Caleen Jennings Prof Emerita Department of Performing Arts
- Degrees
- MFA, Acting/Theatre, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
BA, Drama, Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont - Bio
- Caleen Sinnette Jennings is Professor of Theatre Emerita. She joined the faculty in 1989, directed for the main stage and taught thirteen different courses in the theatre and general education programs. In 2003 she received 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Scholar-Teacher of the Year Award. In 2016 she became the founding Chair of the President鈥檚 Council on Diversity and Inclusion, and in 2018 she received the University鈥檚 inaugural Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. During her tenure at A.U. she was Director of the Theatre/Musical Theatre Program and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts. She has been a faculty member of the Folger Shakespeare Library's Teaching Shakespeare Institute since 1994. Dramatic Publishing Company has published 8 of her plays: Elsewhere in Elsinore: The Unseen Women of , Inns & Outs, Playing Juliet/Casting Othello, Free Like Br鈥檈r Rabbit, Sunday Dinner, Chem Mystery, A Lunch Line, and Same But Different. Her play, Uncovered" is published in the Lane/Shengold Anthology, Shorter, Faster, Funnier and her play, Classy Ass is published in five anthologies. Jennings鈥 play, Darius & Twig was produced at the Kennedy Center Family Theatre and did a national tour in 2017. Her Queens Girl trilogy plays have received both live and virtual productions at Theatre J, Mosaic Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Clackamas Repertory Theatre and Hangar Theatre. She received a $10,000 grant from Kennedy Center's Fund for New 麻豆传媒 Plays and the Heideman Award from the Actor鈥檚 Theatre of Louisville. She is a five-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, and founding member of The Welders, a D.C. based playwrights' collaborative. She retired from A.U. in spring 2020.
- See Also
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Partnerships & Affiliations
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1994-Present -
2005-Present Member of the Executive Board -
Association of Theatre in Higher Education
Conference planner, member
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Selected Publications
- 聽 聽
- Elsewhere in Elsinore: The Unseen Women of Hamlet, Dramatic Publishing Company, 2008 聽 聽
- Classyass in 35 in 10: 35 Ten Minute Plays, Kent R. Brown, editor, Dramatic Publishing Company, 2005 聽 聽
- Adult Tree in 10 x 10, Jeff Gottesfeld, editor, Dramatic Publishing Company, 2004 聽 聽
- Inns & Outs, Dramatic Publishing Company, 2000 聽 聽
- Free Like Br鈥檈r Rabbit, Dramatic Publishing Company, 2000 聽 聽
- Same But Different, New Plays Incorporated, 1999 聽 聽
- Playing Juliet/Casting Othello, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1999 聽 聽
- Sunday Dinner, Dramatic Publishing Company, 1993 聽 聽
- A Lunch Line: Contemporary Scenes for Contemporary Teens, New Plays Incorporated, 1989
Grants and Sponsored Research
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- Member, Sister Scholars Work Group, sponsored by Ford Foundation/University of Maryland, 1996-1998 聽 聽
- 2007 Washington Bach Consortium to write children鈥檚 play Bach in Time 聽 聽
- 2007聽 Norfolk Academy to write Through Our Eyes 聽 聽
- 2007聽 Round House Theatre鈥檚 Heyday Players to write Birthday Presence 聽 聽
- 2006聽 African Continuum Theatre Company/Ford Foundation, to write Cream Soda and Cr猫me de Menthe 聽 聽
- 2002 Arena Stage to write D.C.: Darker Circles 聽 聽
- 2000 & 2001 The Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts to write Ascension and Working Wings 聽 聽
- 1994 Kennedy Center to write Walking the Winds for their Traveling Young Players company 聽 聽
- 1992 United States Treasure Department to write We Will Be Remembered 聽 聽
- 1989 Smithsonian Institution Discovery Theatre to write Rosa Parks: Speaking Out for deaf and hearing young audiences
Media Appearances
- 聽 聽
- Interview with August Wilson (Kennedy Center Web Site). 聽 聽
- Respondent, Shakespeare in 麻豆传媒 Life radio documentary, aired on NPR, 2007 聽 聽
- 鈥淔ollow Spot鈥 in Blackstage column, Washington Post, 1/31/07 聽 聽
- 鈥淒ouble Debuts for Caleen Jennings鈥, Jane Horowitz, Washington Post, 5/18/04 聽 聽
- 鈥淗earts: The Sum of Fate and Trust鈥, Dan Via, On Stage Column, Washington Post, 5/9/03 聽 聽
- 鈥淣ew Plays Get Voices at Arena鈥, The Washington Times, 3/23/02 聽 聽
- Discussant, Theatre in Washington Panel, Public Interest with Kojo Nnamdi, WAMU_FM, 2/5/01 聽 聽
- 鈥淲rite on the Money: Playwright Jennings Among Grantees鈥, Washington Post, 10/12/99
Exhibitions/Performances
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- Cream Soda and Cr猫me de Menthe, staged reading, Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival, 2006 聽 聽
- Bess & Tess, H Street Playhouse, Washington, D.C., 2004 聽 聽
