David R. Gammons
David R. Gammons, Visiting Assistant Professor of Directing
School of Performing Arts
305 Henderson Hall, 195 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-5335
davidrgammons@vt.edu
David R. Gammons is a director, designer, visual artist, and theatre educator. From 2022 - 2025 he is serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Directing at Virginia Tech. From 2015 - 2021 he was an Associate Professor at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and a Lecturer in Theatre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has created a range of course curricula in directing, devising, design & visual thinking, site-specific performance, Shakespeare, script analysis, and contemporary performance practice. Gammon's theatre directing credits include acclaimed productions in New England for SpeakEasy Stage Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Underground Railway & Nora Theater at Central Square, The New Repertory Theatre, and many others. He strives to be a lifelong learner and is honored to have collaborated with (and learned from!) thousands of students at the high school, college, and graduate level. Gammons has taught courses and created productions at educational institutions around the Boston area: Harvard University, MIT, The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston College, Suffolk University, Northeastern University, Brandeis University, Emerson College, and Concord Academy, where he served as the Director of the Theatre Program for fifteen years. He is particularly invested in experimental, devised, and movement-based performance work, and has conceived and directed more than twenty-five world-premiere original productions and dance-theatre pieces. He is proud to have collaborated with innovative actors, dancers, choreographers, writers, dramaturges, and designers on bold new works with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Headlong Dance Theatre, No More Masterpieces, and many others.
- Directing
- Devising / movement-based and experimental performance
- Script analysis
- Viewpoints and composition
- Design and visual thinking
- Certificate in Directing, American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University
- BA, Harvard University
- 2022 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, "People, Places & Things," SpeakEasy Stage Co.
- 2022 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production, "People, Places & Things," SpeakEasy Stage Co.
- 2020 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Designer, "Vanity Fair," Central Square Theatre
- 2017 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, "Hand to God," SpeakEasy Stage Co. and "Edward II," Actors' Shakespeare Project
- 2013 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production, The "Motherfucker with the Hat," SpeakEasy Stage Co.
- 2012 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Production, "Red," SpeakEasy Stage Co.
- 2007 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, "Titus Andronicus,"Actors' Shakespeare Project
Courses Taught:
Virginia Tech, School of Performing Arts, Blacksburg, VA
TA 4315 Directing
TA 2114 Script Analysis
The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston, MA
LENS 101: Engaging with Artistic Space: Provocative Gestures
T-PR 1903/1904: Theatre Process & Production 1 & 2
T-SK 1041/1042: Design & Visual, Spatial, & Material Thinking 1 & 2
T-EN 3941/4941: Ensemble Performance Laboratory & Tour
T-PR 3943: Site-Specific Collaboration & Performance
T-EN 2943: Auto Course: Composition & Devising
T-ST 5104: Acting Shakespeare
T-LT 1901: Introduction to Theatre
TH-417/418: Acting Emphasis: Full Stage Production
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
21M.600: Introduction to Acting
21M.710: Script Analysis
Northeastern University, College of Arts, Media, and Design, Boston, MA
THTR 4882: Devising Theatre: Collaborative Process & Performance
Suffolk University, Boston, MA
Theatre 425: Directing 1
- Partnership and Student Study Tours: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; Stratford-upon-Avon, England
- Partnership and Student Study Tour: Accademia Dell'Arte; Arezzo, Italy
- Partnership and Student Study Tours: Brighton College; Brighton, England
- International Production Tour to Belfast, Ireland