Kathleen M. McGeever
Department Chair, Associate Professor
Kathleen.McGeever@NAU.EDU
(928)-523-4500
Kathleen M. McGeever, Associate professor of Theatre, director and chair of the Department of Theatre at Northern Arizona University, teaches courses in acting, directing, dramatic literature and criticism. Ms. McGeever received an MFA in Stage Direction from Humboldt State University in Arcata, California and a BA in theatre from San Diego State University.
Ms. McGeever has worked professionally as a director and an actor. Some of her directing credits include Private Lives, A Flea in Her Ear, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Wiley and the Hairy Man, Sticks and Bones, The Hypochondriac, Tartuffe, The Trojan Women, A Streetcar Named Desire, Jungalbook, Defying Gravity, Museum, Lysistrata, Stop Kiss, and The Spitfire Grill. In 2001, Ms. McGeever directed a production of The Art of Dining with the distinguished, award winning playwright, Tina Howe, in residence. Her relationship with Tina Howe has continued over the course of her career and in 2006 she collaborated with the renowned playwright once again to present a course on the works of Eugene Ionesco and playwriting. The course, taught in Paris and Georgia, culminated in a staged reading of student plays. Some of the new plays that she has directed include: Mushrooming, The Secret of Our Success, Montana Love Story, Apron Strings, Winnebago Rhapsody, Cold Splash, and About a Baby. In 2007 Ms. McGeever directed a production of Aurand Harris’ Androcles and the Lion. The production was selected to perform at the regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and the production garnered many awards. As an actor, Ms. McGeever has performed in television commercials as well as roles for the stage and was a company member of the Colony Studio Playhouse in Los Angeles where she originated a small role in the world premiere of Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine. Although her creative time is spent mostly directing and with dramaturgy, she continues to perform as an actor in new works when the opportunities arise. As a producer, Ms. McGeever developed and originated The Pillars Play Prize and Festival of New Works with Georgia College and State University as well as the annual 24 Hour Play Festival. In Alabama she produced the Student One-Act Festival.
Ms. McGeever's scholarly interests include mixing puppetry with live action, new plays, dramaturgy and literary criticism. Her criticism has included the work of Harold Pinter and Martin McDonagh. She has published Exiles in No Man's Land and The Caretaker: A Comparison of Two of Pinter's Tramps in the international journal Cycnos, and an article describing the marriage of technology and New Play Development, Virtual Frontiers in New Play Development for the Journal of Interactive Instruction Development. She has presented papers for the Irish Studies annual conference on the works of Martin McDonagh. She is a dramaturge for East Coast playwright Kristen DeWulf and serves as a dramaturge for the Playwrights Focus of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education. She has written two short plays herself, including Tango in Paris and Father Knows Best. In 2005, Ms. McGeever was selected as the Region IV Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Critics Institute Fellowship Nominee. Her puppet work has led her to study with the internationally acclaimed puppet artist, Sebastian Roser of Puppets on Demand, Bavaria, Germany. The experience has led her to work with large grotesque puppets akin to the Bread and Puppet work as well as small hand puppets. Her production of Wiley and the Harry Man included puppets as large as 17 feet high to life-size swamp creatures and even small hand puppets.
Ms. McGeever has been involved with Arts Education for over 25 years. Early in her career she taught Theatre Studies in a school for abused children in Colorado Springs, Colorado, junior high and high school Drama on the Mojave Desert in Southern California and was active as a teaching artist for the California Arts Project (TCAP). Her involvement with TCAP includes serving as a member of an artist educator team for the Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino County (RIMS) Project and the directorship of the Redwood Arts Project (RAP). TCAP and its affiliate organizations promote Arts Education with the integration of Theatre, Dance, Music and the Visual Arts in K-12 Education across the curriculum using professional artists and educators in a team setting. Additionally, Ms. McGeever headed up the Theatre education program for NAU Theatre from 1996-1998 and while holding the visiting position she created CAMP BARD, the educational wing of The Grand Canyon Shakespeare Festival.
Ms. McGeever has been on the faculty of NAU Theatre from 1996-1998, at the University of Montevallo Department of Communication Arts in Central Alabama from 1998-2004 and served as Chair of Theatre for Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA from 2004-2007. While in Georgia, Ms. McGeever served as Chair of the Student Affairs Committee of the University Senate. She has held various administrative positions with the statewide organizations including California Educational Theatre Association (CETA), Arizona Theatre Alliance (ATA), and held the positions of Secretary, Vice-president and President of the Alabama Conference of Theatre (ACT). She is active in the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), the South Eastern Theatre Conference (SETC), the Kennedy Center American College Theatre festival (KCACTF) where she has served as a regional respondent and Irene Ryan Respondent. She has been active in every state Theatre organization where she has resided including the California Educational Theatre Association (CETA), Southern California Educational Theatre Association (SCETA), Northern California Educational Theatre Association (NCETA), the Drama Teachers Association of Southern California (DTASC), the Arizona Theatre Alliance (ATA), the Alabama Conference of Theatre (ACT) and the Georgia Theatre Conference (GTC).
Ms. McGeever is a native Californian but holds dual citizenship with Ireland. She resides in Flagstaff with her partner for over 20 years, Greg Hales. Greg is an accomplished videographer with both commercial and educational clients. They share their home with their four fur-children.
