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Member Info

Jules Odendahl-James

Job Title: Director of Engagement, Duke Arts
Organization affiliation:

Duke University

Location: DURHAM, NC
Member since: 2011
Education:

M.A./PhD, Performance Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; M.F.A., Directing, Dept. of Theater and Dance, University of Texas at Austin; B.A. Theater Arts, Hendrix College.

Biography:

Jules is a founding company member of the Bulldog Ensemble Theatre in Durham, and of the play reading series, Theater Book Club: We Read. You Listen. Formerly an Associate Artistic Director of Manbites Dog Theatre from 2014 until is closure in 2018, she is an acclaimed independent theater artist based in Durham, NC.
From 2011-2014, Jules served as Resident Dramaturg and a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theater Studies at Duke University. She is currently an Adjunct faculty there and as of May 2024 she serves as the Director of Engagement for Duke Arts.

She is a founding member of Bold Maids Productions, a feminist performance company (1996 – 2003) who, in addition to producing work by women playwrights, composed a series of original scripts tackling issues of identity, sexuality, and politics through a vaudevillian approach to academic theory. Her directing work is marked by her investments in an ensemble dynamic, cross-gender casting and performance language, the work of female playwrights, and the adaptation of literature and visual texts for the stage.

In North Carolina she has worked with Duke University, Playmakers Repertory Company, Manbites Dog Theater, UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art Kenan Theatre Company, Bulldog Ensemble Theatre, Justice Theatre Project, the Carrboro ArtsCenter, and Company Carolina.

Areas of Expertise:

Documentary Theater. Adaptation. Female playwrights. Science plays. Forensic media. Feminist performance work. Devised work. New Media & Dramaturgy.

Recent Work:

Recent dramaturgy & directing:
Director. Witch by Jen Silverman. Kenan Theatre Company, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Feb.-Mar. 2026.
Dramaturg. Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn. Director Jeff Storer. Duke University. Nov. 2025.
Director. John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Bellflower. Kenan Theatre Company, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nov. 2024.
Director. Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. Duke University. April 2024.
Dramaturg. Inferior Sex by Jacqueline Lawton. Director Tatyana-Marie Carlo. Trinity Repertory Company. March 2023.
Dramaturg. She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen. Director Jeff Storer. Duke University. Nov. 2022.
Dramaturg. Behold! A Negress by Jacqueline Lawton. Director Tatyana-Marie Carlo. Everyman Theater. Jan. 2022.

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