Risa Brainin

Risa Brainin (Director) is honored to return to Gulfshore Playhouse where she directed the great Jeffrey Binder in Every Brilliant Thing last season. Brainin is a freelance director and Founder/Artistic Director of the groundbreaking new play development program LAUNCH PAD at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Associate Artistic Director for both Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Indiana Repertory Theatre, and Resident Director at the Guthrie Theater. Other directorial credits include plays at American Players Theatre, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Clarence Brown Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Denver Center Theatre, Great Lakes Theatre, History Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Illusion Theatre, Kansas City Actors’ Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Mixed Blood, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Playmakers Repertory Company, Portland Stage Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Rubicon Theatre, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Skylight Theatre and Syracuse Stage. She directed two premieres at the United Solo Festival in NY: Bob Stromberg’s That Wonder Boy in 2015 which won Best One Man Show, Best Direction and United Solo Festival and Backstage Award, and Annie Torsiglieri’s “A” Train winning Best Production in 2017 and Best Encore in 2018. A graduate of the Carnegie Mellon University Drama Program, Brainin is a member of the National Theatre Conference and the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. www.risabrainin.com