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Jeffrey Mosser

Unpacking the expectations of how theatre can be made.

Jeffrey Mosser (he.him) is currently the Artistic Producer: Director of the Emerging Professional Residency at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Lecturer at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and host of the HowlRound Theatre Commons podcast FROM THE GROUND UP: a show dedicated to exploring the artistic, financial, and social sustainability of ensemble-based theater practices with collaboratively creative companies from around the world. 

Primarily a director and devisor, his practices stem from physical composition having trained at Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre, Double Edge Theatre, Pig Iron School for Advanced Performance Training, and with internationally known artists such as Giovanni Fusetti, Dominque Serrand, Liz Lerman, and Augusto Boal.

He has contributed to new play development at Lookingglass Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, O’Neill Theater Center, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Actors Theatre of Louisville with directors and playwrights including Anne Bogart, Jamie Castañeda, David Catlin, Trip Cullman, Sean Daniels, Michael Friedman, Lauren Gunderson, Israel Hicks, Mike Lew, Kirk Lynn, Mark Masterson, Aaron Posner, Jessica Thebus, and Mary Zimmerman.

He’s also an Aquarius and don’t you forget it. MFA Northwestern University, www.JeffreyMosser.com IG: @Ensemble_Ethnographer

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After Careful Consideration (We Went With Another Project) with Lindsay Puckett, MD
Podcast

After Careful Consideration (We Went With Another Project) with Lindsay Puckett, MD

From the Ground Up Episode #8

29 April 2019

In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to longtime friend and medical doctor Lindsay Puckett about the uncanny similarity in the grant application process for theatremakers and research scientists.

an actor in a mask
Talking Sustainability with Leda Hoffman of Strawdog Theatre Company
Podcast

Talking Sustainability with Leda Hoffman of Strawdog Theatre Company

From the Ground Up Episode #7

15 April 2019

In episode seven of the From the Ground Up Podcast, Jeffrey Mosser talks to Leda Hoffman about her recent appointment of artistic director of Strawdog Theatre Company. This is a two-part interview with Strawdog Theatre Company—you can listen to Part One here.

three actors onstage
That Blue Sky with Stephanie McKee of Junebug Productions
Podcast

That Blue Sky with Stephanie McKee of Junebug Productions

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #6

1 April 2019

In episode six of the From the Ground Up podcast, Jeffrey Mosser interviews Stephanie McKee about the history of Junebug Productions, and how they look to "that blue sky" to imagine what is possible for the future.

five people onstage in costume
Invited to be Family with Michaela Petro of Strawdog Theatre Company
Podcast

Invited to be Family with Michaela Petro of Strawdog Theatre Company

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #5

18 March 2019

In episode five of the From the Ground Up podcast, Michaela Petro walks us down her path on becoming an ensemble member of Strawdog Theatre Company, and how she contributes to cultivating their artistic culture.

actors on a boat onstage
Sustaining/Passion with Ova Saopeng of TeAda Productions
Podcast

Sustaining/Passion with Ova Saopeng of TeAda Productions

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #4

25 February 2019

In this episode of the From the Ground Up Podcast, host Jeffery Mosser talks with Ova Saopeng of TeAda Productions about the importance of telling immigrant and refugee stories.

Children performing onstage
The Challenges of Challenging Work with Emily K. Harrison of square product theatre
Podcast

The Challenges of Challenging Work with Emily K. Harrison of square product theatre

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #3

11 February 2019

In episode three of the From the Ground Up podcast, Emily K. Harrison of square product theatre stresses the importance of creating space for radical inquiry by making work that provokes challenging conversations.

two people smiling in a small office
Putting a Value on the Work and Putting the Work in the Community with Coya Paz and Free Street Theater
Podcast

Putting a Value on the Work and Putting the Work in the Community with Coya Paz and Free Street Theater

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #2

28 January 2019

In episode two of the From the Ground Up podcast, Coya Paz gives us the history and a peek into the future of Free Street Theater as it enters its fiftieth anniversary.

