In this episode, director and actor Shaun Patrick Tubbs joins us to talk about his journey through the worlds of theatre, opera, and new play development. This path has taken him from Wright State to Juilliard, from Miami to New York, from performing center stage to shaping stories from the director’s chair.

Shaun’s directing work reflects a deep commitment to both craft and conscience. His productions include Ragtime (Union Avenue Opera), Defacing Michael Jackson (Miami New Drama), The Tempest and Life Is a Dream (Juilliard), Sweat (Wright State University), Black Dick (New York Theatre Workshop), Independence Eve (Signature Theatre DC), hop thA A (Ars Nova), Artney Jackson (The Lark/New Black Festival), and Disgraced (Asolo Repertory Theatre). Each work he approaches reveals a director attuned to rhythm, character, and the political heart of storytelling — a sensibility born from years of listening as an actor and creating as a collaborator.

As a performer, Shaun has appeared in Terminus (New York Theatre Workshop), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (Human Race Theatre), My Mañana Comes (Manhattan Theatre Club), and The Book of Grace (Zachary Scott Theatre). His range as an artist — from classical to contemporary, comedic to deeply human — reflects his belief that theatre at its best is an act of empathy and invitation.

A recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, Shaun holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA from Wright State University. He is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), and SAG-AFTRA.

Shaun’s artistry is grounded in both rigorous training and radical openness. Whether directing a new work or reimagining a classic, he asks the same questions: What does this story demand of us now? How do we create space for transformation, not just performance? And what happens when artists bring their whole selves to the work, intellect, heart, humor, and history?

In conversation, Shaun is as generous and thoughtful as his directing suggests, exploring how identity and experience shape artistic choices, how collaboration becomes a political act, and how storytelling can hold a mirror up to both beauty and discomfort. His career is a testament to a life lived in dialogue with the art form itself.

Discover more about his work at shaunpatricktubbs.com.

Music: Purple Planet Music

Director, Professor, and writer Anne Bogart has led the Directing concentration at Columbia University's School of the Arts' Theatre program for over 30 years—almost as long as the concentration has been in existence.

While her reputation off-campus precedes her as the co-founder of the renowned SITI Theatre Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992, and the revolutionary Viewpoints acting method, on campus, she is known for her extraordinary dedication to her students and their success.

She is the recipient of four Honorary Doctorates from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Skidmore College, Bard College, and Cornish College. She was a recipient of a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, the Richard B. Fisher Award, a USA Fellowship, a Rockefeller Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and received the 2016 Alfred Drake Award from Brooklyn College.

Works with SITI include Radio Christmas Carol, Falling & Loving, The Bacchae, Chess Match, The Theater is a Blank Page, Steel Hammer, Persians, A Rite, Café Variations, Trojan Women, American Document, Antigone, Freshwater, Under Construction, Who Do You Think You Are, Radio Macbeth, Hotel Cassiopeia; Death and the Ploughman, La Dispute, Score, bobrauschenbergamerica, Room, War of the Worlds, Cabin Pressure, The Radio Play, Alice’s Adventures, Culture of Desire, Bob, Going, Going, Gone, Small Lives/Big Dreams, The Medium, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Miss Julie, and Orestes. Operas include Tristan and Isolde, The Handmaid’s Tale, Alcina, Macbeth, Norma, Carmen, I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Nicholas and Alexandra, Marina: A Captive Spirit, Lilith, and Seven Deadly Sins.

Bogart is the author of six books: A Director Prepares, The Viewpoints Book, And Then, You Act, Conversations with Anne, What’s the Story, and, most recently, The Art of Resonance.

Music: Purple Planet Music

Here’s something that most people don’t know: my whole career as a podcaster is actually an accident.

It all started in 2020, during the pandemic, with The Theatre of Others Podcast. At first, it was just a way to stay connected, to share ideas, and to bring a little spark of creativity at a time when we all felt isolated. What began as a small experiment suddenly took off, and it opened doors I never expected.

Now I find myself on a new path—with The Board of Directors. And this wasn’t supposed to be a thing either. But the truth is, directors rarely get the chance to see each other’s work. We don’t sit in on each other’s rehearsals. We don’t often get to share how we live inside this strange, demanding, exhilarating role of being a director.

So this podcast is not about how to direct—it’s not a handbook of tips and tricks. It’s about how to BE a director. What it feels like. What it means. The doubts, the breakthroughs, the ways we navigate making work with others.

And because I can do whatever I want, I’m choosing to talk with directors I admire, directors you may know, and directors you may never have heard of—but each one has something worth sharing. Something I believe will challenge us, move us, and maybe even change the way we see our own practice.

I am as much a student of these conversations as you are. I come with my curiosity, my questions, my desire to learn. Sometimes we’ll agree, sometimes we won’t. And that’s all part of it.

So, if you’re looking for insight, companionship, and a glimpse into the often unseen world of the director’s craft, join me here, on The Board of Directors. Let’s learn what it means to be a director—together.

Music: Purple Planet Music

Music: Purple Planet Music