Bob Rosen

Bob Rosen is a director, performer and educator. His early influences included street theatre and circus work in Europe. He was a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Theatre de la Jeune Lune theatre company in Paris and Minneapolis in 1979, and served as co-Artistic Director from 1985 through 2005. Bob is a multi-dimensional theatre artist, credited with acting, writing, directing and/or lighting over 100 productions, with Jeune Lune and other companies. Bob has conceived and directed many original works including: Circus, The Golem, The Description of the World, Circus of Tales, and several works for the Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. In 2008 he established Studio 206 in the Ivy Building for the Arts in Minneapolis, with inter-disciplinary artist Shawn McConneloug. Studio 206 is dedicated to the creation of new work and the ongoing training of performing artists. He is also co-founder of The Gymnasium, a consortium of creative risk-takers who are using the arts as a nexus for connections with science, industry, business and innovation. Bob was a 2010-11 Playwrights’ Center McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow and also serves on the faculty of the University of Minnesota. He received a diploma from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and is a graduate of the highly competitive 2 year program at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France.

Areas of Expertise

• Physical Theatre
• Improvisation
• Devising
• Clown
• Commedia Dell’Arte
• Mask Performance
• Juggling, Tightrope and Acrobatics

Macalester Courses

• THDA 230: Physical Approaches
• THDA 120:  Acting Theory and Performance Education

Selected productions

Current Co-creation and Directing Project

• Juracán – A cantastoria of Puerto Rican history, folktales, politics and hurricanes. Created with and for Ricardo Vazquez in association with Ten Thousand Things Theatre Company. The work is in process and will debut in July of 2018

Directing

• Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue – By Quiara Alegria Hudes. Regional Premiere at Park Square Theatre (2015)
• Middle Brother – By Eric Sharp. A new play exploring the Korean adoptee experience. Produced by Theatre MU – World Premiere at The Southern Theatre. (2014)

Conception and Direction

• The Golem – An original creation based on the Jewish folktale and inspired by the novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink and the book A Vanished World – photographs by Roman Vishniac depicting German and Eastern European Jewish life in the ghettos just before the Holocaust. Devised with performers of Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Produced by and performed at Theatre de la Jeune Lune. (1999, 2003)
• Pulcinella – The ballet by Igor Stravinsky. This stage production was inspired by the etchings of Giandomenico Tiepolo and created with Jeune Lune actors, three opera soloists and students from Circus Juventas for a concert series with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. (1999)

Adaptation and Direction

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame – By Victor Hugo. Adapted from the French by Robert Rosen and Paul Walsh. Produced by and performed at Theatre de la Jeune Lune. This adaptation received an AT&T OnStage award for the development of new plays. (1995)