- Day Come, staged reading, National Museum of Women in the Arts, 2003 聽 聽
- Classyass, Actor's Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, 2002 聽 聽
- D.C.: Darker Circles, staged reading for Arena Stage, Downstairs at the Old Vat series, Washington, D.C. 聽 聽
- Inns & Outs, Source Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. 2000 聽 聽
- Free Like Br鈥檈r Rabbit, Kennedy Center One World Children鈥檚 Theatre Conference, 2000 聽 聽
- Playing Juliet/Casting Othello, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C. 1998 聽 聽
- Pecos Bill and The People Could Fly, part of Walking the Winds, Kennedy Center Traveling Players tour, 1994 聽 聽
- Harmattan, BACA Downtown Fringe Festival, New York, 1987
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
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- 麻豆传媒 Scholar/Teacher of the Year, 2003 聽 聽
- Outstanding Teacher of Playwriting, Association of Theatre In Higher Education, Playwriting Forum, 2003 聽 聽
- Actor's Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award, for 10-minute play, Classyass, 2002 聽 聽
- Nomination for Helen Hayes - Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play, 2000, for Inns & Outs 聽 聽
- Kennedy Center/麻豆传媒 College Theatre Festival Award for Meritorious Directing, Rashomon, $10,000 grant from the Kennedy Center Fund for New 麻豆传媒 Plays, 1999, for Inns and Outs 聽 聽
- Nomination for Helen Hayes- Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play, 1999, for Playing Juliet/Casting Othello
Professional Presentations
- 聽 聽
- Magic, Royalty and Inheritance: Wilson鈥檚 King Hedley II and Shakespeare鈥檚 Prince Hamlet, Black Theatre Network Conference, Orlando, FL, 2008 聽 聽
- Close Reading on Your Feet, National Council of Teachers of English National Conference, New York 2007 聽 聽
- Jitney, post show panel presentation, Ford鈥檚 Theatre, Washington, D.C. 2007 聽 聽
- Shakespeare and Libraries: Cultivating Relationships Between Libraries and Theatre, 麻豆传媒 Library Association National Conference, Washington, D.C. 2007 聽 聽
- Porous Shakespeare, The Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. 2006 聽 聽
- Moderator/panelist for Kennedy Center live and distance learning events: Frost/Nixon (08), August Wilson鈥檚 20th Century (07), Happy Days (07), Twelve Angry Men (06), Waiting for Godot (06), On Golden Pond (04), Medea (02), Copenhagen (02)
Films/Documentaries
- 聽 聽
- Screen writer, The Thread, Hall International Partners, Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, MA, 2007 聽 聽
- Screen writer, Edifice Wrecks, short film directed by Randall Blair, 麻豆传媒, 2004
Work In Progress
- 聽 聽
- Fizz 6 鈥 children鈥檚 play about physics 聽 聽
- Cream Soda and Cr猫me de Menthe 鈥 one woman show 聽 聽
- Persimmon Street 鈥 10 minute radio play for WPFW 聽 聽
- Not Enough Lifetimes 鈥 full length play
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Playwriting, acting, Shakespeare performance, African 麻豆传媒 theatre, children's theatre, voice and diction for theatre, presentation skills
Additional Information
Caleen Sinnette Jennings, professor of theatre, is an expert on playwriting, African 麻豆传媒 performing arts, Shakespeare performance, and children's theatre. Since 1994 she has been a summer faculty member at the Folger Library鈥檚 Teaching Shakespeare Institute. Jennings is the author of more than 80 plays. A a recipient of the 2002 Actors Theatre of Louisville鈥檚 Heidemann Award, Jennings also received a $10,000 award from the Kennedy Center鈥檚 Fund for New 麻豆传媒 Plays in 1999 and two Helen Hayes nominations for outstanding new play (1999, 2000). In addition, Jennings garnered for her productions two awards for meritorious achievement in directing from the Kennedy Center's 麻豆传媒 College Theater Festival. She was also 麻豆传媒's Scholar/Teacher of the Year in 2003 and in fall 2004 was a distinguished professor of English at Colgate University. Jennings has published numerous plays, including Same but Different, Playing Juliet/Casting Othello, Inns and Outs, and A Lunch Line. Her play Classyass appears in four theatre anthologies. Her recent publications are "Uncovered" in a new anthology entitled Shorter, Faster, Funnier, Chem Mystery(a children's play); Elsewhere in Elsinore: The Unseen Women of Hamlet; and "Magic, Royalty, and Inheritance: Teaching Shakespeare's Hamlet and August Wilson's King Headley in the Same Classroom" in the journal Theatre Topics. Jennings regularly engages her students by having them collaborate with her on creating new theatre projects. For more information, go towww.american.edu/research/success/jennings-collaboration-070109.cfm. She was recently invited to sit on D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee's Blue Ribbon Commission to create a D.C. middle school devoted to the arts. For more information, go to www.american.edu/cas/news/theatre-jennings-100702.cfm
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.