Helen received her B.A. in theater and English from Tulane University in 2009, her M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU in 2011, and her M.F.A. in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from David Geffen School of Drama in 2015. Her teaching and research interests include youth-created theater, participatory theater, community-based and community-engaged theater, theater for young audiences, and drama/theater in education. Her dissertation, “I Want Everyone to Witness My Youth: Youth-Created Theater in America, 1980-Present” explores the history of participatory theater and the recent inclusion of young people as creators and collaborators. Her work attempts to locate an aesthetic, politic, and context for theater created by young people using case-studies from companies all around the country and dramaturgical analysis of curriculum, process, and production.
Her writings on theater and performance can be found in TDR, Theater magazine, The NOLA Defender, and Performing Fiction. Helen currently serves as the Director of Arts Education for Southern Rep Theatre in New Orleans, LA.
Research interests include youth-created theater, arts education, participatory theater, community-based arts, performance studies, Russian/Soviet avant-garde, allegory and allegorical theater, and dramaturgy.