From The Ground Up logo.
Ensemble Dynamics and Rural Physical Theatre with Michael Fields and D'ell Arte International
Podcast

Ensemble Dynamics and Rural Physical Theatre with Michael Fields and D'ell Arte International

From the Ground Up Podcast Episode #1

14 January 2019

In episode one of the From the Ground Up Podcast, host Jeffrey Mosser speaks with Michael Fields, the Producing Artistic Director of Dell’Arte International, about how the ensemble has grown over the past thirty years.

From The Ground Up logo.
From The Ground Up Podcast
Podcast

From The Ground Up Podcast

Introduction

14 January 2019

Jeffrey Mosser introduces a new podcast series, From the Ground Up, about ensemble-based and collaboratively-created theatre companies.

Ensembles
Essay

Ensembles

How To Model One?

2 April 2014

Jeffrey Mosser offers an overview of The TEAM, an ensemble-based theatre company.

FoolsFURY theatre company logo.
Ensembles
Essay

Ensembles

Exploring foolsFury

28 March 2014

foolsFURY is a theater ensemble from San Francisco that sees advantages in working with playwrights and devisors, and seizes opportunities to become a touring company. As they come up on their fifteenth year, artistic director Ben Yalom sheds some light on their transitions, and lets me in on how they are working toward what is next artistically and financially.

Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble logo.
Ensembles
Essay

Ensembles

The Life and Times of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble

14 March 2014

Alvina Krause, one of twentieth century’s most famous teachers of acting, believed, “if you can act Chekhov, you can act anything!” In the summer of 1976 she was 83 years old, long retired, yet still taking private students in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Little did she know that seven students from Northwestern University in Chicago would come to study “acting Chekhov” with her, and end up settling into the town for a much longer stay as the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (BTE).

Ensembles
Essay

Ensembles

Making and Paying for the Art

25 February 2014

How do you work as a group? How do you work without a script? How do you ask someone to fund a group without a script? And how are you still together—financially, artistically? The non-traditional model of creation is frequently mysterious if only because it is hard to understand without doing.

Set of How To Build A Forest.
The Psychology of the Audience
Essay

The Psychology of the Audience

The Rules of Engagement

14 December 2012

Seeking insight into what makes immersive theatre work for an audience, Jeffrey Mosser observes three productions: PearlDamour’s How to Build a Forest, Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, and Mikhael Tara Garver’s Fornicated From the Beatles.

The set of How To Build A Forest.
The Psychology of the Audience
Essay

The Psychology of the Audience

Inviting the Audience to Play

7 December 2012

Jeffrey Mosser continues his series on immersive theatre. This week, an examination of the patron at Fornicated from the Beatles and How to Build a Forest.

A poster for Fornicated From The Beatles.
The Psychology of the Audience
Essay

The Psychology of the Audience

The departure from traditional theater means that anything is possible

24 November 2012

Jeffrey Mosser seeks the vast possibilities of immersive theatre when an audience is allowed to explore and discover.

A mask from Sleep No More.
Introducing the Psychology of the Audience Series
Essay

Introducing the Psychology of the Audience Series

15 November 2012

Seeking insight into what makes immersive theatre work for an audience, Jeffrey Mosser observes three productions: How to Build a Forest, Sleep No More, and Mikhael Tara Garver's Fornicated From the Beatles. This four post series includes interviews with creators as well as with patrons pre and post show.

From the Ground Up Podcast
From the Ground Up Podcast Show banner.
Series

From the Ground Up Podcast

From the Ground Up is here to ask questions about ensemble-based creation. Who’s doing it? How is it practiced? Are they paid? Are they able to thrive? We’re also examining that word: Ensemble. What does it mean?

Ensembles Making and Paying for Art
Series

Ensembles Making and Paying for Art

Jeffrey Mosser does three case studies of established ensemble theatres exploring the creating and paying for the art.

Psychology of the Audience
Series

Psychology of the Audience

Seeking insight into what makes immersive theater work for an audience, Jeffrey Mosser observes three productions: How to Build a Forest, Sleep No More, and Mikhael Tara Garver's Fornicated From the Beatles.