ELAINE HENDRIKS SMITH, PH.D.

theatre maker & scholar

I am a theatre scholar, educator, director, stage manager, designer, producer, and arts administrator with more than three decades of experience in academic, professional, community, and youth theatre. I have led interdisciplinary teams across theatre, dance, and music through growth, transition, and innovation, with strengths in strategic planning, program development, collaborative leadership, and inclusive artistic environments. My skills include teaching, directing, arts administration, lighting design, dramaturgy, production management, arts marketing, mentorship, curriculum development, and public speaking.

My scholarship examines the ways theatre makers stage anxiety in moments of social rupture. Grounded in affect and trauma theory, my work contributes to broader conversations around the role of affect in historiography, theatrical production, and society.