Haïa R’nana Bchiri

Biography

Haïa R’nana Bchiri is a fifth-year PhD student with a BA in Theater Arts and Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation from Brandeis University. She has been involved in theatre on and off stage for many years, working with Black Box Studios, the Cherubs program at Northwestern, Chicago Youth Shakespeare, and more. Haia was awarded the John Edward Hill Memorial Prize and the Herbert and Sandra Fisher Award for Exceptional Achievement in the Creative Arts and is a member of the UCB Diversity Scholars Program. Recent conference papers include “Queenliness is Close to Godliness: Inciting Affective Responses During Crises in Ancient Egypt” at ASTR and “Mother Cleo: The Traditions of Motherhood Behind Antony and Cleopatra” at SCSC. Her primary research focus is on performances of the national identity in the ancient Mediterranean world as they relate to female power in times of crisis/transition, though she is generally interested in the interplay of gender and theatre as well unearthing/elevating stories that have historically been left out of the dominant narrative. She is passionate about as well as guiding and empowering the next generation of performance artists-scholars and making theatre more accessible.

Recent projects include dramaturging The Promise, Boxed, Winter’s Tale, Trojan Women, and Uncle Vanya at UCSD; Eurydice (Director), Fefu and Her Friends (Emma/ASL consultant), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Circle Mirror Transformation (Theresa), Woyzeck (Fight Choreographer), and a production of Peer Gynt (Solveig/Aase) devoted to accessibility at Brandeis University; Everybody (AD) with the Northwestern Cherubs program; These and Those (Ayala/Dramaturg) with SD Rep; Hereville at the Old Globe; and interactive productions of Hamlet (Director/Fight Choreographer), Midsummer (Puck/Director), and Taming of the Shrew (Kate), plus Cymbeline (Director) and Henry VI Pt. III (Clifford/Dramaturg) with the Public Domain Players, for whom she also works as Director of Development, co-Fight Choreographer, and Intimacy Coordinator.

Research

Education

BA in Theater Arts and Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation, Brandeis University

UCSD Credits

Trojan Women (dramaturg)

Uncle Vanya (dramaturg)