Full-Time Faculty and Staff

Marilyn Plotkins
Chair
Dr. Marilyn Plotkins has acted, directed, and produced over 100 plays for professional and university theatre in the Greater Boston area and New York. As Director of Theatre at Suffolk University she has transformed a small interdisciplinary major into one of the university’s fastest growing departments. She has supervised student directed and written work for over twenty years, and facilitated hundreds of professional performing arts events including the American premiere of David Mamet's The Cryptogram starring Ed Bagley, Jr. and Felicity Huffman. As Founding Director of Boston Music Theatre Project (BMTP) she has been developing professional new musicals since 1987-- several BMTP commissions have been seen in New York. She has overseen the multi-phase renovation of the 499-seat C. Walsh Theatre and the newly designed historic Modern Theatre in Boston’s Theatre District. Marilyn has served on the Performance Review Panel of Radcliffe College’s Bunting Institute, led musical theatre panels and workshops throughout North America, and published The American Repertory Theatre Reference Book: The Brustein Years for Greenwood Press. She has twice been nominated for an Outstanding Teaching Award and won both and Intercultural Initiatives Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award. She received her PhD from Tufts University, her MA from Emerson College and her BA from the University of Pittsburgh.

Wesley Savick
Professor
Wes has served as former Artistic Director of Theatre X in Milwaukee and interim Artistic Director of the Drama League of New York's Directors Project, Artistic Associate of Chicago's Organic Theatre and resident guest director of the DARTS Subaru Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. He has directed or acted in over one hundred professional productions, almost all new works. He has written, co-written or adapted eighteen plays, including Suffolk's recently celebrated Car Talk: The Musical!!! Wes is the Founding Director of The National Theatre of Allston, an independent initiative designed exclusively for Suffolk students and alumni to transition into the professional Boston theatre. He has taught acting, directing, theatre history and dramatic theory at Suffolk University since 1999. Wes won the Outstanding Teacher Award 2007 after two previous nominations. Wes received his MFA at Boston University, his MA at Marquette University, his BA at Dartmouth College and is ABD at Northwestern University.

Richard Chambers
Associate Professor/Set Designer
Richard is one of New England's most popular set designers for theatre, opera, and symphony orchestras with over 150 professional designs to his credit. His work includes numerous world premiers and he is noted as set designer in over a dozen published play scripts. He has been the recipient of numerous design awards such as the Elliot Norton and the Independent Reviewers of New England awards. He has made significant contributions to the renovations of the C. Walsh and the Modern Theatres, the production of student directed work, and the growth of the technical theatre and design track in the Theatre Department. He has also been an effective mentor for students interested in design and responsible for numerous internship opportunities in professional theatres for outstanding Theatre Department students. Richard is a member of United Scenic Artists, the professional union for scenic artists in America. Richard holds an MFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he received the Meir Award for design and a BA from Westfield State College. You can view more of his work or contact him at http://www.richardchambers.net/

Caitlin Langstaff
Assistant Professor
Caitlin co-founded Tidal Theatre Company and Tsunami Sound Waves. She lives and works as an actor and fight choreographer in New York City and also writes, directs and produces site-specific theatre. She has created original work for the Theatre Department as well as serving as an acting, vocal, and movement coach for Department productions. She was featured in the title role in a staged reading of Howard Zinn's Emma, a play based on the American anarchist, Emma Goldman. She is a member of the Actors Studio and Actors' Equity Association. She teaches acting and voice & movement at Suffolk University. She holds her MFA from Marymont Manhattan College and a BFA from Brandeis University.

Jim Kaufman
Managing Director
Jim develops opportunities for students to pursue their educational and professional goals at Suffolk, in the Theatre Department, and beyond. He also supports the University community by managing operations and programs in the Studio and C. Walsh Theatres. Jim has worked in numerous artistic and administrative roles with Boston theatre companies to develop new work and also as a documentary film producer. He is board co-chair of the Underground Railway Theater, in residence at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge. He has degrees from the University of Michigan and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Abbie H. Katz
Assistant Professor/Modern Theatre Programming Manager
Abbie has worked extensively in the theatre, dance and opera. For over twenty years, as a Production Stage Manager, she worked with artists such as Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk and Lucinda Childs throughout the US and toured Europe, and Asia. Abbie was Production Manager for Anna Deveare Smith’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University and was Associate Producer for the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, initiating their expansion to the cities of Stamford and New London, CT. Abbie was General Manager of The Market Theater (named "Best Theatre in Boston" by the Boston Globe in 2001). Since 2002 she has been the Associate Producer of the Boston Early Music Festival, producing the Festival's centerpiece opera. From 2007 to 2009 she was Executive Director of Green Street Studios, the Cambridge dance and performance venue. Abbie began teaching at Suffolk University in 2002, and now teaches Stage Management and Arts Management classes.

