Photo Credit: Brandon Dahlquist
Stuart (center) on the set of The Hunter and the Bear at Writers Theatre
Stuart (left) and the City Theatre Company cast of The Royale
Puppetry workshop with PigPen Theatre Co.
Stuart Carden is the artistic director of Kansas City Repertory Theatre. A director, deviser, producer, educator and new play specialist, Stuart has worked across the United States building new plays, ensemble generated projects, multidisciplinary performance and actor/musician driven theatrical storytelling.
An artist with eclectic taste and wide-ranging interests Stuart has developed new works that range from of-the-moment realistic drama to immersive spectacle. He has a passion for building theatrical stories and live performance that puts audiences at the center of the theatrical event and inspires them to experience rather than witness. This style of theatrical storytelling fires the imagination, gets the heart pumping, people talking and breaks down boundaries between audience members and performers.
As a freelance director and producer building projects with The Old Globe, The Lyric Opera, The Second City, New Victory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Writers Theatre, People’s Light, ArtsEmerson, Virgin Voyages, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and his most frequent collaborator, City Theatre Company.
With choreographer Steph Paul and stage manager Patti Kelly in rehearsal for The Royale.
With actor/musicians Emily Casey and Richard Juarez.
As the Associate Artistic Director of Writers Theatre from 2009-2014, Stuart line-produced over 25 productions, developed over a dozen new works, cast more than 150 performers and was intimately engaged in the design of Writer’s new $32 million theatre complex designed by renowned architect Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang. As the leader of the company’s Literary Development Initiative Stuart landed and facilitated projects ranging from the U.S. Premiere of Conor McPherson's The Dance of Death and Laura Eason's World Premiere Musical Days Like Today to introducing Chicagoland (and much of the country) to PigPen Theatre Co. with The Old Man and The Old Moon. Prior to Writers, Stuart spent two years as the Associate Artistic Director of City Theatre in Pittsburgh.
Stuart holds a B.A. in Theatre from Hanover College and a M.F.A. in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University. He has taught directing, acting, movement and collaboration at Carnegie Mellon University, DePaul University, Northwestern University, Loyola University, Lake Forest College, College of DuPage, and Beloit College. He is a member of the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers and is represented by the inimitable Beth Blickers at the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA). Stuart is married to public art curator and co-founder of Monuments to Movements Neysa Page-Lieberman and is dad to ten-year-old twins Dashiell and Griffin Page-Carden.