Nakissa Etemad is a professional dramaturg, producer, new play director and French translator based in San Francisco. She is the Treasurer and former Regional VP Metro Bay Area of LMDA, a Resident Artist of Golden Thread Productions, member of the Middle East North Africa - MENA Theater Makers Alliance, and the former Associate Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company. She has worked in the field of dramaturgy for twenty-eight years, including full-time posts as Dramaturg and Literary Manager for The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia and San Jose Rep, and Resident Dramaturg and Artistic Associate for San Diego Rep. Nakissa is the 2015 recipient of The Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy for her work with playwright Marcus Gardley on the four-city world premieres of THE ROAD WEEPS, THE WELL RUNS DRY, part of the Launching New Plays Initiative of The Lark Play Development Center, at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska; Pillsbury House Theatre in Minneapolis; LATC in Los Angeles; and University of South Florida in Tampa (roadweeps.org). Nakissa has fostered over 25 professional world premieres of plays and musicals and dramaturged over 100 productions, workshops and staged readings with such writers as Tom Stoppard, Arthur Miller, Lynn Nottage, Polly Pen, Luis Valdez, Charles L. Mee, Culture Clash, Marcus Gardley, Yussef El Guindi, Betty Shamieh, Octavio Solis, Julie Hebert, Doug Wright, Dael Orlandersmith, Chay Yew, Katori Hall, Heather McDonald, Steven Dietz, Garret Jon Groenveld, Lauren Yee, Marisela Treviño Orta, Geetha Reddy, Jeanne Drennan, Dan Dietz, Torange Yeghiazarian, Niku Sharei, and Deborah Wain. She studied at the Université de Paris III, and holds certificates from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute, London, and an MFA in Dramaturgy from UC San Diego.

Career highlights include: The Wilma Theater's East Coast Premiere and 2nd production of Arthur Miller’s penultimate play RESURRECTION BLUES; The Philadelphia Orchestra and The Wilma’s EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOR by Tom Stoppard and André Previn; the inaugural premiere in the Kogod Cradle of Marcus Gardley’s EVERY TONGUE CONFESS for Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater; the world premiere Wilma-commissioned musical EMBARRASSMENTS by Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan; the world premiere of The Doors musical CELEBRATION OF THE LIZARD at San Diego Rep with workshops starring Billy Zane and Grace Jones; working with Katori Hall on THE MOUNTAINTOP on Broadway in 2011 and in the '08 Bay Area Playwrights Festival; the world premiere and development of CULTURE CLASH IN BORDERTOWN at San Diego Rep; and as Festival Director, producing the San Jose Rep’s 5th Annual New America Playwrights Festival, featuring writers Lynn Nottage, Polly Pen, James Milton, and Naomi Iizuka. Nakissa has also provided dramaturgy for Marin Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, O’Neill Music Theater Conference, La Jolla Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, Z Space, The Cutting Ball Theater, and George Street Playhouse, among others.

Development of New Plays and Musicals. Music Direction. French Language Coaching and Translation.

English, French, Limited Spanish and Farsi

Yes