Jim Bernhardt
Production Manager
Since receiving his BA in theatre from Southern Illinois University, Jim has worked as a production manager and a technical director throughout New England. Jim is proud to have served as The Cape Playhouse’s first Production Manager and to have been Project Manager and Shop Forman at Cyco Scenic LLC. In 2007 Jim received his MFA in Theatre Production from Boston University. In addition to his duties as the Production Manager at Suffolk University, Jim helps maintain his professional connections doing work both in the city and nationally by teaching, overseeing portions of corporate events, and managing theatrical productions.

Wayne Chin
C. Walsh Theatre Operations Coordinator
Wayne facilitates presentations by University and guest organizations in the C. Walsh Theatre. In addition to his work as the unofficial “voice of Suffolk” at University events, Wayne recently won the poster contest for the Suffolk’s recycling campaign and was honored as “Support Staff Member of the Year” in 2006. Wayne is a graduate of Suffolk University.

Nora Sidoti
Marketing Director
Nora oversees all marketing and communication for the Theatre Department and Modern Theatre at Suffolk University. She also provides career development and professional internship guidance to students. Prior to joining Suffolk University, Nora was Marketing & Outreach Coordinator at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College where she studied Theater Arts and English and is currently an MBA candidate at Sawyer Business School.

Steven McIntosh
Technical Director
Steve is a graduate of Boston University's Design program, with major concentrations in lighting & sound design. At Suffolk University he often designs department productions, guest lectures on the use of lighting & sound design in theatre classes, and is maintains the systems used in the C. Walsh and Studio Theatres. Steve also does freelance design work in Boston-area theatres and has been helpful in securing technical work for students interested in the field.

Anita Sen
Theatre Department Coordinator
Anita serves as the information resource for the Theatre Department. She manages the schedule of the Chair/Artistic Director; manages student information; handles all the financial paperwork for the theatres as well as the academic department; hires, trains and supervises work-study students; facilitates contracts; provides support for all Theatre classes, students and professors; is the point of contact for potential students; and is the link to other departments within the University. Anita holds a dual degree in German and International Affairs from the University of New Hampshire. She is a Fulbright Scholar where she taught English literature and conversation in Germany. In keeping with her pedagogical interests, she frequently volunteers for the Boston Public School System.

Ben Sigda
Assistant Operations Coordinator
Ben has been working as a theatrical technician since he graduated in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Theatrical Lighting design from Boston University. Since graduating Ben has worked as a freelance technician for many companies and theaters in the greater Boston area. He has been a purchasing agent for The Huntington Theatre Co., and a System Installations Project Manager for Barbizon Light of New England. Ben currently runs the technical side of Suffolk’s new Modern Theatre.

Rachel Cardillo
Front of House Coordinator

Julie Waclawik
Technical Theatre Assistant
Julie graduated with a BS in Theater with a concentration in Sound Design from Northeastern University in 2010. Since then she has been working as the half time Technical Theatre Assistant for Suffolk University's C. Walsh and Modern Theatres as well as working directly with the Theatre Department and Theatre work study students. Julie also works as an electrician in many theatres around the Boston area including the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University and the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, MA. A strong believer in giving back to the community, Julie volunteers for the Big Sister Assoc. of Boston and teaches piano lessons for underprivileged children in the Quincy area.

Distinguished Scholar in Residence: Robert Brustein
Robert Brustein, former Dean of the Yale School of Drama and founding artistic director of both the Yale Repertory Theatre and the American Repertory Theatre has joined the faculty of Suffolk University’s College of Arts and Sciences as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. In addition to the lectures and advising sessions he will teach two seminars in the Theatre Department.