 2004
  • Liz Lerman Dance Exchange: Text and Movement, Critical Response. College Park, MD, 2003
  • New York Mask and Clown Workshop: New York, NY, 1999
  • Michael Howard Studios: Improvisation, Scene Study. New York, NY, 1999
  • Saratoga International Theater Institute: Viewpoints, Suzuki. Saratoga Springs, NY, 1997
  • American Conservatory Theater: Audition, Alexander, Voice, Movement. San Francisco, CA, 1995
  • Lost Nation Theater: Movement, Shakespeare, Improvisation. Montpelier, VT, 1993

Gail lives in Montréal, QC

Associate Artists

Jen Berger (Stage Manager, Crazy) is an activist and artist. She completed her degree in Community Based Arts & Social Change at Burlington College in 2006. She has since been involved in teaching community art projects (both performance and visual arts) at Lawrence Barnes Elementary school, YMCA Live Y'ers program, The Lunch Program through Burlington Parks & Recreation, VSA Vermont and Homebase. She is currently employed by the Peace & Justice Center in Burlington and using mixed media visual arts and film to support her work with Iraq Veterans Against the War. jb4pax@yahoo.com.

Danny Weiss (Videographer) produces independent video and creates programming for the three Burlington local access television stations.He directed and edited a performance film for poet/musician David Budbill called Songs for Life which was shot at Burlington's Flynnspace in 2006. He also produced and edited the video 9/11: UNANSWERED QUESTIONS to promote reopening a truly independent investigation into the events surrounding 9/11/2001. Currently, Danny co-produces and technical directs a bi-weekly cable show, Salaam Shalom, dedicated to promoting Palestinian rights and a just peace in Palestine/Israel.

Judith Chalmer, M.F.A. (Producer, Crazy), is Executive Director of VSA Arts of Vermont, a non-profit organization devoted to making the world of the arts accessible to Vermonters of all abilities. Chalmer is the creator of a dance narrative, “Cruzando Fronteras/ Clearing Customs/ Preselenje,” on the lives of immigrants and refugees in Central Vermont, as well as the author and performer of “Don’t Go In There!,” a one-woman comedy on ethnic consciousness in Central Vermont. She is the author of a book of poems, Out of History’s Junk Jar (Time Being Books, 1995) and her creative non-fiction has been published in anthologies such as, Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America, and Celebrating The Lives of Jewish Women: Patterns in a Feminist Sampler (Haworth Press, 1997).

Since March, 2000, Amy E. Stuart (workshop leader, Crazy) has worked with students and faculty at the Community College of Vermont in Burlington. A social worker by training, she finds joy in listening to the stories people tell about their relationships… relationships with themselves and others and relationships to education, work and community. Growth happens best, she believes, when people identify the meanings they give their feelings, thoughts and experiences. She lives with her fiancée, Mark Rowell, his daughters Sophia and Eleanor and their dog Sadie.

Emily Burkes-Nossiter, MA (director, Crazy), is a drama therapist, playwright, actor, and director. She has worked with diverse communities, groups, and individuals on the creation and performance of authentic, autobiographical, and therapeutic theatre works. She is particularly interested in the intersection of art, healing, and social justice, in service of personal and collective transformation. Emily has worked as a drama therapist/psychotherapist in clinical and community settings. She is currently a co-director of The Herstories Project (www.herstoriesproject.org) and its sister organization, Common Thread Productions, based in Montreal.

Isabel Archambault (set designer, Crazy), is a graphic designer and photographer living in Montreal. www.isamultimedia.com.

Myriam Fougére, Writer and Director, "The Parallel Revolution"
Born in Quebec City, Myriam Fougère has sculpted clay for 20 years. A multidisciplinary artist, she has lived with a camera on her shoulder for many years, before she learned to produce and edit through public television. Myriam lived in New York City for five years and in Vancouver for eight, where she co-directed Within These Walls, a documentary on people dealing with mental illness, with Chris McDowell. Following a breast cancer diagnosis, she went to an art therapy workshop where she met women living with cancer and the idea for her next film, On a Moving Path, came to life. As writer, director, camera operator and editor of this film, she brought to the screen her sculptor's dexterity, her artistic abilities and a unique vision about the meaning of life.
Check out her film, "Deroutes et Parcours/On a Moving Path"

Jonathan Himsworth (Manager)
Jonathan has been involved in radio, print journalism and storyboards for film. He contributed animation and script development to "Sunk in the Trunk" --a play that is now touring Canada with Lynne Cooper and Francis Neron of the Trunk Collectif. A multi-disciplinary artist, his illustrations have been on display at the Core Gallery of Montreal and in the Montreal Mirror. As a Montreal Correspondent, Jonathan has worked for the World Football Pages - a sports periodical produced in Vancouver. In addition, he is author of several published short stories and leads the Montreal branch of the Stadium Art Movement. In addition to being Tour Manager for Third Story Window, Jonathan is currently an advisory board member of the Trunk Collectif.